We've Joined the Club....Foot Clinic

Abby continues to do well! The last of her stitches on her head have fallen out and only one remains on her belly. When that's gone, she will be free of the stitches!

Of course there was more drama/miscommunication/confusion about Abby's club foot and what needed to be done for it. As our discharge paperwork instructed, I called Shriner's as soon as we were home to make an appointment for the soonest possible time to get the casting process started. A few days after that, I heard from the spina bifida clinic director that we needed to wait until our clinic visit on May 20 to see the orthopaedic specialist and get his opinion before heading to Shriner's. That was never the plan, so after much discussion over the weekend between Rhett and I, I called her back on Monday to express our frustration and see if it was really necessary to see him first. (Side note: The orthopaedic surgeon visited Abby once on day one or two of life and my dad was the only one in the room when he visited. He said that she had one club foot. Physical therapists said she had one club foot. Nurses said she had one club foot. Her left foot was clearly at a 90 degree angle. The consensus was that we would need to get that casted once all of her other procedures were taken care of. We kept hearing that orthopaedics would be in again to visit to see us before we left. There was even the chance that he would start the casting while we were there. Well, that never happened.) Rhett and I didn't see why it would be necessary to get his opinion again, especially if our plan of action wouldn't change. If we had waited until May 20 to see him and he told us to make an appointment with Shriner's, we would have been bugged - to say the least. We also knew that Shriner's wouldn't just cast her foot without first looking to see that it was necessary. During our phone call on Monday, the clinic director said that it was entirely up to us, even though she made it sound like we would need to wait until May 20 before pursuing Shriner's. Well, if it was up to us, we were not going to wait. Why not get the process started now?

So, on Thursday afternoon we went to Shriner's. I was impressed with the hospital and those we were in contact with were very friendly and informative. While the visit should have lasted about 30-40 minutes total, we were there for about two and a half hours. That's besides the point. Long story short, she had a cast put on to begin the correction. The doctors told us that she would need a cast for at least 6 weeks. We will go in every Thursday to have the cast removed and a new one put on, each further tweaking her foot into the correct position. Pretty incredible.

She loves to slide down and roll into a ball as much as possible. Here we are waiting to go into the casting room.

Showing off her uncasted leg nicely :)

In one of the next appointments, she will have an ultrasound to check her hips and see if they're dislocated or not. Her legs don't open quite as wide as they should. If they are dislocated, they won't be put back into place as there is a high likelihood they will go back out. It's more of just an informative ultrasound to see if that's something we need to be aware of.

At the last appointment we scheduled, she will have her Achilles tendon lengthened. She'll have another cast put on after that. She has the potential to need additional casts, we'll just see how she responds to the treatment.

During those weekly appointments we'll have the chance to fully bathe her after they remove the cast and before they put another one on. While at home, we'll have to continue the sponge baths - thankfully something she seems to be okay with (most of the time).

Oh, just one of Rhett's socks. They matched yesterday :)

After the casting is completed, she will need to wear a brace connecting her legs for 23 hours a day for 3 months. This will help ensure that the club foot doesn't recur - something that is very common. After that, she'll wear the brace at night until she is 4 years old.

Did I mention she has gained a pound in two weeks? She's just over 8 now. Yes, she likes to eat and it's starting to show.

The look of terror we get on a regular basis now.

We're definitely excited to have this process started! It's her last big thing and will be great to have corrected. We're glad that she won't remember any of this and won't even realize she had some of these issues. Such a blessing. She's a little bugged that she can't move her leg like she wants to, but I think she's getting used to it. Thankfully she's also better about spending time on her back. She can now sleep on her back pretty peacefully.

Here's her back about a week ago. A little pink and tender, but healing nicely!

In other news, we made it to Rhett's 5K race put on by SelectHealth with about 3 minutes to spare after her appointment. He blazed through it, taking a strong second place. I also walked in graduation yesterday! It felt so great and now it feels real to be done with school. Life is wonderful. We're blessed with so much love and support. Thank you all for everything you do for us!!

Chariots of Fire music playing in the background.

She was such a good girl during the ceremony and throughout the whole day! She definitely loved all the attention she got from family members, especially meeting Uncle Kaden for the first time.