This Little Piggy Went to Market, This Little Piggy Stayed Home ...

... and Grace's little piggies saw some clubfoot Wonder Workers, and they're looking fine!

I admit -- I've been slacking in the home-therapy department. We stopped using the pros almost 2 weeks ago, and in that time we've only done our "exercises" once. It's hard to start up a new routine like that. But this morning -- Friday -- I found that I had gotten a lot of my to-do stuff finished, and my morning was looking pretty thin. Makes sense -- for the past few months, Fridays were spent at the hospital for therapy sessions, so ... why not make our Friday mornings our home-therapy time? (Duh)

It actually went really, really well. I took some photos as we went along to document where she is now. Some are blurry (sorry) -- it's hard to catch this little one clearly while in action. Yet I don't know if it's just my "Mother's Heart" or true little red flags waving, but I just don't think she's as good as she can be. She still seems really tight to me -- but then again, is that just "her normal"? Her right foot still tends to claw the ground -- but then again, is that just "her normal"? I still see some adductus, that dreaded curving of the forefoot -- but then again, is that just "her normal"? I just really don't know. I think the tightness concerns me the most, for if that doesn't loosen up, it can potentially start off a chain reaction of other physical events -- more pronounced curvature, side-walking, etc. I still haven't figure out that fine, gray line between what it is and/or what it should be.

Her heels during summer's relapse - Aug. 2008, only 5 months ago

Her heels today, nice and straight!

This morning we started out by walking on a "balance beam" -- a few boards put down on the floor end to end. She held my hand and walked back and forth several times, improving her strength and balance with each pass. We then kicked a beach ball back and forth, she having to kick with her LEFT foot only -- by kicking with the "good" left foot, it forces her to put all of her weight on her "bad" right foot, thereby building up muscle strength. She did great.

Heel-walking: a real struggle for her right foot

After walking back and forth on her heels for a while, we then did one of the toughest exercises for her -- another weight-bearing exercise. On one end, I dumped 9 wooden puzzle pieces onto the floor. Grace picked up one piece, then walked over to a board balanced on top of two bins, about knee-height (for her). Then, she had to step over the board using her left foot, again putting all of her weight on her right foot. This is much more difficult than merely kicking the ball, for not only is this using her weak muscles, but it's also forcing her to balance, which is one of the most difficult things for her to do. We take this for granted, but it's a challenge for Grace. For the first few passes she teetered and wobbled, mouth set sternly, working so hard. But after a while she got really good at it -- I was really pleased! After making it over the board, she then had to walk on her heels until she got to the puzzle board, placing her piece in the right spot. Then she had to do it again, back to the individual pieces on the other side. Nine times, back and forth.

I can't tell you how exciting is to see this -- never before, in her short little life, has she been able to put any weight solely on her right foot. This is truly a miracle.

We did a lot of stretching -- smoothing out that crunchy tendon on the bottom of her foot (I was a bit dismayed to feel those crunches back, after they'd been gone for a while, meaning the tendon was tightening up again), holding her heel firmly and stretching the foot upward and outward. She fussed at that -- she never liked stretches, ever. Thankfully her Barbie "laptop" computer was nearby, and she was content to play with that while she sat quietly on the chair, letting me work her foot. She did her toe lifts, upward and outward while her heel was held firmly on the ground, followed by more stretching. All of this is so easy for our "healthy feet" -- it amazes me how difficult this can be for her. But I'm thankful that she's doing it, and doing it much better than ever before.

Toe-tapping: another thing we take for granted, and another miracle for her. Only a few months ago she couldn't lift her foot off the ground, and now she can do this.

I think a part of me will always worry about relapse, will always wonder if her foot is "good enough." My eyes will always be glued to her foot, watching earnestly for those first tell-tale signs of a problem. It's OK to be watchful, diligent -- I'm a parent and it's part of my job. But my prayer is that I don't become obsessive -- relapse is a very, very scary thing, but once again any obsession I might be tempted to entertain will do nothing for me, nor for Grace.

But boy, are we happy, and doing well ...