Playing Catch Up (again)

So I think we have established that I am a poor blogger! Here is a rundown of what has happened the last three months :)

Wyatt got his AFOs in the beginning of September. They fit so perfectly from the start and I have been very thankful for this. I read a lot of horror stories about the orthotics not fitting properly and causing sores, bruises, and blisters. We have been lucky enough to steer clear of all those problems. His AFOs are super cute. They are blue and have cars, planes, and traffic signs on them. Very boyish ;)

New AFOs!

Three months later, Wyatt is doing wonderful with his braces! It took him a few days of practice, but he quickly mastered walking with them on and realized he can walk to much better when he is wearing them. He is so patient every morning when we put them on. I am sure he understands that they are a good thing. Wyatt's feet are looking so much better as well! His right foot looks like a normal foot (yay!) and while his left foot (the worse one) still angles out and up a little, it has made a huge improvement as well.

Right now out plan is to keep Wyatt in this pair of AFOs until he outgrows them and hopefully by then his feet will be fully corrected. He goes in for a checkup in February (6 months of wearing the AFOs) with both his orthotist and orthopedic surgeon to see how his feet are improving. I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. His left foot has me so worried because I know it isn't responding as well as his right. Wyatt hasn't been held back by any of this though. He is 15 months old and he walks, runs, spins in circles, and can climb like a monkey. He is truly amazing!

Bare legs! Not a sight I see too often anymore.

Wyatt showing off his braces in his 1st Birthday pics.

AFO Fitting

I just realized I totally forgot to post about Wyatt's AFO fitting!

Wyatt met with a specialist the other day to get the molds made for his AFOs (Ankle Foot Orthotics). Wyatt was all smiles until Paul (the specialist) touched his feet. Wyatt doesn't like strangers toughing his feet and I can't say I don't blame him. Instantly the glaring eyes were whipped out! The molds were relatively easy to make and very similar to the casting process. Wyatt was very mad about the whole thing and I think he was worried that he was getting casts put on again. Once the molds were cut off he was happy again (although still glaring at Paul). We were told that it usually takes at least 2 weeks to get the AFO's. Not what this anxious mommy was wanting to hear! Wyatt is dying to stand and I am dying to let him. Now time to research socks and shoes for his AFO's. I want to be all ready when they are ;)

No More Casts!

Hey! I remember these things!

Wyatt's last set of casts came off today! We are all so excited and hopeful. His doctor is pleased with how his feet are looking right now. He said that there is no way of knowing if we are in the clear of not having to do any more surgeries and that only time will tell. Dr. S commented on how much the treatment plan has changes and that just 10 years ago Wyatt would have had major surgery right away to completely reconstruct his feet and that they would always be stiff and sore. It made me all the more thankful for recent medical advances.

I need to call and make an appointment tomorrow for him to get fit for custom AFOs. I have no idea how long it will take to get them, but hopefully not too long because Dr. S doesn't want Wyatt standing until he has them on. He wants Wyatt to wear them all the time except bath time, bedtime, and the occasional airing out ;) Wyatt will just be excited to finally start walking! He was having so much fun tonight rolling around and moving his legs into all these new positions. It made us so happy to see him so happy!

Wyatt and Daddy coming home without casts!

Goodbye casts and on to the next adventure of AFOs!

Fourth of July fun

A little late...I hope everyone else had a great holiday.

Cast Change and Pin Removal

This was not a fun appointment :( I think this was the first time that I have been upset with the treatment we have received by Dr. S and his staff.

The day before Wyatt's scheduled cast change I noticed something metal starting to stick out of his right cast. His pin had started to work loose! It was a lot of work trying to keep Wyatt from playing with it, but thankfully he had his appointment the next day.

