Swimming!!

Abby's plastic surgeon released her to swim! So what did we do this afternoon? We went to Wal-Mart to buy a pool, of course.

In addition, we don't return to see the plastic surgeon for two weeks and were officially released from her PT's care this morning. While we are still supposed to be putting Neosporin on her left foot, we no longer have to wrap it all the time.

I'm also including a few other pictures from our summer so far...


Eating watermelon with Abby's cousin, Madison

Hanging out in a tent with Mommy (in the front yard!!)

Cruising in the Diego Jeep with friends, Wayland and Dane Damron.
Dane is hard to see because Abby is sitting in his lap.Can you find Abby in the corn field?

Quick Update

Abby saw the plastic surgeon yesterday. He said that her feet look great. The term "look" can be taken literally because Abby refused to let him touch her feet, only look. It is a good thing he didn't need to do anything.

Today, we returned to the PT. She tried to peel a little more skin off of Abby's left foot but Abby protested. Therefore, it was left up to us to do it at our convenience. As soon as Abby got out of the bathtub this evening, she did it herself. Abby sort of likes this skin peeling bit; whenever she peels a big piece, she yells for me to come look and then proceeds to show it to Jeremy, Sassy, her dolls, basically anything or anybody that will potentially make a big fuss over her accomplishment. Anyway, the PT said that we only have to wrap Abby's left foot (minus the foam pad) and should be able to leave it open like the other one soon. We follow up with both the plastic surgeon and PT early next week.

Abby is now walking completely on both feet with a little hop/limp every few steps. Praise God for fast healing!

Foot Pictures

As promised, here are the latest pictures of Abby's feet. She was more than pleased to display her feet for the camera this evening; she sort of likes showing off her "battle wounds." As you can see, the small blister on her right foot has essentially resolved. The second picture shows her left foot and the new skin growth as I described last night. While it still looks really yucky, I can assure you that it is basically pain free. It seems that a transparent layer of skin has formed over the pink tissue which obviously serves as a sort of protection. The bottom lesion on her left foot is a mixture of a callous and soft skin that is forming a callous, previously known as blister #2. Sorry to those of you who may not appreciate such pictures and details, but there are many that have requested it and this is a great way to keep everybody informed. I promise to get back to more "perky" posts soon.

She Walks

If you have been following Abby's burn situation, here is another uplifting update for you. On Thursday evening, the big blister on her left foot broke. We thought that it would hurt when it happened but apparently it did not because as soon as she was given permission, Abby started walking again. I wish I had videoed the process because it was incredibly entertaining. She staggered around like a drunk woman or The Little Mermaid as she tried to get her "land legs" back again.

As instructed, we called her physical therapist and she was able to get us in on Friday morning to trim the dead skin. As expected, this was a pretty unpleasant visit, not so much because of the pain but because Abby was frightened by her skin being cut. She was able to quit crying long enough, though, to answer that she did like candy and that she would like some when they were finished. Underneath the dead skin, the PT found what she was hoping for; although it is very pink and raw in appearance, there are patches of light pinkish white skin growing. These patches are the new, healthy skin replacing the injured tissue. The PT rewrapped Abby's foot with instructions for us to continue to clean and wrap it each day. As previously scheduled, we will follow up with the plastic surgeon on Monday and with the PT on Tuesday. At this point, the PT does not expect to need to trim any more skin...YAY for us!!

As for the right foot, it is bandage free!! A hard callous replaced the blister, and while the callous has split in the bend between her toe and foot, it is more of a cut now than a burn.

Walking...after they trimmed her blister away, Abby took a break from walking for about a day and half; her foot was very tender. She has now resumed walking on her whole right foot and the heel of her left foot. She is slow but gets where she needs to go. And if she needs to get somewhere in a hurry, she resorts to crawling.

I will try to take new foot pictures tomorrow.

Burn Update

We spent the majority of the morning in doctors' offices. First stop was the plastic surgeon, who probably gave us our best news yet. Abby's burns are classified as superficial second degree burns rather than deep or borderline third degree burns. In addition, he does not really expect her to need skin grafts; the only real chance is if when a scar forms under her big toe it retracts and causes her toe to bend. Just to be safe, we will follow up with him every Monday for the next few weeks.

From there, we returned to wound care. The blister on Abby's right foot (under the big toe) is starting to harden and form a callous. It should continue to heal, allowing the dead skin to peal off on its own. The smaller blister on her left foot looks as if it may eventually do the same thing. Finally, on to the large blister on her left foot. It continues to leak a little fluid here and there but as long as it doesn't lose all of its fluid we are still in the clear. Since it has been about a week since the burns occurred, the PT is hopeful that when the blister does break, the new skin underneath will have developed enough that no debridement will be necessary.

