Happy Birthday My Sweet Miracle!

SEPTEMBER 28, 2009

Today is such a special day…..today is Ava’s 2nd birthday. After being told the late hours of April 23rd that there was a strong possibility that Ava would not make it I have to say that today is monumental. Birthdays come and go yet today I don’t want the celebration to end. I feel like Ava has been given a second chance at life and we as parents have been given a second chance to love this little girl with every inch of air we breathe. Today I don’t want to think about the negative that surrounds this situation. I want to focus on the lasting impression Ava has made on so many people’s lives. I want to focus on the fact that I have three beautiful children, an amazing husband and wonderful family and friends. I want to embrace today with everything I have because I can.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY SWEET MIRACLE!

Ava's progress and party details

With summer coming to an end and the start of another school year I thought I would give an update on the progress Ava has made. It has been a little over four months since the accident occurred. If anyone were to have told me that Ava would be functioning at the level she is today I would have never believed them. Ava continues to receive PT and OT 5 days a week. She had been receiving speech therapy at an outpatient facility but will soon start to receive speech therapy at home. Vision therapy will be starting this week. Over the past few weeks Ava has mastered crawling. She is also pulling herself to a standing position in her crib and often will try to stand if someone is there to hold her hands. While she is still not walking and will most likely not for quite some time her desire to do so remains strong. I see it on a daily basis thru her frustration, anger and tears. As a parent this breaks me apart. If there was some way that I could walk for her I would . I see a now 22 month old that doesn’t quite understand why it is that she can no longer walk and why she has difficulty seeing to do it. She is certainly not old enough to understand although I’m not sure that an older child would really understand the severity of what has happened either. All that we can do at this point is remain positive for Ava and believe that just as everything else has come back so to will be her ability to walk. Ava is now wearing an AFO which is a brace on her leg that helps with some of the overextension problems (causing accumulation of fluid around the knee) she is having . She has had improvement with her left sided weakness but it still remains as does her facial weakness. She continues to wear a patch on her left eye to help correct the vision in her right eye. We saw the opthamologist a week ago and she said that Ava’s vision continues to improve. We have been able to decrease the length she wears the patch from 4 hours a day to 3. The doctor also said that her right visual field continues to improve and that her left visual field (which had been completely out since the accident) is starting to show signs of improvement. People ask me every day if Ava will ever see like she did prior to April 23rd and I answer by saying that I don’t know and unfortunately we may not have the answer to this question for quite some time. It is obvious that she has a deficit but she continues to fight for her vision just as she has with every other part of her body. Did I mention how amazing I think she is?????Ava continues to use the kid walk on a daily basis. Jack and Isa have been instrumental in her “walking therapy.” They use ice cream as an incentive to get her to walk. They like it, she likes it, everyone is happy.

On a lighter note, Manny and I have decided to run in the San Antonio Rock and Roll marathon/ ½ marathon on November 15th. We are forming an “All for Ava” team if anyone is interested. We have already had several people tell us that they would love to join us. We plan to wear “All for Ava” shirts in her honor. We are also in the process of forming a charitable organization in her name and will send you the details as soon as they are available. Lastly, our family would like to thank you all for your continued prayers and support. We feel like you all have such an important place in our lives…..to help guide the recovery of our daughter. Words will never be able to describe how much that means to us. Thank you for your strength…..we could not be where we are today without each and every one of you.

Love,
Traci

Please join us in celebrating Ava’s recovery: October 17, 2009
Rogers Ranch/Crosstimber Community Center
3:00 p.m.- 7:00 p.m.
WEAR PINKJ
More details to come

Pictures to last a lifetime

Lilianna Story did an amazing job capturing the love between the Lopez children. Hope you enjoy this heartwarming slideshow. It is breathtaking! Ava, we're so happy to see that vibrant smile again. We love you!

www.liliannastoryslideshow.com/lopezchildren