We arrived right on time like always and they were running 30 minutes behind like always. Once we got in there we showed Dr. S what we thought was Wyatt's pin coming out. We were right. He was hoping they would have stayed in for another 2 weeks, but no luck. He left the room and his assistant started removing Wyatt's casts. Wyatt hates this and was screaming as is his normal routine. This was the first time we have seen his feet since his surgeries. The incisions were a lot larger than we had expected and ran almost 2/3 the length of his feet. The pins sticking out were a big shock too. Darren and I were each holding a leg and trying to keep him laying down and calm. The whole time Wyatt kept screaming. And we sat there alone like that for 5 minutes. To me, that was inexcusable to leave two nervous parents alone with a thrashing baby with pins sticking out of his feet. I was seething when Dr. S finally returned, but I am so passive I didn't say anything. I was just relieved to finally be getting somewhere. He quickly removed the pins. I don't think Wyatt even noticed him removing the one that had already come loose, but the second one bothered him. He was quickly recast and all the while he was still screaming. All in all he laid there crying for half an hour. When I was finally able to pick him up he was soaked in sweat, but the crying had stopped.

These casts will be on for 2 weeks. We asked if these were going to be has last set of casts and he said he honestly didn't know. He wants Wyatt walking on his feet, but is worried that if we stop the casts too soon Wyatt will relapse. I am trying not to get my hopes up, but Dr. S said that he is 90% sure this set will be his last. Fingers crossed!

Second (and hopefully last) Surgery

Back to the hospital we go. Ugh! Only 9 days after Wyatt's first surgery we find ourselves back again. And this time at a very ungodly hour of 6am! We couldn't find anyone to watch Bella at 5:00 in the morning (imagine that...lol) so she came with us this time. Not a big deal, they have more toys than Bella could dream of and this time we shouldn't be there so long. The plan is that Wyatt will be put under general anesthesia again, Dr. S. will remove the casts, manipulate Wyatt's feet into a better position, and then re-cast. This will be the easiest cast change they have ever done on Wyatt...no kicking and screaming.

Why are we here again?

Wyatt was definitely not happy to find himself back in the hospital again. He was very hungry and had no interest in the toys or any distractions. Thankfully everything was running on time this week and we got put through the paces quickly. It was no easier watching Wyatt walk off with the nurses this week than it was last week. At least Bella broke my sad mood by yelling 'Bye Wyatt'.

About 45 minutes in I am called to the front desk for a phone call. They just assumed it was the Dr. wanting to know what cast color we chose. I go up front and Dr. S is explaining to me that the heel cord on Wyatt's left foot is extremely tight and needs to be released. We knew this was a possibility, but we just weren't expecting it to happen today. Since Wyatt was already under I told him to go ahead with the procedure.

Everything went smoothly and soon we were back to see Wyatt in recovery. I could hear him screaming before we were even close. That boy was awake and pissed. As we were walking into his room the nurse had just finished giving him something to calm him down. Apparently coming out of anesthesia fir the second time in less than 10 days didn't agree with Wyatt. I cuddled him in all of his cords and he was soon back asleep. He just wanted his Mommy :) We have new casts on for the next two weeks and then we will be back at the office again to switch them out for hopefully his last pair. Fingers crossed! The end is in sight!

Big sister had fun playing doctor.

Little miss Isabella made out like a bandit at the hospital. Every time we turned around someone was giving her free stuff. Stickers, notepads, candy, and a book. What a spoiled princess! We also decided that it was time to trim Wyatt's hair again because he was called a 'pretty girl' 3 different times!

Post-Surgery

It wasn't long before Wyatt was smiling again :)

I could tell the moment Wyatt's caudal wore off. He started crying and nothing would come even close to comforting him. Thankfully we had a prescription strength pain reliever. We gave him a dose and 20 minutes later he was out. Wyatt slept practically the next 24 hours. When he awoke he was back to his mischievous self. You never would have thought he had foot surgery 2 days ago. He was dying to get down and crawl, but we were told to keep him as still as possible. It was rough. You try telling a 9 month old he can only sit and not crawl! It got to the point that not being mobile was bothering him more than the surgery. We we also exhausted from trying to wrangle him. Finally we decided to call Dr. S and beg him to let Wyatt crawl. Dr. S agreed that a happy baby will heal better so he can crawl, just no attempts to pull up onto his feet. Yay! I don't know who was happier, us or Wyatt? Things went back to normal pretty quickly. Wyatt is accustomed to the leg casts so he went back to his normal cast-crawl quickly. He is a little annoyed about not being able to stand anymore though.

