Off to Shriners we go!

Friday we (as in we I mean Bella) have an appointment at Shriner's Hospital in Chicago. We are discussing "Sports arms" specifically and joints. Some things you learn as you go and currently we are learning that we need something different for Bella to be fully included in PE. While her PE teacher is amazing and is doing everything she can, we both thought now was the time to reach out to the "big dogs"...

Bella's pediatrician is no expert in limb differences. I mean, while they seem common to me because I have a community filled with people with limb differences and amputations, they really aren't something that everyone knows about. For us, it's a lot of advocating on my part and education. I'm the one talking to her pediatrician about her needs and advocating for things that may help her.

Bella does have a wrist in her left arm which complicates things a bit. Due to her wrist, we have the elbow joint AND the wrist joint to worry about. We have to be sure that we don't damage either of those joints. She does have some hyperextension in her elbow (which tends to run in our family) so that could cause her problems if we aren't careful. We also have to be sure that she's not putting too much pressure on the bones in the wrist joint when she's doing things.

The beautiful thing about having a community of friends is that I posted about sports arms on Facebook. My feed was filled with people who have ideas or suggestions and pictures. This is priceless! Building a community is essential for us to succeed and make life a little easier for Bella. Aside from that, couldn't we all use a little support from time to time!

Wish us luck! I'll update again after our visit!