Welcome Home Stumpie

Yup - Tara's calling her leg Stumpie at the moment. Very Aussie of her! She's still loving it, doing her exercises and getting whisked around on the wheelchair by anyone under the age of 10 who walks thro' the door. 

We're home after just 4 nights in hospital! Amazing. Our car was JAM-PACKED with flowers and balloons. Don't know how Tone saw thro' the rearview mirror (argh - maybe he didn't!). Have returned to even more divine meals in the freezer from Vets and Alex. Huge thank you! It was great last night to sleep thro' without hearing other children screaming and crying through the night because of the pain and the fear of being alone. To lie in bed at 3am and hear a child sobbing 'Mummy, Mummy, please help me Mummy, I'm so sore!" and know that their Mum's nowhere near is heartbreaking. Tara even noticed herself and told us how lucky she was that she had both her mum and dad there. The nurses claim that they're nothing like the nurses on Grey's Anatomy...but the one thing that almost all of them (except for one dragon!) had in common with Izzy is that they treat those kids like humans and not like patients...and they compensate as much as they can for the lack of a caring parent. There was a 4-year-old kid there who didn't know what to do with a banana. And had no idea what a toothbrush was for. We so developed the hugest respect for the staff at the Royal Children's Hospital - and will definitely do whatever we can in the future to help them - they are just so under-funded and yet provide such a vital, vital service.

So altho' we're getting so many beautiful calls and messages telling us that we've been thro' such a big thing - it's hard to feel anything but blessed and so fortunate to be in a situation where we have all this love and support from friends and family. And where we have a little 7-year-old here who is just SO excited and proud of her new stump, and can't wait to get a new leg. She never had a leg to stand on (no pun intended!) - so in a way she hasn't lost anything - she's only gained. And when you look at those other little kids in hospital without parents to tuck them in and cuddle them at night - then you know that Tara is so far from being disabled. It's those little children who are so tragically disadvantaged, not Tara. She has love, she has passion, she has goedspa! 

We have a bit of a journey ahead - she has to stay in the wheelchair for at least 3 weeks - great fun on and off the loo etc! Then she can start using crutches in about a month's time (too dangerous now coz stump would swell if it was hanging down). Our visits to Brisbane begin again on Tuesday (blah!), teaching us to bandage her leg etc. - and they estimate that she'll get fitted for her new leg in about 10-12 weeks time. 

Her first weekend with an amputation has been heaps of fun - she had such a divine time with Isla from school (who came to visit her in hospital) - Tara & Jadie actually scared Isla coz they screamed so loudly in delight to see her. And then the cousins came around last night & the Patons today. There was a brief moment when our hearts almost broke - coz all the other kids ran into the bedroom and closed the door - and Tara was left outside and couldn't open it. Argh! But that was soon sorted (they were planning a surprise for her) - and it was so beautiful a little later seeing her and her cousin Alec just leaning against each other on the bed giggling and playing with their DS's, two little equals. And again today - watching Evie wheeling her around - Evie (also 7) even chose so sweetly to not swim with all the other kids so she could play with Tara instead. The main concern for most people (kids and adults) seems to be that they may stare too much at Tara's stump - but you know, nobody stared at it more in the first 24 hours than Tara! So she's expecting that. And it's also amazing how virtually every kid has asked "so where's Leggie Loo gone?". Tara tells them: "to Leggie Loo heaven" - and they all seem happy with that and carry on as usual. 

Here's a quick video of Tara mucking around in the hospital...