Dancing our Way out of Mississippi

Blog Post from Summer 2020

We stayed in Mississippi two weeks, for the entire length of Karis' ballet camp.

A BIG thank you to the Snowden's for hosting us for TWO WEEKS!  You guys have such servant hearts!

We were able to see Karis perform at the end, which was really special.

The day before the performance, we went to visit some more dear friends who had us over for dinner.

We had a fun evening visiting the Crowe's, and once again, Keira found a friend in their youngest daughter.

They invited her to spend the night, but Keira wasn't quite ready; however, I told Keira I would bring her back early the next morning, so she could feed ducks in their backyard with her new friend Bella.

July 24, 2020

Keira was having so much fun doing so many things, so I left her there while Doug and I went to other appointments, and she had quite a day.

Bella took her paddle boarding for the first time.

She held a rabbit.

She held a bird.

And then, Bella and her mom brought Keira and met us at the ballet gala, which they were going to anyway.

Karis is in the center of both of these pictures.

I tear up every year watching these performances to such beautiful worship songs. 

Ballet is a beautiful way to offer worship to the Lord.

July 24, 2020

Two days after Kylie's surgery, she took her crutches out in the rain so she could watch her sister perform, and we were all blessed by the beautiful Ballet Magnificat performances by their summer intensive participants.

 

On a side note, I just finished a book by one of the ballet instructors at Ballet Magnificat.

He came to the company in 1993 at age 19 from a newly formed Czech Republic. His autobiography was a blessing to read. From our side of the world, we just imagined what was going on behind the Iron Curtain, but he gives a realistic account about how he lived from birth to age 18 and how he found out about a man named Jesus.

The book is "Velvet Meets the Iron Curtain," by Jiri Sebastian Voborsky.

A Surprise Surgery (that we were SO grateful for)

Blog Post About Summer 2020

In the last post I mentioned the Godwin's. Seeing them was a divine meeting.

C, the husband, asked Kylie how her knee was doing, and she told him it still wasn't well, and she didn't know what else she could do for it.

We had dinner with them on July 15th.

C made a phone call, and the next Monday, July 20th, he scheduled us to see an orthopedic doctor who not only saw Kylie, but scheduled her for an MRI and an X-ray that same day, and then after seeing the results, scheduled her for a surgery two days later!

As I prayed for Kylie before going into surgery, she teared up, and I asked if she was afraid, but she said, "No, I'm just so happy to be getting my knee fixed."

July 22, 2020

October 1, 2018, when Kylie's injury occurred in ballet, we were told that her patella had been knocked out of place, and an MRI confirmed it had gone back into place. 

We got some instructions on some physical therapy Kylie could do on her own, so we signed her up for a gym membership, and she started doing some small things to help; however, even though she gained a little strength, she still wasn't getting better.

It turns out that when her patella WAS knocked out of place, it knocked a part of her femur bone off!

The surgeon did say that the way it healed (interpretation: *the way God healed it) was much better than he could have done.

The doctor cleaned out all the floating bone fragments, including this large piece, and he took a tendon from a cadaver and gave her a stronger tendon to hold her patella in place since the other was "stretched out" (in layman's terms).

July 24, 2020

Our plans got a little skewed, and we had to cancel on the Manuel's and Reed's, but we were so glad to get answers and solutions for Kylie's knee. 

The Slay's and the Pettus' gave Kylie a place to rest during the day hours while we continued to make visits, and then two days after her surgery, on Friday, July 24, 2020, Kylie hobbled out in the rain to watch her sister dance at the gala.

Those two years between injury and surgery were long, and even though her knee bothered her nearly every day, she never complained, even though I know (and she knew) that if we had been in America, we could have gotten more help.

Field Trip Out of Town

A week after Kylie got her knee drained, we took a trip to see an old monastery (Oct 16).  It just so happens that the orthopedist was part of our group, so that was a bonus.

I'm glad we were in a vehicle.  I can't imagine how long it must have taken the people in earlier times to walk up here.

Can you see where we're going? 

This is the view, up from where we parked.

And here is poor Kylie starting the trek up hundreds of stairs.

Sweet Karis stayed right by her side.

Looking back down.

 The long winding road we had taken.

The kids enjoyed climbing everywhere.

Here is Karis at the edge of the wall, and the hole in the wall is empty for now.

Then Karis went into some tunnels below and stuck her head out through the wall.

 Here are Karis and Keira climbing on the older part.

Of course, since we aren't in a country with a lot of regulations, there is a straight drop-off right behind us and no guardrails anywhere.

Right across from where we took this picture was this "prayer" tree.  People come and tie ribbons or strips of plastic bags all over this tree.  Sometimes they tie money inside the the plastic bags.

Kylie started her descent down.

She and her sidekick made it in good time; however, I think she was wiped out.

When we left the monastery, we drove around a nearby town looking for the tomb of Nahum, the prophet.  As we were winding in and out of streets, we saw this.  

I have no words.  There's the birth, Last Supper, crucifixion, hints of Babylonian empire, and who knows what else.

When we finally found the tomb of Nahum, the entire church built over the site was under construction.

Unfortunately, there was no way in, so maybe we'll get to see it another time.

After our long day, we drove to another city to eat, and there are so many things to be said about this menu, but I'll let you check out the other items for yourself.  I've circled the few that made me grin the most.

Fluid off the Knee

Two weeks after the accident, Kylie still had a lot of fluid on her knee.  

It just so happens that God brought an orthopedist here at this very time.

And...he happened to have graduated from Doug's and my alma mater, Texas A&M.

What are the chances of an orthopedist traveling in the middle east just when we needed him!

God is so good, and He cares about each of us so much.

Kylie said it was pretty painful.

I'll take her word for it.

But the knee did look better afterward.

It was still three months after this before it looked like a normal knee again.

The Pop Heard 'Round the World

October 1, 2019

This is a day that will forever be remembered in our home.

This was the day Kylie's patella popped out of socket, tearing up a lot of things on its journey before it finally popped back into place. 

She saw two doctors in two days who gave differing opinions.

I'd love to say it's "in the past," but she is still dealing with the aftermath of that injury.  I'm sure things would have been a little different had we been in the States, but this is part of our journey, and even in this, He is with us, and we are learning more about Him.

In the beginning, no stairs meant living/sleeping downstairs for about three weeks.

Crutches for 7 weeks.

 No dancing for 2 months.

October 3, 2019

*Tried dancing in January, and then went back to the original doctor in February.



*No more dancing for another month; weight machines 4 days a week.



*Back to the doctor again.

*No dancing for another month.

*More weights.





At the end of that time (tomorrow, April 26) is the show that she can only participate in little.


This has not been an easy road for her, but she has been an amazing patient, and she has grown a lot.

Getting an ultrasound on her knee October 5, 2019

To get to this doctor, she had to walk with her newly acquired crutches across this slick tile sidewalk that was brilliantly placed outside of the clinic.

The right clutch slipped, and she went down on her foot.

Someone did come out with a wheelchair to help her in.  The wheelchair made it into the elevator with about a centimeter on each side to spare (if that much), and since there are step-overs to all the door ways, she eventually had to use her crutches to get to the office anyway.

This book is where the doctor keeps his medical notes/records.  No computer in sight.  Just one patient written about one after the other.

Leaving the office, was also tricky.  Coming, we had walked two blocks because we didn't know where the office was.  This time, Doug went to get the car, and pulled up to the "curb" (which you can see below).  All I can say is:  Be thankful for handicap regulations in America.  You never know when you'll be the one to benefit from them.

October 5, 2019