María's last doctor visit (see photos in previous blog entry)

We're finished!  María had her last doctor's visit today and, though she is a bit shy of her 8 cm goal (she has gained 7.3 cm, which is excellent), Dr. Paley has judged it better to stop lengthening today, as planned.
Maria now enters into the consolidation stage, when the new bone will solidify. This should take about 16 weeks, after which Maria will return to Dr. Paley to have the fixator removed and a rod placed in her femur, which will be removed in a year's time.
The good news is that when Maria returns for her next lengthening, it might be in only two years, and

she might be able to use an internal lengthening system, called "Precice" which doesn't have an external fixator and requires an easier physical therapy and is much less painful.  Wouldn't that be nice??!!!

As you can imagine, Maria, who has been stoicly doing three tough physical therapy sessions a day, is delighted!!! She has done a great job!

Última consulta

Hoy hemos acudido a nuestra última consulta en el Paley Institute. A fecha de hoy hemos alcanzado 7.3 cm de alargamiento, un poco por debajo de nuestro objetivo de 8 cm. No obstante, Dr. Paley nos ha dicho que prefiere no seguir alargando, ya que esto podría dar lugar a diversas complicaciones no deseables. Así que nos ha cambiado los tornillos del fijador y a partir de ahora estamos oficialmente en la fase de consolidación, que en principio debería durar el mismo tiempo que el del alargamiento, unas 16 semanas. Estamos muy contentos de habernos acercado tanto a nuestro objetivo, y María está encantada de parar ya que la fisioterapia últimamente estaba siendo muy dura. Buen trabajo, Maria!

En cuanto a los próximos pasos, tendremos que venir en 3/4 meses para quitar el fijador e insertarle una vara que a su vez tendremos que quitar un año después. Y la buena noticia es que el próximo alargamiento podría ser dentro de 2 años y que podría ser con el sistema PRECISE, que es un método de alargamiento interno que no requiere el uso del fijador externo y que además supone una fisioterapia mucho más fácil y menos dolorosa. Estamos muy ilusionados con esta perspectiva. 

Os mandamos un abrazo muy fuerte y nos vemos dentro de muy poquito!!! 

Another week gone by...

We have been súper busy this week.  The girls all participated in the Boosterthon held at their school, Timber Trace Elementary.  The event consisted in each child running around a course on the school field, with money pledged by friends and family to be donated for each lap the child ran, the monies being used for school projectsl

Angel, Diana and I turned out at 8:15 to watch Paula run 35 laps!!!!! It was hot and sweaty but she braved the sun and had a great time with her classmates.

Here's a picture of Paula with her teacher. Ms. McKeich.

We returned for the fourth grade class run, to see both Patty and Maria.  Luckily, it had clouded over a bit, but it still was about 32 degrees!  

Maria, instead of running, was given a special seat on a golf cart and took a lap around the golf course. 

Patty valiantly ran 35 laps, while Maria participated by spraying a water bottle on the runners as they ran past her! But a good time was had by all!

The girls have also gotten together with Paley Institute friends at activities in the hospital. Here's a picture of the girls with Max and Daniel at Nova Night, where they had a pizza party after a group discussion.

On Sat. we had a visit from the girls' cousin, Roberto, who is living close by in Boca Raton.  He is as handsome and affectionate as ever! He accompanied the girls in a trip to Loggerhead Marine Center to see the turtles!

On Sunday we had a visit from Angelina, a lovely friend from Maria's class.  The girls spent the afternoon making jewelry.  Our stay here has been so great because of the special friends we've made!

And for those of you who have been anxiously awaiting, here is a picture of Patty's robot which was due last week.  Pretty creative, huh?! Very Patty...!

Nuestra vida en Palm Beach

Hola a todos. Como no tenemos novedades médicas (hasta el día 22 no tenemos cita con Paley) he pensado que estaría bien publicar algunas imágenes de nuestro día a día aquí en Florida. A pesar de ser ya septiembre, hace un calor infernal, lo que no nos deja disfrutar mucho de los preciosos parques y lagos que nos rodean. Aquí podéis ver a las pequeñas de la familia en el parque de PGA (Professional Golfers' Association). 

Las niñas se lo pasan en grande en el colegio que se llama Timber Trace Elemantary, donde no paran de hacer proyectos, leer libros, escribir ensayos y hacer experimentos científicos. Las profesoras son encantadoras y nos han prometido que vamos a mantener el contacto a la vuelta a España. Aquí os ponemos una foto del exterior del cole y una imagen del autobús amarillo típico de los colegios en América. 

Por la tardes Maria va a hacer fisioterapia en el Paley Institute donde tiene que trabajar duro para mantener la movilidad de la rodilla. Allí nuestras físioterapeutas Fran, Tatiana y Vanessa se han portado genial con María y nos dejan llevar a las hermanas para acompañarla. 

