2007 (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

 

FINALLY!  

2007 was the first calendar year that passed without Kellisa having to endure surgery.

 

Kellisa really started to thrive with her newfound medical stability. She started taking dance lessons and it was obvious from the start that Kellisa has the heart of a dancer. Kellisa danced in her first recital, and she garnered the loudest cheers from the audience during the encore.

 

2006 (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

 

2006 started with Kellisa’s 4^th surgery in four months. Both hips were dislocated again, requiring another surgery of cutting bones, inserting screws, and hardware. It was followed with the same six brutal weeks of recovery.

 

After 18 months without a trip or trail, I was eager to get Kellisa back outside. I wanted to push our limits and see what we could do on trails. I even bought the largest baby jog stroller I could find so we wouldn’t have to use her wheelchair anymore. 

 

2005 (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

After a few good hikes in 2004, I thought 2005 would be our year to get out and explore. The outdoors would be ours!

 

I was wrong, very wrong!

 

The year started out with a surgery to remove the hardware from Kellisa hips. The six-week recovery period was as brutal as the original surgery. Thankfully, The Wiggles were there to help Kellisa through another difficult six weeks.

 

2004 (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

I was traveling a lot for work and when I had to spend the week before Memorial Day weekend in Atlanta, I invited Lisa and Kellisa to join me. It was a mini vacation. I could join them for lunch and evening swims after dinner. I started researching hikes with wheelchairs. I found a short accessible trail leading to a viewpoint of the highest waterfalls east of the Mississippi only an hour from Atlanta. Finished with work, we drove to the trail on Saturday morning.  I was bursting with excitement. I found a hike I could do with Kellisa. It was a beautiful trail, and I easily pushed Kellisa to the viewpoint. The waterfall was breathtaking. The endless mountain views were inspiring. Kellisa was having fun. This was Kellisa’s first wheeled hike on an accessible trail. I was disappointed beyond belief.

 

2003 - Part II (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

Kellisa wasn’t drinking and her only fluid intake was through the limited food she was eating. There was only so much pudding we could force into her mouth. She wasn’t thriving and required surgery to place a G-tube in the summer. With a G-tube, we would be able to give Kellisa the fluid she needed, and prescription formula would guarantee she would receive all the nutrition required to start growing. Of course, Kellisa suffered from complications that required a second surgery to remove the original G-tube and replace it with another. The doctor had been placing G-tubes for 26 years and Kellisa was the first patient to ever require a second surgery. Kellisa was an expert at confusing doctors.