In 9 days Wyatt goes back to the hospital to change out his casts. Since his feet will still be tender from the surgery they will do it with him under general anesthesia again. I am dreading the whole no-eating routine again and this time we have to be at the hospital at a lovely 6am. Ugh...

Surgery

This ducky is awesome!

I have been looking forward to/dreading this day for months. We will be one step closer to making it possible for Wyatt to walk normally, but how am I going to be able to hand my baby over to the doctors? Wyatt was set to be at the hospital at 8:30 am. He will be going under general anesthesia as well as having a caudal for pain so he is not allowed to have any food after midnight but can have breast milk until 5 am. That is a relief because baby boy likes to nurse! We arrived at the hospital right on time and got checked in. The nice guy in registrar gave Wyatt a small rubber ducky to play with. It was wearing a raincoat which was so appropriate as it was pouring that morning. Wyatt gnawed on that for quite a while! We were quickly down to the surgery waiting area. I was starting to get nervous. Wyatt was crawling around so happily and loves staring at the fish tank. He was of course a hit with everyone else in the room. Wyatt's huge smile and the fact that he loves to screech at the top of his lungs when he is excited is definitely a head turner.

We soon went back to the children's part of surgery. It was such an inviting place. Everyone was extremely friendly and they had every toy a child could possibly want to play with. My 2 year old would be in heaven! We found out that Wyatt's surgery had been pushed back to 11:45. Ugh...such a long wait with a hungry baby. He was so good though and hardly put up a fuss. I had to keep hiding from him because as soon as he saw me he would want to nurse. That was very hard! He did look really cute in his hospital gown. Darren said it looked like a dress, but at least is had astronaut koalas on it.

Toys!

Time passed amazingly quickly. Soon we were speaking to the anesthesiologist about what to expect. Wyatt would be given gas to be put to sleep at first. It was a cute mask with Sesame Street characters on it and smelled like strawberries. They gave one to Wyatt to play with so it would be familiar. After he was asleep they would put in the IV and give him a caudal. The caudal is similar to the epidural I got during labor. On children it is placed by the tailbone and fills up there. There are no nerves or veins in that area and it is extremely safe. That meant that when Wyatt woke up he would have to pain and no idea what had just happened. The caudal should block pain for 10-18 hours.

Wyatt rockin' his hospital gown.

Shortly after we were talking with Dr. S. I am so happy he is our surgeon. He is very affection with Wyatt and I have complete trust in him. He explained the surgery again. Basically there will be a small incision in his feet and a pin will be placed holding his bones in the proper location. The pins will be sticking out of his foot, but because of the casts we won't have to see it. Thank goodness!

At 12:20 the nurse came for Wyatt. Wyatt went to her with only one little squeak and then they walked away. It was by far the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life. I still tear up just thinking about them walking through the surgery doors.

Darren and I went to lunch while we waited. I think that was the longest two hours ever. Dr. S came out and said everything went well. His bones aligned perfectly and there was no need to cut his achilles tendons at that point. We might have to cut the tendon on the left foot at a later date, but we will see if it will correct itself. He showed us the x-rays which were cool and disturbing at the same time. We thanked him for doing such a good job and waited until we could go back to see our son.

Wyatt's right foot with pin.

And his left.

Snuggles right after surgery. So sweet.

