I'm not sure who was more nervous about taking off Willow's bandages: her or me. One moment she seemed ready but the closer we got to bath time the more hesitant she became. We had gone out (our 1st since arriving home 6 days ago) and arrived home much later than intended due to a traffic jam. I didn't want to wait another day because I knew it was looming over her. With the advice of other OI moms I put her in tub with the brace and took it off there before adding water. She is very careful of her left shin which seemed to have the most padding, but with six incision sites on each leg, we had other choices.
This girl continues to amaze me with her courage, resilience and humor. She was trying so hard to stay cheerful while doing something she was fearful of. I told her we would go slow and could stay in tub as long as we needed to. We played, used shaving cream and listened to Disney tunes (thank you Marissa) while bravely peeling back one bandage after another. She wanted to save the lower leg for tomorrow but I told her they would be wet and stinky. Finally after more than an hour, the last bloody bandage was removed and the water let out. She was dried off, brace put back on and she said, "no tung." meaning no pain. It may seem like a small thing but for a child who may not ever have had anyone constant to rely on, it was important that she knew without a doubt that I would never intentionally cause her pain.
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