Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo

Ciao a TUTTI! Speriamo che abbiate passato un Buon Natale e che il Nuovo Anno porti a tutti salute e fortuna. Noi abbiamo passato il Natale con i parenti di papa' Joseph (nonna Katie, zia Annette, e cugini Nikki, Junior e Jay); si sono fermati solo per un paio di giorni ma ci siamo fatti una bella scorpacciata di dolci, film e risate. Adesso siamo a Dallas per festeggiare il fine d'Anno; torneremo a casa ad Austin il primo di Gennaio. Sasha e Diego hanno ricevuto un sacco di bei regali e noi non sappiamo piu' dove mettere tutti i giochi! Cogliamo l'occasione per ringraziare tutti amici e parenti che hanno chiamato, scritto e inviato pacchi! Ecco alcune foto...altre saranno pubblicate presto (sono ad Austin)...tornate a trovarci sul sito in alcuni giorni. Di nuovo i nostri piu' calorosi Auguri di Buone Feste e Felice 2009!

Nonna torna a casa

Non molti forse sapevano che nonna Elda e' venuta in visita in Texas. Era originariamente venuta per essere qui durante l'operazione alla mano sinistra che avevamo in programma per Diego l'8 Ottobre. Sfortunatamente abbiamo dovuto cancellare l'intervento in quanto Diego si e' preso il raffreddore. La nuova data e' tutt'ora da stabilire ma speriamo di poterla fissare nei prossimi 1-2 mesi. In compenso, nonna Elda e' stata assolutamente indispensabile in quanto papa' Joseph si e' dovuto operare alla schiena. Andiamo un po' indietro...dunque...Joseph ha sofferto di male alla schiena da alcuni anni ma niente di assolutamente intollerabile. Circa un mesetto fa' ha partecipato alla MS 150 che e' una corsa in bicicletta di circa 250 Km fatta in 2 giorni. E' stato un evento bellissimo anche perche' ha dato la possibilita' a me, Diego e nonna di spendere il fine settimana sulla costa (Corpus). Abbiamo visitato l'aquario marino, visto lo spettacolo coi delfini e mangiato pesce fresco ai ristoranti tipici del golfo. Ad ogni modo, la corsa in bicicletta ha causato un drastico acceleramento della condizione al disco cervicale di papa'...tanto che il medico ha suggerito di rimuovere il disco (ernia) e sostituirlo con una protesi sintetica. Il tutto e' successo in fretta, operazione e' andata bene e Joseph si sta gia' riprendendo.
Purtroppo nonna e' dovuta ripartire per l'Italia. Ieri l'abbiamo accompagnata in areoporto..qualche lacrimuccia...e' difficile dire ciao specialmente adesso che Diego e' piu' grande e inizia ad affezzionarsi. Nonna ha appena chiamato per farci sapere che e' arrivata a Milano; il viaggio e' andato bene. Non so cosa faremo senza nonna!!! Ci ha viziati un po' tutti qui, pensate che io non ho cucinato neanche una volta nelle ultime 6 settimane! E non ho neanche fatto il bucato...non ricordo neanche dova va il detersivo! Ha pensato a tutto nonna Elda! Benedette tutte le nonne!!! Ecco alcune foto che abbiamo fatto...

Diego goes back to Italy!

On June 6th the family flew to Italy for a 2 week vacation. This was Diego's second visit to Italy. His first was spent entirely in Milan visiting family. For his second trip we planned to stay at our home in Brugnetto which is 4 hrs from Milan on the eastern coast. Diego spent a lot of time with his grandparents and we got a chance to relax. We hit the beach, ate, toured the area, ate, visted friends, ate, and ate, and ate. So much eating! We couldn't help ourselves! The food was so good!

Overall it was a wonderful trip. We especially enjoyed seeing Diego intereact with his grand parents. They love him very much and are always eager to show him off to their friends. When it was time to leave there were plenty of tears. It is always hard to go but it was good to be home again. Here are a few of the 695 photos we shot.

A long time coming..

