Hi. My name is Kaci and I am a nerd. I like to plan. I like to research. I like to know my options. I like to analyze. Sometimes I even like to overplan & overanalyze. Sometimes that is a problem. Sometimes it's not.
I stressed, worried, blamed myself, shed tears, got angry, and shed more tears over Matthew's feet. These are all emotions I've experienced before, even over his feet (well except the blaming myself part...those feet were totally his daddy's doing!), but this was far far worse than anything I'd gone through about my children. That really means I should count myself lucky because so many parents go through far worse, and I am blessed that I haven't had to go through more. But still...when the doctor mentions things are severe enough that outcomes could mean your child cannot walk again, it's pretty freaking scary. But because of who I am, I didn't just go through all of those emotions & then say "Let's schedule the surgery." Hell no. I pulled from every clubfoot related resource I had to figure out what to do next. To figure out what other options might exist. To figure out what was best for Matthew.
Fortunately that figuring out came fairly easy, and I was able to discuss Matthew's feet with one of the best doctors in the field. The doctors at the University of Iowa are absolutely amazing. I was able to take pictures of Matthew's feet from several angles to show different things and email to them for review. After reviewing the pictures, the doctor I spoke with said he believes Matthew's feet are corrected and that if there is tightness in the heel cord he thinks it can be corrected with physical therapy. (I believe there is tightness, as Matthew's pediatrician & his regular orthopedic doctor commented on it.) He also said if PT does not help the tightness that casting is an option. This is not something our doctor mentioned as a possibility, he said at Matthew's age surgery would be required. The doctors in Iowa though are pioneers in this field/area so I would trust them if they say we can cast. If physical therapy does not loosen things up, we will head to Iowa to see what they recommend. If we end up relocating, we will head to Iowa before we move just to make sure things are ok before we leave the country.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Hey Kaci! Glad you got then doctors to look at some things - way to go! I just wanted to mention to you what our doctors said about Tyler's tightness. It may not be the same at all because he doesn't have clubfeet, just very tight heel cords and hamstrings. His heel cords are the tightest. His PT recommended casting, but his doctor said to do more PT and then possibly botox injections to help loosen them some. A neurologist would actually do the injections. Like I said I am no doctor and really don't know anything about clubfeet, but I figured its one another thing you could look into if the PT doesn't do as much as you would hope.
Good Luck Kaci! I sure hope the PT works! I would have analyzed the same way you did. It's just in our natures. You are doing a great job.
Post a Comment