When we were told we could go back it was all I could do to not run. I wanted him in my arms again! The first time I say him in the crib I couldn't help but cry. There he was sound asleep with half a dozen wires and tubes hooked up. He looked so helpless. He started to wake up and was very crabby and confused. The nurse said that was normal and asked if I wanted to hold him. Duh, that was a stupid question! It was a little difficult to figure out how to hold him with all the wires, but we managed. He slept for another 45 minutes before he woke up and was ready to eat. After a quick snack he seemed more alert and we were given the okay to unhook him from all the monitors. We dressed him and got ready to go home. Wyatt was still confused but not in any pain because of the caudal. He was annoyed to find the casts back on and kept trying to push them off. Sorry buddy, but they are there for one month. I will write more about his recovery and future plans later, baby boy is hungry :)

Cast Free

Right after the casts came off!

Well as of two weeks ago ;) But I have two very demanding kiddos that don't leave me much time for the computer. We were so excited for our appointment because today was the day the casts were coming off. We would be doing x-rays and setting a surgery date. The office was running really late that day and we didn't see Dr. S until 45 minutes after our appointment time. I didn't let that dampen my spirits because today was going to be wonderful! He sits down and says we are going to take these off and cast for another 1-2 weeks. What? Come again!? No, no, no...you said we would be doing x-rays today. I was panicking. Not only have the casts been hard on Wyatt, but hard on me to because he would only sleep 1-2 hour at a time at night and most of the time I was rocking him in the recliner. We both have had it and are very exhausted. I pushed him to do the x-rays today. They came back amazing! Way better than the doctor could have hoped. He said after seeing these that Wyatt is okay to proceed on with the surgery. I asked him if Wyatt would benefit from more casting because if it is best for him I would do it, but he said no. I gave myself a little psychological pat on the back for good mommy intuition. We went home with a bare-legged baby :)

Wyatt's feet and legs were so sensitive that he hated us toughing him. His skin was cracked at all the creases and there were lines etched from the socks they put under the casts (2 weeks later and they are still there). Soon he got comfortable with touch again and couldn't be a happier baby boy. He started sleeping (me too!) better and took off crawling. He wanted nothing to do with his feet still. Just trying to tickle them would make him cringe. Too many bad memories associated with his feet already :(

Look at those cute bare baby legs.

A couple days before his scheduled surgery he finally got brake enough to try and stand again. He was so happy he did! He even started trying to cruise along the furniture. It was nice to see my smiley baby back.

Casts 3&4

Another late one :(

May 9th, 2012
Two weeks done and only 2 left to go. We are halfway there! Wyatt has adapted so well to the casts and has impressed us all. He can tear across the living room so fasts and keeps me on my toes. That boy has a sixth sense on things he should not be getting in to. I am nervous about today because we are going to be casting both legs. How will Wyatt handle both legs in casts?

Casts number 3 and 4.

Wyatt recognized the cast saw as soon and she brought it in today. He instantly starting whining and reaching for me. It broke my heart not to be able to hold him while she removed it. Wyatt's foot looked really gross this week after the cast was removed, but there was actually an arch! His skin was much more sensitive this week and he cried when Darren washed his leg. Dr. S commented on how his left foot was looking better than his right foot now. Yay for improvement! Wyatt knows now what to expect and he fought us from the first moment with these casts. He kept arching away from the doctor and we kept having to hold him down so he couldn't scoot away. Darren got to calm him down a little by letting him chew on his finger. Wyatt might have been more at ease, but Darren's finger was definitely hurting afterwards. Once Wyatt realized that his other leg was going to be casted too there was no calming him down. We just had to let him cry until they finished. That was hard. He quickly calmed down though once I was able to hold him. Baby boy is now sporting one blue and one orange cast. Our little shout out to Boise State University ;)

Look! I can still crawl.

It took Wyatt a little longer to get used to moving around with two casts on. He is crawling just as fast as he was previously although he can no longer stand up and he is a little annoyed about that. We will be keeping these casts on for two weeks straight this time and will go back in on the 23rd. We will be doing another series of x-rays to check Wyatt's progress and see where we go from here.

