Dreams and Journeys: Casting Call: Moving Forward (with wobbly, "bumpy" steps)

Is it possible to really, truly love your doctor? If so, I think I'm smitten. He's just incredible. Our tag team of The Great Physician + The Philadelphia Physician wins nothing but gold. The day yesterday went better than well -- it exceeded our expectations. My husband came with us this time which made the ordeal so much easier for all of us. But anyway, GREAT NEWS! After just one week in the cast, Grace's foot looks much better, and Dr. vB was really happy with the results. The metatarsus adductus was still there (the curvature of the foot) but WAY more mild -- just a very, very slight inward turn, but nothing like it was. And her heel is now appropriately valgus (straight, very slight outward turn -- normal)! No varus (inward turn - abnormal)! Just like that -- I was amazed. She stood flat-footed for the first time in almost a year. The cavus (high arch) was still present but again, much better than it was. That was all I understood as far as the "stats" were concerned. He was throwing out a whole bunch of numbers for his intern which made no sense to me, and when I asked him "Are those good numbers?" he laughed and said they were very good. Phew. The only thing I didn't like was that her dorsiflexion (the flexibility in her foot/ankle area) was still pretty bad and just tight-looking all around, but he did manage to stretch it to 5 degrees (I think it was at zero last time) easily, and then really shoved it upward to 10 degrees (much to Grace's chagrin), but at least he got it there. So ... good improvements all around after just one week!

[And ... aren't you just terribly impressed with my expanded medical vocabulary? I can wow the crowds when I pour out this kind of lingo! :) Varus, valgus, cavus, metatarsus adductus ... who wouldn't want me at their dinner party?! :) My dance card is filling quickly so send your invitations now, my friends ...]

He also said he was so impressed with her response overall that he's jumping to "the number 3 cast," as he put it -- the final leg of the casting rounds (oh, BAD pun, I know, but quite appropriate). This cast -- now in some horrific neon yellow! :) -- is in the same position as the first, knee bent at 90 degrees or so, foot outward. The "odd" thing here is that this cast will stay on for 3 long weeks ... I'm not sure why, but I guess he just wants that foot to get the maximum amount of time in that position. Whatever -- it'll be a pain but if it works, great!

Grace did wonderfully well with the cast removal. We brought head phones/ear protector things and she got a total kick out of that. At first she covered her eyes, then started peeking through her fingers, and then finally she couldn't take her eyes off of the process. She even started laughing during it! What a girl. When it was done Aidan asked her, "So Grace, what was it like?" She laughed and said, "Oh, it was just awesome!"

And she was hilarious trying to walk. At first she couldn't get her foot down, and she said it felt "bumpy" to walk on the floor. She had a really hard time when I washed her leg -- I guess her skin was just super sensitive and any sensation bothered her. We had to wait quite a long time before the next cast, and after about an hour or so she could stand easily, and then tried walking across the room. But she looked SO funny, like she was surfing or, as Aidan pointed out, quite penguin-like. It must have just felt so weird. I can't imagine what it'll be like after THREE weeks.

OK, on to the surgery discussion ... or shall I say, NO SURGERY! :) At least not yet, and not for long time. He apologized profusely to me, saying he was so sorry I had gotten the impression that he wanted to cast and then jump right to surgery. I had completely misunderstood him last week and he was so apologetic (unbelievable, huh?! A doctor? Apologetic?! LOVE him!). He said that after this cast is done, he wants her in the brace at night as well as some kind of a heel cup/insert for her shoe during the day. There's no time-line yet, how long any of this will be, and that's OK. He was just SO INCREDIBLY COOL about answering all of our questions (and man, did I have a lot of them!). He took his time explaining things, talking through issues, etc. It was just so fabulous -- I wanted to talk to him all day! :) So we are just absolutely thrilled with how things are going, I can't even tell you ... It's like Christmas in August. We're flying high.

But today is a different story ... I have a sad, sad little girl on my hands. Thankfully we are playing out the same scenarios from last week -- a novelty first day, a miserable second day, so I have faith that things will improve soon. We were shopping in Target this morning and she cried ... the ... entire ... time. It was my worst nightmare -- the loud noise, the stares from people. Thank goodness for the glow-in-the-dark cast, for people's stares turned into looks of pity. Had there been no cast, we would have gotten some serious death stares.

Anyhoo, here's a pictorial journey of our day yesterday, and looking forward to brighter days ahead.

Big brother hamming it up and spreading some cheer