Martin

PLEASE take note of the new masculine background. Well.....it's as masculine of a "scrapbook" background that I could find. :-)I was hoping to catch up on the blog with all of the pictures from the Doyles visit this weekend.... BUT- apparently our new internet provider will not allow the slideshow program. ugh! I'll get them on here eventually...

Now to the point of this post....MARTIN!!!
Those of you who have met Martin know how stinkin' cute he is. A little less than 2 months ago while we were in the States, a group of surgeons from the U.S. came to Ambato on a medical mission trip. Patti Sue took Martin, and he had 3 tendon releases on each leg! Ouch. These tendon releases allowed his legs to be perfectly straight for the first time in his life. He had to wear a cast that started at the top of his thighs...down to his toes...held by a bar between his knees.

It was time for Martin to have his cast taken off, and we happened to have the perfect candidate for the job... Dan Doyle is an ER nurse, and he's a pro at taking off casts. Tammy is a nurse as well, so they were the perfect combination for the job.

Here's Martin in the car on the way to our house- where we decided to take the cast off. Notice how happy he is....
We get to the house.....He is still happy, and he says that he's ready to have the cast off.
Here's Martin after he has FULLY realized what's going on... Notice how NOT happy he is now...
It was very difficult, because the saw and scissors we borrowed from the hospital were incredibly dull. Also...the cast is supposed to be used as a brace every night, so it had to be cut very specifically to maintain the right support system.

Geovanny is our physical therapist, and he was there when Martin had the cast put on.

We gave Martin a chocolate bar to cheer him up, but he squeezed it so hard it melted. lol...

Look at those poor, puffy eyes!

We did it at our house, because we're the only ones who have a bath-tub....I think he's happy again! :-)

It's awesome to see him sitting with his legs straight out in front of him like this. He has always sat in a "w" shape, with his knees bent and feet sticking out behind him. He still sometimes falls back into that habit when he gets ready to move across the room, but we're working on it. He's going to need continuous therapy to maintain full functioning and allow the tendons to completely heal.

It's awesome to see these steps through the years... It was so exciting when he gained more independence by learning to use a walker.... I cannot wait to see him walk and run on his own! God is so awesome.