Wyatt has had a very difficult time with these casts. He has the same mobility but I can tell he is tired of having them on. The first week Wyatt wouldn't sleep more than an hour at a time. He would just cry all night because he couldn't get comfy. I felt so bad for my baby boy. The second week has been better. Wyatt is back to sleeping in his crib and we are all sleeping more. I can't wait until these babies are off of him!

Casts 1 & 2

I had this all written out and it didn't save :( So here we go again!

April 25th, 2012

Daddy and Wyatt plating while waiting for Dr. S.

Wyatt got a very long bath this morning and we sat in there until the water got cold. Wyatt loves taking baths and is going to miss them these next 4-6 weeks. He loves to be laid on his back and kick like he s trying to swim. I can tell he is going to be a water baby like Mommy. We then headed to his last PT session. I am pretty sure Wyatt could tell we weren't going to be doing our normal routine today. He was very antsy and didn't want to cooperate. Totally not like him! They finally broke out the swing and got a good 15 minutes of stretching in on his feet. We decided that was good enough, we were just wanting them to get flexible enough so Dr. S would have an easier time casting them.

Wyatt's first cast.

We were the last appointment of the day for Dr. S. He likes to do the casting last so he doesn't feel rushed (which I definitely appreciate!) Dr. S was pleased with the progress we made with Wyatt's feet with PT and said we will have to cast his left foot for 4 weeks, but only 2 weeks on his right. That meant for the first two week Wyatt only had to deal with one cast. Yay! Wyatt didn't like the whole casting process and even with us both trying to distract and comfort him, he cried the whole time. A quick snuggle with Mommy after he was done calmed him down. Wyatt is now sporting a blue cast on his left leg.

It definitely hasn't slowed him down. It took him only about 30 seconds to figure out how to crawl with the casts and he even still pulls to stand just by putting all his weight on his right leg. This boy amazes me!



May 2nd, 2012
One week down! Wyatt seems to be adjusting just fine except when it comes to sleeping. He has no desire to sleep in his crib anymore. He just can't find a comfy position. So we have been sleeping in the rocking chair again. It is not to big of a deal and I enjoy the cuddles.

Second cast!

Wyatt does not like getting the casts removed! The sound and vibration from the saw freaks him out. Poor baby practically jumped into my arms once the nurse was finished removing his cast. Boy was that leg stinky! We had just enough time to quickly wash it off before Dr. S. arrived. Poor Wyatt didn't know what to do with it out of the cast and his foot just hung there limply. But it sure looked a lot better!

The new cast (neon green) went on the same as the first. Lots of crying and lots of cuddles when it was over. I already can't wait to be done with this and I am sure Wyatt feels the same.

Our Last PT

Oops! I forgot to publish this ;) Written on  4/24/2012

I remember how anxious I was in the beginning about Wyatt's first physical therapy session. I only had my husband's experiences to go off of. I was fully expecting it to be 45 minutes of misery every week. It turns out that Wednesday became my favorite day of the week. Just Wyatt and I went to his appointments, Darren stayed home with Bella because it interfered with her naptime. We would arrive at the office and Wyatt would flirt with the receptionists while we waited. I then got to play with him on the floor with some pretty awesome toys while he got stretched. Wyatt hardly put up a fuss. He mostly jabbered to Holly probably telling her all about his week. After his session we would make the short trip to Walmart to get some groceries and visit with the ladies in my office. Wyatt hated going in the carseat for the ride home right after PT so this was a nice distracted. After Walmart, Wyatt would be asleep in his seat before we left the parking lot. I would then hit up some thrift stores on my way home (guilty pleasure) with a sleeping Wyatt in tow. This has been my routine for the past three months and I am sad to see is change as we move on to the next stage of treatment. Tomorrow is Wyatt's last PT appointment. He will be getting his first set of casts on too. It is time to move on to new adventures. I am still going to have to find time for my shopping buddy and I to go look at thrift stores ;)

Only 2 weeks until casting!

