The Official Compression Wear!

Well, once again we made another trip to Calgary! Our trips are usually straight up and back so I don't look forward to going up there very often. I guess the one thing I do enjoy about our trips up is that I get to chat and spend some quality time with Tim which doesn't happen very often these days!

Darlene our Occupational Therapist called us and said our new compression wear we ordered had finally arrived and we needed to come and check if it fit. Tim and I were pretty excited to get Ethan's new hat... the ones we use now are a pain in the butt. They fray and stretch and shrink when you wash them so we usually end up having to make new hats every 2 days.

And they are UGLY!

(I know you may not think they are that bad but when you see how nice the ones they can make for him are...there is just no comparison)

Alright, so we get up to Calgary, walk excitedly into the office, and Darlene pulls out the sleeves first. They were cute, better than the current ones he had on, a little small on one arm, but

do-able. Then she gets the hat.

Tim and I looked at each other, I am sure he was thinking the same thing as me because it was written all over his face,

"Are you serious?"

"Do you honestly think that will fit on his head?"

Ahh, we were so disappointed!

We have been waiting for 5 weeks, anticipating the new hat and then nothing!

Too small!

Sweet Darlene then spent the next hour or two trying to sew and adapt the hat to fit but unfortunately there was no hope. To order a new one would take another 4-6 weeks and whose to say that one would fit. So we decided to try and find some fabric that is similar, a breathable, stretchy in both directions, lycra/nylon so we could make our own hat.

Not easy to find that's for sure. We have looked high and low and I have found one fabric that might work...we will see.

Doug lets the girls take over his room while we work on Ethan in the room right next to it. They are quite content to just chill and watch t.v. or play with the toys for the patients. They never let Doug forget to give them a sticker when we are done either.
This is Darlene, Ethan's occupational Therapist. She's great and has worked very hard making sure Ethan has the appropriate compression garments throughout his recovery process! You can see on the board behind her all the different types of compression wear for kids.
This is Doug our Physiotherapist! He has been there since day one, helping with Ethan's surgeries and the routine weekly visits. Ethan has grown very fond of him and so have we. We couldn't have asked for a better physiotherapist! Behind him is a grad student finishing off her physiotherapy degree. Sorry, I can't remember her name.
The hat!! We had to stretch and pull and add fabric to get this to fit this good but in the end it was hopeless. It doesn't look too bad from this angle but it kept sliding off his head. Not to mention the straps only came to the bottom of his jaw.

"Say cheese!"
"OOOOO" Ethan's new favorite toy (buzz lightyear) at the clinic. Everyone gets a laugh at how animated Ethan is since the accident.
The kids have been dying to play on this park but weather was never agreeable...until now! They had a blast running around and getting all their energy out before the long 2 hour drive back!
He loved the slide.

Behind the Hospital we found two putting greens with several putters and golf balls. I think Tim had more fun than the kids on this one.