Ortho Update

Today we had an ortho appointment with Dr Conklin and also met a new resident which I liked - Grady Maddox. We did some xrays of his feet and spine... the boy can't stand to be held down, but he did really well. Dr Conklin explained that the piece of bone in the foot that they would move the tendon to is ossified enough to do the surgery this spring. He'll be doing four different procedures between the two feet: posterior tibial tendon lengthening, Achilles tendon lengthening, abductor hallucis tendon release, and anterior tibial tendon transfer. The transfer is the big deal, that will help him flatten his feet and improve his platform so he'll be able to walk. He said Carter will be the youngest patient he's ever performed the anterior tibial transfer on, but he's confident that it will be successful and improve his foot structure. Usually this surgery is done on children who had club feet that couldn't be completely corrected with the shoe and braces, and they decide to do the surgery as a last resort fix for stubborn feet - this is why the typical age is around 3. Josh and I talked about it, and we'd like to go ahead with the surgery, so that we aren't hindering Carter's mobility for too long. Surgery is set for Wednesday, May 2nd. They'll probably keep him overnight to make sure he doesn't have any issues with swelling, and then we'll have a cast change a week later. He'll be in casts over his knee for a total of 6 to 8 weeks. We're very nervous about the surgery, the care afterward, and how he will adjust to the casts, but we know God won't give us anything we can't handle! Please pray for us for peace, and for Carter's continued wellness. We recieved word today that a UA we had drawn last week was growing E. coli, but he's no longer symptomatic, so we won't be treating it. As he gets bigger, his body is fighting off more of these infections - and we are SO thankful to have been out of the hospital for going on 4 months now! We have a nephrology appointment with our beloved Mary Jane in a couple of weeks, and we really need C to gain some weight between now and then. Today he was down to 19 pounds. Please pray that this boy will have an appetite as big as his personality! :) Here are some pictures from today's visit.

Playing in the waiting room

He loved the fish tanks!

This is an x-ray of C's spine and hips. He has very slight scoliosis, but it's not changing over time, so it's not a concern right now. You can see how his vertebrae end a little higher than most - he has no tailbone! This is called sacral agensis. Also, you can see how his hips don't have a socket like most, and the ball of the femur is dislocated on both sides.

This is a lateral x-ray of Carter's foot. The two lines on either side of that small circle are measurements for the bone that they'll be anchoring his tendon into. Babie's feet are mostly cartilage, and get denser over time - this bone is just enough ossified to drill into for this surgery! God has great timing, doesn't He? :)