Bycicle ride ... check X

I am sometimes still amazed at how well Uzaan is coping with her “differentability”.  I still cannot get myself to say "disabled" (in terms of the current normal standards) but I rather think of her as ‘differently abled’  ... because trust me, she is very able to do all that we can – just in her own different way!

A bit of back ground for those of you who don’t know...

Uzaan was born with what the doctors call “Radial Dysplasia” -  

According to the Paediatric Plastic surgery dept of the Missouri Children’s hospital’s definition - Radial dysplasia is underdevelopment, abnormal development, or absence of the structures on the radial side (the "thumb side") of the forearm, wrist, and/or hand. There is a spectrum of involvement, ranging from a slightly small thumb, to complete absence of the thumb, radial wrist bones, and the radius bone itself (the bone on the "thumb side" of the forearm). In some cases, only the radius is involved. The term "radial clubhand" comes from the appearance of the hand and forearm when the radius is very short or absent: the hand is bent at 90 degrees to the forearm, resembling the appearance of a golf club. Radial dysplasia affects only one side in about 50% of cases, and the right side is twice as commonly affected as the left.

.....Which basically means that her one arm and hand did not develop normally. Her right arm is about a hand’s length shorter than the other one and she has only 4 fingers and little movement in her smaller right hand ... see photo:

With that said – a few months ago we were trying to get her to ride her own bicycle without the support wheels, so we showed her and we tried to help, but soon realised that she was not ready. We knew that she would struggle a bit to get the balance and grip right so we didn’t push her into riding the big bike!  So a few days ago, typically in Uzaan’s fashion, she tried all on her own while we were busy with our own things and just called us to come and see something ...

  

Uzaan finally did it – she is riding her bicycle!! 

I was so proud of her and was once again struck with emotion at how determined this little girl of mine is to get it right on her own. I don’t know how long she tried or how many times she practised but she got it right and is riding on her own. 

One more tick on her checklist of things accomplished.

Luv you baby-girl!!