Ice-Cream, Shoes and Prosthetics

Whew. So it's been pretty full on - mainly with a fab trip to Brisbane to see King K and Gela and an amazing school choir concert at the Gold Coast Arts Centre. Some of the mums were quite tearful (with joy) seeing Tara walking around with long black pants on - she fitted right into the crowd and was walking SO well you'd never have known one of her legs was LouLou in disguise!

In fact - for the first time EVER - we went to Aus Fair the other day and not one person turned to look at Tara - because she blended right in. That's the first time in her LIFE! Altho' it didn't last long - she spotted the escalator and BEGGED us to let her go up and down - so for about 15 minutes straight she walked up and down the escalators having the time of her life (in the beginning holding hands and then finally letting go) - first time ever being able to do that on her own. So that kinda drew a few stares!

Apart from all the usual stuff (tennis, swimming, dinner with friends etc.) - also had a lovely mothers and daughters day at St Hildas, Granny moved into her brand new flat nearby (very exciting!), Jadie and I got colds AND Tone's blood pressure has almost returned to NORMAL!!!! YAY!!!!! Cholesterol still a blah.

Cassie's been very creative - made an ice-cream recipe (heaped with caramel koalas and Dairy Milk) and then cooked it herself from scratch (including making the ice-cream from cream and condensed milk). Very yummy. She also made this small clay Little Miss Sunshine shoe...and the only thing it fits is Tara's stumpy star...so Tara insisted on the photos that are here today. She forced me to photoshop her right leg to also be small - and she just laughs everytime she sees this pic below.

Our visit to the prosthetist yesterday was great (except you know when you're dying for your 8-year-old to be entertaining...and they just suffer total personality-loss instead. Argh!). Anyway - it's amazing how quickly things are changing and improving in the prosthetic world. Altho' Barry (the GC prosthetist) made 2 legs for his other patient (whom we met) just a few months ago - a walking leg and water leg; he now has a far better method. Prosthetics are made up of various components - and he now advocates rather creating ONE component for the main part and then different feet for the various activities Tara wants to do. (So it really is like a Bratz doll where you can put on feet with skates on, barefoot waterproof feet, running feet etc.) So he says he'll specially create Tara's next walking leg to have its main component be all waterproof - this will be the James Bond-like leg - where she puts a gel liner over her knee & thigh with a pin below the knee. Then the leg slots into that pin and you can only release it by pressing on a secret spot on the prosthetic. This means she'll be able to run so much better, trusting the leg that it won't fall off (as velcro-belted LouLou has on occasion!). He'll then create a walking foot and a separate waterproof foot. He says this method is much better because it means the stump only has to get used to one leg; and obviously it's a lot less costly - because the second the stump grows too big - it means only one main leg component needs to be replaced rather than two or more. So it's REALLY exciting and hopefully we can start on that asap - will speak to the hospital on Monday to find out when Tara can stop using this interim leg.

Very sweet. Without us saying anything - Tara's wearing LouLou a LOT more. Like today - Saturday - she hasn't taken LouLou off - and usually when she's at home she does. So she's obviously enjoying the independence and freedom she gets from being able to walk around and carry things at the same time (unlike hopping - very dangerous with a glass of milo or scissors!).

OK - gotta rush. Hairdresser coming in 20 minutes. St Hilda's Dinner Dance tonight at the Sheraton and then 9am start tomorrow - the girls' school chapel, followed by birthday party etc. etc.

Hope you're all having a FAB weekend. Will do emails tomorrow night I promise. Thank you again to EVERYONE for such divine support - wish you could all see Tara in real life (Janet - we'll see you at Xmas!) - just a blossoming bundle of happiness and love.