Round 3...

A few days before Disneyland we got Madi's third, and hopefully final, shoe for her clubbed foot. This is a custom AFO made by Hanger. The man who made it, Ron, is highly recommended and has a lot of experience with children that have spina bifida. He is a very gentle and kind man. He did an awesome job and we are praying this one works! Conner picked out a cute little heart print for her and she looks adorable in it, of course. We still get a million questions and comments as people don't understand why she needs it, but such is life. I'm so thankful to finally have her in something that doesn't bruise and hurt her little foot!

She's got some fancy new shoes

Madi's cast is officially off! YEAH!!!! She is now sporting a very cool pair of new shoes. I'm going to make little flowers and bows to clip on them and have already ordered a few pairs of cute knee-high socks from the children's place. I mean, hey, she's still got to be stylish, right!?!?!? We are, unfortunately, having some issues with these, so she actually may be getting a different pair. I noticed she was getting pressure sores on her left foot that weren't letting up after 30 minutes. She also had some swelling and warmness, which is not normal and was only on her left foot. I started using the "pringle chips" to alleviate it but it's not working. Her feet are also not staying planted in her shoes as they should. I constantly readjust, and they constantly pop out. It is an upward battle for sure. I showed her physical therapist (who, by the way, we LOVE) today and she is also concerned. We have an appointment set up to go back in and see Dr. Segal so hopefully he can help us figure out what is going on. Let me tell you, though, this girl is something else! She doesn't let anything get in her way. She's already figured out how to start crawling around again. What an amazing little gal we've been blessed with!

And that's that!

Her heel cord is officially clipped. I was praying it wouldn't need to be done, but it was just the way it had to be. I researched other methods for lengthening the tendon and talked to other parents who had children with clubbed feet but was unable to find another suitable method. The parents that did try other methods were not only few and far between but also felt the methods they tried were ineffective. All the kids ended up needing the lengthening anyway. Today she got her final cast, though, which is awesome! She will have this one for three weeks and will then go in to special shoes that will keep her feet positioned shoulder-width apart and at the correct degree of angle. I am so thankful we are able to utilize this method and avoid surgery and am praying that her foot does not slip back in to the clubbed position again. Unfortunately, this happens about 70% of the time with children that have a clubbed foot AND spina bifida because the foots tendency to re-club combined with the lack of weight bearing and, of course, gravity, make the reoccurrence rate pretty high. Our next step will be to utilize a stander to get her in to standing position and start bearing weight in her legs. And after that, well, who knows. It's been quite a journey, and it's not even close to being over, but I will say that I love it! I'm not sure why God chose all of us for our roles but I trust in His plan and know He has amazing things planned for our little gal.

Madi has her first casting

Today Madi got her first cast to correct her clubbed foot. Dr. Segal uses the ponsetti method of casting which involves slightly moving the foot a little at a time and releasing the heel cord to correct the foot. We waited 3 hours at CRS (Children's Rehabilitative Services) before we even got in to see the doctor but both Madi and Conner did great! Conner was very sweet and kept kissing "sissy" to make sure she was ok. He was a bit sad that he didn't get a cast himself, but I wouldn't be surprised if our crazy little man ended up with some kind of cast at some point in his life. Madi is doing great with her new cast and is finally taking a nap after a long day! She did take a short nap all wrapped up on mom, so thankfully she remained pretty happy throughout the whole thing. We go back in two weeks to get a new cast put on. We are very thankful to have the casting option available to us so that another surgery is not required!