Letters to my Grandchild

Wed: 28th October 2009 Hello little Em, Your Mom and Dad took you to Entabeni Hospital where Dr Stead removed the spica cast this morning.  Tammy said it was done very quickly but you screamed when you felt the saw near you anyway - I don't blame you, I would have screamed too! Tammy brought you here and it was lovely to hold you close again without the Scotchcast.  I was a bit concerned because twice whilst you were sitting in the pram, you flinched and cried when moving your leg.  Perhaps your joints were stiff and it was sore to move the knee or hip.  I suggested to Tam that she massage your joints with baby oil just to get them pliable again.  A couple of days ago you started leopard crawling in the cast.  You turned over onto your tummy, pushed down with your elbows and pushed off with your right foot - moving forwards at quite a pace.  Your Mom said that she had even caught you trying to pulll yourself up onto your little armchair in the lounge!  (It looks like this o

Happy Birthday Emily,  You had a wonderful party at our house.  Mom bought a Winnie the Pooh table cloth for the diningroom table and made all sorts of snacks - quiche, sandwiches, sausage rolls, cheese rolls, pizza squares: I ordered cup-cakes and cheese cakes and Granny Laura brought a gorgeous No1 birthday cake with Winnie the Pooh characters on it. We had two birthday banners and pink and white balloons.   You gave lots of kisses - got lots of hugs - and enjoyed being the centre of attraction.  About 25 people came and you got quite shy when we sang happy birthday to you.  You got lots of presents and with Mom sitting on the floor in the TV room you had fun ripping off the wrapping paper and opening the boxes and presents.  You didn't let the spica cast bother you and even spent some time rolling on the carpet, playing with some of your presents.  Altogether, it was a wonderful day and you were the perfect little birthday girl! 

16th October 2009 Hello my darling, It was your birthday on Friday.  Because we were having a party for you here on Sunday we thought we might not even get to see you on your birthday, but Mark and Tammy took pity on us and brought you around for a visit. At first they weren't sure how they would transport you in the car because you can't sit in the car seat.  I bought you a plastic dog bed!  I found a sheet of foam and covered it with an old duvet cover (made smaller to fit) and Tammy took the harness off your high chair and threaded it through the slits in the bottom of the plastic dog bed.  Voila!  You have a perfect, transportable bed complete with harness that fits on the back seat! We bought you a baby doll that cries, breathes, laughs and burps after drinking from a bottle.  It really is a bit weird - very life like - and you were quite taken with it.  We also bought you a few books to add to your collection.  I hope that you will love reading like I do.  Your fa

Hello my darling, Yesterday you fractured your left femur.  It was such a shock because you were in the pool with Jackie your swimming teacher when it happened.  Tammy got you to Dr Bekker's rooms and he suggested she take you straight to Entabeni Hospital for X-rays.  The pictures showed an oblique fracture, starting about mid shaft. "Oblique fracture implies a fracture line that is oblique to the long axis of the bone. These fractures generally result from bending, with superimposed axial compression. As a result of the obliquity of the fracture line, this fracture tends to override or rotate unless traction is maintained throughout the period of healing." Mark and Tammy think that the fracture might have started earlier, in the morning at home.  Tam said that you spilled your milk on the tiled floor and when you tried to turn over into a crawling position your hand slipped and you fell forward and banged your head.  This is when you could have put stress on the leg