Abby Grace is also continuing to do well at home. She decided this afternoon that she needed to sit on the windowsill and put all of her weight on her right foot in order to do so. Otherwise, she is still crawling or walking on her knees, and I am trying to find ways to help her expel some of her energy. We may have crawling races tomorrow!! Seriously, any ideas?

Thanks to everybody for your continued prayers!

"Abby Hurt"

Well, I have debated for several days as to whether or not to post this or not. But since this blog is sort of a chronicle of Abby's life, and what has happened is part of her life, I have decided it is necessary.

Last Tuesday, Abby chased my parents' cat across hot charcoals. We had made a peach cobbler in a dutch oven, and the coals were spread out to cool. The bad news is that she has 2nd degree burns on the bottoms of both feet. The good news is that she is okay. The even better news is that her feet are going to be okay also. So for those of you who are interested, the last few days have gone something like this.

Tuesday night: We went to the emergency room in Winnsboro where they immediately wrapped Abby's feet in cold compresses. It was amazing that once the outside oxygen was blocked to her burns how quickly the pain resolved. The doctor there made the initial diagnosis of 2nd degree burns and the observation that she had no broken skin. She was also given a morphine shot for pain. Speaking of morphine, it is a miracle drug. Abby was on cloud nine on the drive home; she would sit quietly for a couple of minutes and then randomly start singing, "It's Raining, It's Pouring," and saying other crazy things.

Wednesday: A similar thing happened to another little girl in Emory last summmer, and after an early morning conversation with her grandmother, it was decided that we would take Abby to my childhood pediatrician for a second opinion. In addition, rather than flying back to Amarillo as planned, it was decided that Mom would drive us home. So on our way, we stopped in Greenville. It took everybody to hold Abby down, but he was able to remove the bandages and redress her burns. We were shocked to see how big the blisters had gotten overnight! Still, though, the prognosis was optimistic. The trip back to Amarillo went surprisingly well. Abby slept about 3 1/2 hours of it and the rest of the time was spent with my entertaining her in the backseat with her feet propped on a pillow.

Thursday: The first thing on the agenda was to see her pediatrician here in Amarillo. We went in expecting the same struggle as the day before, but Abby did just the opposite. She sat on the examination table like a big girl and allowed Dr. Scott to remove her bandages with no more than a slight whimper. Abby was so fascinated with her feet; she actually wanted to see her burns and be actively involved in the process. This just confirms my belief that kids need and want to know what is going on. She was scared to death on Wednesday but the environment on Thursday was much less threatening to her. In terms of getting around, Abby needed to be carried everywhere and held her left foot (the worst one) in the air all the time.

Friday: We returned to the pediatrician for a follow-up visit. She arranged an appointment with a plastic surgeon on Monday, more for precautionary measures than for anything. She also arranged for us to start going to wound care which is part of the physical therapy department at the hospital. Abby found the courage, or maybe just the need to be independent again, and started crawling around the house. She even crawled from a blanket I had so carefully placed in the backyard onto the backporch so that she could drag her hoe and shovel back into the yard to "dig weeds."

Saturday: We went to the hospital for our first wound care experience. This is where the pictures on this post come into play. Jeremy's mom (we had a trade in sets of grandparents) was able to get some really good ones. In admitting, when the guy was ready to put the hospital bracelet on Abby, he warned that she probably wouldn't like it very much. Boy, was he wrong; she loved her new piece of jewelry. In fact, she conned the physical therapist out of two more during our session. Once in the PT room, Abby was naturally very afraid (pictured); she wanted to, "Go home." Routine quickly set in though, and it helped that Amy, our PT, was extremely patient and excellent with kids. She even gave Abby her own pair of gloves to wear. The yucky picture is of Abby's left foot; the biggest blister measures 6 x 5.5 cm. Her right foot only has a blister sort of under the big toe.

So where do we stand now? Abby's feet are still wrapped and we are doing "sterile" bandage changes each day. Providing her blisters continue to remain intact, she will not return to wound care until Monday. If and when the blisters break, we may be in for a few painful procedures, but we are not crossing that bridge until we come to it. And how is "Abby really doing?" She is such a trooper! She is still her happy go lucky self...playing, laughing, learning, and loving...full time, full speed ahead...just not on her feet right now. And Mommy and Daddy are guiltily enjoying that extra bit of love and cuddle time we get every once in a while.

Mother's Day

So I'm posting this for two reasons: 1) to show how cute Abby's hair is in pigtails and 2) to brag on her on Mother's Day. Because I had a final on the day after Mother's Day, we didn't really do much to celebrate. On Saturday, though, when I got home from taking a test, Abby met me at the door with two packages of sour gummy candies. She was grinning from ear to ear, screeching "Mama," bouncing up and down, and bursting with hugs and kisses. Apparently, she and Jeremy had gone to buy a card and candy for me, and while he had instructed her to wait until the next day to give them to me, she could not stand the suspense. It is amazing how such a simple sign of love can mean so much. Thank you Jeremy and Abby Grace for such a magnificent gift.