It is only the 27th of April as I write this but so far it has been an unbelievable year. On the 28th of January we had a house fire which put us out of our home. As of today we are still not sure when we will be able to return to our house. We are currently living in a 3 bed room trailer that is sitting in our front yard. On April 1st of this year Willie again under went surgery. This time he not only had his tendons lengthened but he had his ankles fused and his tibias rotated. He is again in casts from toes to knees.
    He got through this surgery better than the last one. He woke right up from the anesthesia this time, but this time the surgery took nearly 5 1/2 hours. He spent seven days in the hospital this time, most of it for the increased physical therapy that he can get at duPont. He was still not weight bearing when he came home, but we had high hopes that being around his siblings would give him the motivation needed to get moving. So far it hasn't worked to well. After three weeks of being at home he can only stand for very short amounts of time and can only walk while wearing leg immobilizers and using a walker. The Dr. feels that when the casts come off around the 14th of May, that Willie might need to spend two weeks in the rehab unit at the hospital.
    We choose to put Willie in a self contained 3rd grade room at school this year. The decreased number of students in the room and the fact that there are two teachers in the room, have all worked to help Willie catch up. He has made the honor role all three semesters so far this year. We did keep Ms. Sharon on as Willie's aide. She is with him on a full time basis this year. Her presence has done wonders in helping Willie catch up.
    Willie is still doing better than many people predicted. I pray he continues to do so.