Wyatt's appointment with Dr. B went well this morning. No more ear infections! Although, he does still have some major congestion going on. And just in case you are curious Wyatt now weighs in at a whopping 19 lbs 12 oz! His PT session was pretty much the same as the past weeks. Wyatt's feet are stretching really well and he has lots of mobility. The problem is he won't stretch and move them himself. He always keeps them in the dorsiflex positioning. That is what he has always known so it must be comfortable for him. The casts will help reset his muscle memory so he can relax his feet in a more normal position.

Wyatt is about *this* close to crawling too! He gets up on all fours, rocks, and then he crosses his legs at the last moment so he can't move forward. Silly boy! I don't know if he will get it figured out before his casts go on or not. No matter, he can get to wherever he wants to be with his rolling and pivoting. He is one determined baby. We almost have two teeth as well! I can see the bottom ones just under the gums. It is like he just needs to bite really hard on something and they will pop right through. Although, I am a bit nervous how his getting teeth will change our nursing relationship. We have all day tomorrow off as a family with no appointments! I am so excited. Fingers crossed for good weather.

Happy Easter

Wyatt found an egg!

Wyatt and Bella going for a ride.

Yah....I know, it is a little late. Better that than never, right!? Wyatt is sick again with a cough and ear infections. That boy is sick more than he is healthy :( We still had a fun Easter. Wyatt enjoyed watching his big sister hunt for eggs and he even grabbed a few for himself. Of course he didn't care about the treats inside, he just wanted to suck on the plastic egg! Bella better get ready for some competition next year!

On the CVT front, I get more and more nervous the closer we get to the 25th. I am sure everything will go just fine and Wyatt will get used to having casts, but I am a Mom so I will worry. We have been looking in to having his surgery done at the Shriner's hospital in Salt Lake City. I would rather have it done here, I am just not sure we can afford it. Luckily friends have put us in contact with someone who can assist us with the application process. I will have to talk more about it with Dr. S at our next appointment.

Sorry this is so short and sweet. We have a big day tomorrow with doctor's appointments. Wyatt has a follow up with his pediatrician in the morning for his ears and we have physical therapy in the

Enjoying his 1st Easter!

afternoon. Goodnight all!

Finally a plan!

Wyatt's PT Wednesday morning was pretty uneventful. Since Wyatt had two appointments that day we sent Isabella to daycare so we could focus better. This was Darren's first time going with us to PT. He was amazed how well behaved Wyatt was the whole time and how far Holly was able to stretch his feet. Holly said she wanted us to call her right after our appointment with Dr. S to let her know what his verdict was on Wyatt's feet. I promised her I would and off we went to meet with Dr. Showalter.

Wyatt loves the fish!

Wyatt once again was in love with the fish at their office. He couldn't quite understand why he couldn't grab them! He was squealing with delight at them and I am sure everyone in the hospital could hear him. Nothing wrong with his lungs! We went straight back to x-rays and I went in first with Dr. S. He wanted to make sure we got a really good shot of Wyatt's feet in plantar flexon (sp?). Wyatt was not too pleased about his feet being stretched yet again and made sure that the doctor knew it. After Dr. S left, Darren came back in to help with the remaining shots. Wyatt was as good as gold for those. Then we were sent back to our room to wait.

Dr. S returned pretty quickly with Wyatt's x-rays. He showed us that while Wyatt's right talus is still slightly oblique, it does go to a normal position when his foot is stretched. Such good news! Wyatt's left foot is definitely a complete vertical talus and showed little improvement sine his last x-rays. Dr. S said that it will not improve with time like his right foot. So our plan is to now move on to serial castings on both feet. Dr. S will be out of the country this month so we will continue with PT until Wyatt gets his first casts April 25th. We will be putting on a new cast every week for I don't know how long. Dr. S wants Wyatt's left foot to be in a good position to do surgery. I asked him about needing a bar for after surgery, but he said probably not but that braces might be a good possibility. He also mentioned that Wyatt might need multiple surgeries over his life to keep his foot it position. I could have gone without that piece of information, but good to know.