It has taken over 13 months of therapy, casting and many road trips to Dallas to prepare Diego for his next medical milestone. One that was realized on April 17th when he was fitted with a Hip, Knee, Ankle, Foot Orthosis or HKAFO brace. It started at 10 am when we met with Art, the cast removal guy. Diego never really liked Art thanks to the loud electric saw he uses to remove casts. So once Diego saw him enter the room, he started crying. Within 15 minutes Diego was cast free. It was so good to finally see his little legs again! Next we had to visit Mr. Kwan in Orthotics. We met with Kwan during an earlier visit to measure Diego for the braces. When Kwan entered the room he was carrying Diego's brace which was fitted with little tennis shoes. They were so cute! Kwan showed us how to put on the brace and work the joint locks. He also made a few adjustments to make it more comfortable which is very important since Diego is expected to wear the brace 23 hrs a day. Seeing Diego standing in his new brace and shoes was a real treat for us.

Now that Diego has graduated to wearing a brace, we can start making real progress towards learning to walk. There is still a lot of hard work and hours of therapy ahead. If everything goes well, we hope lil Diego will be able to walk by his next birthday. We want to thank all the wonderful people at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. Special thanks to Diego's orthopedic surgeon Dr. Birch, his nurse Amy and Kwan.

Buon Compleanno Diego!

Non ci sembra ancora vero che il nostro piccolo Diego ha gia' compiuto un anno! E pensare che sembra ieri quando abbiamo iniziato i nostri viaggi a Dallas per i trattamenti ortopedici. Abbiamo festeggiato entrambi i compleanni di papa' Joseph e Diego insieme visto che sono cosi' vicini (Diego 5 Marzo e papa' 14 Marzo...lo stesso giorno di nonna Zulema..AUGURI NONNA!!!).

Grazie a tutti i cugini, zii ed amici che ci hanno inviato Auguri di Buon Compleanno. Speriamo possiate vedere le foto...e per tutti coloro che hanno chiesto...no, non abbiamo ancora intenzione di tagliare i capelli a Diego :)

Ieri siamo andati a Scottish Rite per togliere il gesso alla mano ed estrarre la vite dal polso. La procedura e' andata bene e Diego ha pianto di piu' a togliere il gesso che tutto il resto. Adesso indossa un bel "splint" che sembra quasi un guanto come quelli che indossano i ciclisti per non farsi male alle mani e ai polsi. Faremo una foto e la publicheremo a giorni cosi' potete vedere il nuovo "look" !

I gessi alle gambe sono rossi! Li abbiamo cambiati anche loro. Adesso sono dritti cosi' Diego puo' iniziare a praticare a stare eretto. Publicheremo una foto..visto che sono all'ultima moda!

Abbiamo anche preso le misure per costruire i primi tutori che saranno fatti su misura da ingenieri specializzati direttamente all'ospedale. Saranno di alluminio e una plastica dura speciale con viti alle giunture cosi' Diego si potra' sedere senza problemi. Non saranno pronti per un altro mesetto, cio' vuol dire che dovremo vivere coi gessi per un altro po' di tempo. E va beh non e' poi cosi' male :)

Saluti a tutti e un abbraccio forte da Diego!!!

Happy Birthday Diego and Daddy!!

It's hard to believe our little Diego is 1yr old and Daddy is 34 again! To celebrate Mom organized a great party that turned out to be a suprize for Daddy too! We want to thank everyone that attended for making this a very special 1st and 43rd birthday party.

Discharge Day for Diego!

We are very happy to report that Diego has been discharged from the hospital! A full 2 days ahead of schedule! We are so proud of our lil boy!

Before leaving his leg casts were covered with a final soft cast wrap. It was done to provide strength to the primary cast which was split to account for swelling.

Also today a very special package was delivered to Diego's room. With the package was a beautiful card sent from "Diego's friends at Dell GSC and FP". We helped Diego open the gift to find the cutest little story book shaggy dog. It's a combination stuffed dog and story book. We want you to know that Diego loved the gift. Thank you so much!

