I've been pretty slack about blogging lately so here are a few updates.
First: the feet...we set up the initial evaluation for PT & the therapist thought Matthew definitely had a tight achilles and that his hips are weak. We had one session, they gave us some exercises to do at home, and then we had to wait on insurance approval before continuing. I am struggling to remember to do the PT every day, and still haven't figured out the best time for it in our daily routine. I'm working on this, as I know how important it is. We just got insurance approval this week & he has had 2 sessions since then. The therapist said he can already see an improvement so that is very encouraging.
Second: the job - David's not mine since I dont' have one. He got a new position and we will be relocating. As much as I've talked about wanting to go closer to "home", this move will take us a lot farther away. Instead of being a 14 hour drive, we will have a 14 hour flight. But 14 hours is 14 hours, right? In a few months we will be moving to Turkey. I am beyond excited about this opportunity, even though I know there are a lot of decisions and things to do before we move. I am glad the children are old enough they will remember living there, I am hoping we can really immerse ourselves in the way of life and gain a lot from it. It is a 3 year project & we will return here when it is over. :)
Third: running - I'm tapering now for the marathon in 2(!) weeks. I still can't believe I'll be running that distance, but I will do it somehow someway. I already have a little bit of prerace jitters, but that's more questioning if I've prepared as well as I should and wondering what I need to do to travel to a race that I haven't already considered. Regardless, I plan to enjoy the race and the weekend.
Fourth: weight loss - I'm not losing as quickly as I'd like but it's still slowly melting away. Hopefully the long time it's taking to lose will help me keep it off better. I've also read that when you're training for a long race your body tries to hold onto weight so maybe just maybe when this marathon is over I will lose it a little more easily.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
it's not always bad to be a nerd
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.
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.
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