Wyatt and Daddy waiting for Dr. S

So there we have it. I have one more month to squeeze, kiss, and love on Wyatt's chunky thighs before they get encased in plaster. Then we have surgery, more casting, and possibly braces. We can do this...we can do this. Wyatt was a perfect gentleman the entire visit one again. He has this ability to make anyone who comes in contact with him instantly fall in love. The x-ray techs and receptionists were fighting over who got his attention and saying what a little angel he was. The lady we checked out with said she looks forward to seeing his bright smile every week. I am nervous about the while casting process. I worry that Wyatt will be really scared and I won't be able to calm him down. My boy is such a sweet angel and so happy. I would hate for this experience to forever change him.

6 months old!

I can't believe my baby boy is already half a year old! He is still a big boy weighing in at 19 pounds and 27.5 inches long. Poor boy had a rough day of doctors appointments. His 6 month checkup was at 11am and then we hat his PT at 1pm in the next town over. We didn't get a break. I left his first appointment and drove straight to his second. So, needless to say, Wyatt wasn't on his best behavior at PT. Holly broke out her secret weapon... the swing. It was a rectangular platform she hangs from the ceiling that both her and Wyatt sit on and swing while she does his manipulations. It was an instant hit! He loved to push his toys off and hear them fall. Holly said that she will actually have kiddos fall asleep on the swing while she is stretching them. I can understand why. The creaking noise it made as it swung back and forth was so calming that I was struggling to keep my eyes open. It ended up being another great session. She is always impressed how well Wyatt's feet are responding to the stretches and mentioned again how we might actually avoid surgery. Dare I get my hopes up?

With only one PT session left I am getting nervous again. Wednesday Wyatt has PT in the morning and we will be meeting again with Dr. Showalter in the afternoon. I wonder what our next step will be? I will be better prepared this time with a list of questions!

Emotional

I am having an emotional day today. We only have one week left until we go back and visit the specialist and I know he is going to say it is casting time. Wyatt is dying to be mobile. You can just see it is his face as he watches his big sister run around. His favorite thing to do right now is jump. How is he supposed to do that with casts!? He has just started to try and get up on all fours to crawl. How is he going to react when he can no longer do that? I just want to cry some days.

Toes!

Wyatt is sucking his toes! This is such a big deal for us because it means his feet are flexing enough to make it into his mouth. That makes me a very happy Mommy! Wyatt is now 4 weeks into his 6 week physical therapy session. He is making loads of improvement. He can now straighten both feet to a 90 degree angle and we can stretch them way beyond that. His very underdeveloped calf muscles are getting stronger too. His therapist, Holly, is impressed with his strength and how far he has come. She told be today that she still expects us to move on the the serial casting, but there is a slim chance that we might evade surgery. I am holding on to that little chance as hard as I can!

I think Wyatt loves Holly :) He loves showing off for her. Two weeks ago he sat up for the first time during his session and at today's he almost got up on all fours! I am so proud of my little man.

What a week!

My goodness I sure have been busy this week! Between Wyatt's appointments and Bella's 2nd birthday I feel stretched too thin. Wyatt had his first PT session last Wednesday. I was so nervous for him! I have to say that the whole process went way better than I could have imagined and for the first time I felt really optimistic that the stretching will actually work :) I am in love with Wyatt's physical therapist, Holly. She was so sweet listening and discussing all my concerns. She played a lot with Wyatt and really made him feel comfortable. He is such a little flirt and spent the whole time smiling and cooing at her. She went into a lot of detail explaining what stretches we were doing and why. Wyatt didn't mind them one bit. No cries, but a couple serious faces on some of the harder stretches. He is my tough little guy! She told me we were to do the stretching as often as we can and to hold them for as long aw he will tolerate, but for at least 30 seconds each. The best bet was to do them after each diaper change that way we fall into a routine. We first stretch his feet downward, then inward, and then downward and inward at the same time. We also play games with Wyatt by clapping the soles of his feet together. He loves that one! Her office is only going to be able to get me in once a week instead of the 2 times recommended by Dr. S, but Holly said not to worry. As long as we are doing the stretches consistently at home he will be fine being monitored only once a week. She has definitely made this whole process a lot easier on us!