Now at home we are finding there are new challenges brought on by Diego's casts. He now feels 10 lbs heavier, the casts are so bulky he barely fits in his car seat, and there are only a couple positions where he feels comfortable. He also knows how to wield his arm cast so you have to be on your toes when carrying him or risk losing a tooth.

This evening Diego had a very special guest stop by for a visit. It was Dad's longtime friend, Miguel "Ski" Abreu. Ski and Dad were stationed at Ft. Hood together during the late 80s'. We last saw Ski when Romina was 7 months pregnant. Diego is now 11 months old so this visit was way overdue. We all had a great time playing with Diego and reminiscing about old times.

We plan on remaining in Dallas for 1 more day and expect to be back home on Sunday. It will feel good to finally get our baby boy home :)

Surgery Day 2

Diego is recovering a lot faster than doctors expected, his appetite is slowly returning, and he takes all meds by mouth. If he keeps up the good work he may get discharged on Friday. We are keeping our fingers crossed.

This afternoon he smiled for the first time since he went into surgery. Anyone that has spent time with Diego knows he loves to smile so it was a good indication that he is feeling better. He even allowed Mom and Dad to load him into a wagon and pull him around the 3rd floor. It gave him a chance to get out of bed and see other kids. It was a blast for us. We think Diego had fun too despite having a pissed off look the entire time.This evening the parents of Cayden (one of Diego's buddies) called to say they were stopping by for a visit. Cayden also has Arthrogryposis and is being treated at Scottish Rite. They stopped by at 7 pm with dinner for Mom and Dad :) They watched Diego while we ate together in the break room. Afterwards Cayden joined Diego in his crib for some social time. Diego was so happy to have company. Later, we took a few pictures of the boys together. By this time Diego was ready for bed so he didn't smile much.


We want to send a special thanks to Cayden's parents, Brian and Cara. Thank you so much for dinner and bringing Cayden to brighten Diego's day. We hope to see you again in Austin in a couple weeks.

*special note: There are times we feel especially down about Diego's condition. Being here in the hospital helps put things in perspective. Tonight we saw a young girl alone in a room. We waved at her and asked if Diego could pay a visit. She answered "yes" with a big smile. She told us her name is Leti. She is 15 and lives in Dallas. She has been in the hospital for 7 months and has 2 more to go. We were floored! Leti helped us realize how lucky we really are.

Surgery Day for Diego

O'Dark-Thirty. That's the military term for very early in the morning. That's what time it was when we headed back to the hospital. Once in the room we gave Diego an antibacterial bath and put on his cute little hospital gown.
8:45 AM: We were escorted from his room down to Main Surgery. There we met with his nurse Bridgette and the anesthesiologist. They asked us to write 'YES' on his right arm and both feet to acknowledge the surgical locations. He was then given an oral liquid they called "goofey juice". A sedative to calm him before going into surgery. At 9:15 was the big hand off. Mom handed him over to Bridgette. We both kissed him and watched as she carried him off to surgery. That was a tough moment for us. Tougher than we both expected.

10 AM: Update from surgery - Diego is fully sedated and 10 minutes into his foot surgery. Each foot should take 1 1/2 hrs. Hand surgery has not yet started. They will give us another update in 2 hrs.

12 PM: Surgery to the right leg is complete. Diego's surgeon is please with how it came out. He is now starting on the left leg. Surgery to the hand will begin in the next 30 minutes.

12:47 PM: The left leg is complete. Diego's surgeon ,Dr. Birch, was able to get both feet in a correct position for walking. For now Diego will remain in bent-leg casts for 4 weeks followed by straight-leg casts for another 4 weeks. The hand surgery is about to begin.

3:18 PM: We are happy to say that Diego is finally out of surgery. All went very well and he is resting comfortably. We are hoping he will recover quickly so he can start using those new feet and hand :) For now he will remain in the hospital so check back regularly to see how he is doing. We want to thank everyone for their prayers and well wishes.

Per i familiari e amici in Italia.