También hemos hecho unos amigos australianos, la familia Rigby, cuyo hijo Daniel también es paciente de Paley. Su hermano Max se quedó con nosotros el día que le operaron a Daniel para quitarle su fijador externo. 

Os preguntaréis qué hacemos los mayores mientras las niñas están en el colegio. Bueno, además de haber renovado el vestuario entero de doña Elvira, de vez en cuando hacemos alguna excursión turística, como visitar los jardines japoneses de Morikami, y por supuesto, ir a la playa. 

Bueno, espero que os hayáis hecho una idea de cómo vivimos aquí en Palm Beach. Os echamos mucho de menos a todos y ya tenemos muchas ganas de volver. Abrazos a todos de Angel, Elvira, María, Patty, Paula, Belén y Diana. 

An unexpected visit!

Last night we received a surprise visit from our friend Neely, who had returned to Florida for her doctor's appointment with Dr. Paley.  She was having her treatment here this summer along with Maria and we had fun times with her and her mother Beth.  Now that she has returned to her home in Kentucky, we have missed her!  She is looking great, and her leg almost reaches the ground!!  Hooray!

Her she is with Maria

Another week down!

We have had another good week and less than three more to go home!  We are getting excited, doing lots of shopping (the bargains here are ridiculous!) and trying to figure out how on earth we will get it all packed in our bags!

Yesterday morning was spent at the library.  The girls are all reading up a storm, with much emphasis coming from their school being given to reading and enjoying it!  Paula, who just started first grade is reading second grade books in English already!  And the twins are right on level with their fourth grade classmates.  To say nothing about Belen who is the queen of board books... I am one happy Grandma!

As it was raining, we stayed indoors and did some excercise on the wii we have in the house.  It is great for Maria especially, to keep her knee bending.  Take a look at her

Then, the mailman arrived with Belen's new American passport!  A red letter day for her!

We had a special guest for dinner too.  Fran Guardo, the director of Physical Therapy at the Paley Institute was kind enough to join us and we had a lovely time.  Fran's son is living in Bilbao ( what a small world!!!) and she is planning on visiting him in Oct. So we will be seeing her soon over there!

3 semanas y a casa! / 3 more weeks to go

Hoy hemos vuelto a tener consulta, esta vez con uno de los asistentes de Paley, John Robbs. De nuevo hemos tenido buenas noticias: 6.5 cm alargados, con buena formación de hueso y con un rango de movimiento excelente para lo que llevamos alargado ya (90 grades de flexión y 0 de extension). Nos ha confirmado que en 3 semanas terminaremos de alargar y que podemos marcharnos a España inmediatamente después. Así que el viernes 26 de septiembre volamos a Madrid!! Estamos que no nos lo creemos todavía. Os adjunto la última radiografía en la que podéis ver como se va alargando el fémur. Gracias de nuevo a todos los seguidores de Marichi por vuestras oraciones y los ánimos que nos habéis dado, habéis sido una pieza fundamental en este proceso. 

Today we had another appointment at the Clinic, this time with one of Paley's PA's, John Robb. Once again we have had very good news: we have lengthened 6.5 cm, with good bone growth and an excellent range of motion taking into consideration the amount we have already lengthened (90 degrees flextion and 0 degrees extension). John has confirmed that we will have finished lengthening in 3 weeks, and that we can go back to Spain immediately afterwards. So on Friday September 26 we will be flying back to Madrid! We still can't believe it! I have included the latest x-rays so that you can see how much Maria's femur has grown. Thanks to all of you Marichi followers for your prayers and the support you have given us, you have all been an important part of this process. 

Vote for your favorite cookie! / Facilitamos tu voto :Las galletas más de cerca

You can vote for your favorite cookie.  We have made the picture bigger so you can see the cookie a better.

Hemos ampliado la foto para que veáis las galletas mejor!

El día de las galletas!!!!!!!!:)

Hola a todos somos Pati, María y Paula hoy hemos hecho galletas y las hemos decorado y nos han quedado genial. Y hoy no hemos tenido cole y por eso hemos hecho galletas. Y cuando la galletas estaban terminadas y Belén las ha visto y se las ha zampado porque estaba muy hambrienta.  Bueno metiendose en el tema nos lo hemos pasado genial cocinando, hemos hecho un montón 

Vamos a hacer una encuesta, elegir la que más os guste y escríbidlo en el blog. 

Un beso María ,Pati y Paula

I, Robot

The 4th graders at Timber Trace Elementary were assigned the creation of a robot, using recycled items.  Maria's is due on Fri., (Patty's not until Sept. 19), so, with Grandpa's help and Patty's input, she

spent Sat. Assembling a most amazing product!  Here she is proudly displaying it

Today is Labor Day, so we most certainly are laboring, as there is no school today, and it is already 31 degrees outside!

I am sure we will have fun!