Diego e’ entrato in sala operatoria questa mattina alle 9:20 ora locale and e’ uscito verso le 14:00. Circa 4.5 ore minuto piu’ minuto meno.

Durante questo periodo di tempo l’assistente chirurgico ci ha tenuto informati dalla sala operatoria sullo stato delle procedure effettuate dalle due equipe’ di medici che hanno operato Diego. Il Dottor John Birch ha iniziato l’intervento al piede destro e poi si e’ spostato sul sinistro. Nel fratttempo il Dottore delle mani (non ricordo il nome in questo momento) ha effettuato l’operazione al polso destro.

Il povero Diego e’ un po’ frastornato al momento. Come potete immaginare l’anestesia generale e’ tutt’ora in effetto. La capo infermiera ci ha avvisati che nel giro di 3-4 ore l’effetto diminuira’ e il dolore potra’ causare sconforto. A quel punto inizieranno a igniettare medicinali antidolorifici via endovenosa e sedativi se necessario.

Diego ha due bei gessi color blu che coprono gambe e piedi, un modello bianco alta moda al braccio destro con tanto di cuscinetto rosa per tenere il braccio alzato e diminuire la possibilita' di gonfiori…scherzi a parte … il poverino ha tutte le estremita’ ingessate con l’eccezione della mano sinistra dove pero’ hanno fissato l’ago per l’immissione dei medicinali via endovenosa.

Inoltre al momento ha la mascherina per l’ossigeno per aiutare con la respirazione e il tubicino per il cateterino; qualche linea di febbre e battito cardiaco un po’ piu’ rapido del normale sono i sintomi che i medici avevano anticipato.

Ci dicono che probabilmente potremo portarlo a casa entro il fine settimana. Tornate a visitare il sito di Diego nei prossimi giorni per aggiornamenti e nuove foto. Nel frattempo vi salutiamo e ringraziamo tutti di gran cuore per i messaggi di conforto e preghiere.

Admission Day for Diego

Today Diego was technically admitted to the hospital in preparation for tomorrow's 9:30 am surgery. Technically because he has a room at the hospital, #312, but they allowed us to take him home with the promise that he will be back in his room by 6 am.

*Note about Home: We have a condo 5 minutes from the hospital. I didn't want people to think we actually drove back to Austin!

Today was a very long day so we are happy to be home. Diego had x-rays taken, blood drawn, met with surgeons, nurses and finally got a room after 5 pm. We did get some good news. His surgery is expected to take 3hrs and not 5 like they first predicted. He may also be out of the hospital within 4 days, not 5. So if all goes well we will be back in Austin by Sunday :)

Here is the hospital information:

Diego Tonelli-Nova Room #312
Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children
2222 Welborn St
Dallas, TX 75219
(214) 559-5000
http://www.tsrhc.org/

Preparing for Surgery

It's been a while since we last updated everyone on Diego's condition. He's doing really well thanks to weekly physical therapy. Unfortunately PT is not enough to bring his feet flat. He also has limited range of motion in his right wrist. Both will require surgery which is scheduled to take place on Feb 6th. The surgery will take no less than 5 hrs and require a minimum 5 night stay in the hospital. He will have full length hard casts on both legs and his right arm for 9 weeks. We don't expect him to be a happy camper. Especially during the first 3 days after surgery. We've already been told to prepare ourselves for some long days and nights. We want everyone to know that Diego will be in good hands. His surgeons are some of the best in the world. We are not without worry but know he is getting the best possbile care.

Next week we will post his hospital info(room # and phone) for those that want to send there well wishes. Until then, we hope you enjoy this short little video of Diego laughing it up with Mama :)

Diego goes to Milano!

In Nov. 2007, the family travelled to Mama's hometown of Milan, Italy to visit the family. We all had a wonderful time and everyone was so excited to see Diego. Here are a few photos from our visit.


Ciao a tutti! Finalmente ecco le foto della nostra ultima visita. Scusate del ritardo...mi raccomando scrivete presto. Abbracci e bacioni a tutti.