Meeting Dr. Showalter

It is Feb. 1, 2012 and today is our appointment with Dr. Showalter, an orthopedic surgeon. I am a bundle of nerves and can hardly eat. Darren is so optimistic and I don't know why I am expecting the worst. It is so not like me. We drop our daughter off at my grandma's so we can just focus on what the doctor has to say about Wyatt. While in the waiting area I see a little boy about 3 years old walking and playing with 2 casts on his feet like it is no big deal. How well he has adapted should calm me, but it doesn't. Everyone is so friendly at this office and I instantly feel like we are in good hands. Dr. S comes in and chats with us. I sit down with Wyatt while Dr. S examines his feet. He started to stretch Wyatt's right foot downward like if you were pointing your toes. His foot didn't budge. This of course sent Wyatt into a screaming fit. It was so hard to see my baby distraught simply because the doctor had barely stretched his foot. Why had this never occurred to me before!? Why had I never tried to stretch his feet?? I am a horrible mother.

Daddy and Wyatt playing while we wait.

Dr. Showalter immediately sent us for x-rays. Wyatt was such a good little trooper through his 4 x-rays. He stayed perfectly still and was declared the best patient of the day. He is such a little charmer already! We waited for Dr. S to come back with his diagnosis. I can tell from his face it isn't good. He starts out by describing two different deformities; one that goes away on its own and one that needs correction. He doesn't even need to say it...I can tell that Wyatt of going to need help to get his feet straight. This has to be one of the saddest days of my life, the day I found out that Wyatt has a Congenital Oblique Talus in his right foot and a Congenital Vertical Talus (CVT) in his left. Dr. S said we will proceed with physical therapy 2 times a week for the next 8 weeks (with daily stretching). If that doesn't correct it then we will move on to serial casting and then to surgery. I was like a deer in the headlights...Did he just say surgery!?

Of course like any normal person in this day and age I hop on my phone and start searching for any information I can find on CVT while Darren drives us back to pick up our daughter, I did not like what I saw. This is such a rare deformity that little is published in the subject. Basically what I could surmise is we have a good chance of correcting Wyatt's right foot (the less severe) with manipulation and casting. Everything I have read about CVT said surgery was inevitable and all the stretching and casting did was make it less invasive. We scheduled Wyatt's PT at an office close to our home. We gave them all of our info and were excited to start helping our little boy get better. Not 30 minutes later we get a call back saying none of them felt comfortable treating Wyatt and they referred us to a specialty office 25 minutes away. Wyatt is scheduled to have his first PT session on February 8th (big sis' 2nd birthday!)

Playing Catch-up

Let me give you a little history to get you up to date. Our handsome boy was born September 12, 2011. He was 8 lbs 6 oz and I remember the doctor and nurse arguing over whether he was 22.5" or 23". Either way he was a long, big boy.  And still is! Wyatt weights in at a whopping 18 lbs and 3 oz at 4.5 months old. I noticed his curved feet right away, but all newborn feet look a little odd to me and I didn't really think much of it. When Wyatt was 3 days old we took him in for a routine check-up. Our regular pediatrician was busy and we saw a different doctor in the office (little did we know what a huge blessing this would be!) Dr. Babbel had made an offhand comment on how he was a little concerned about how curved Wyatt's feet were. He folded Wyatt's legs up to show us the unusual position he had taken up in the womb. He said that his feet should start to straighten out now that he isn't cramped in a small space anymore. If they weren't better by his 2 month routine check-up he would refer us to a specialist just to double check. We were relieved to hear this and made a note to pay close attention to Wyatt's feet.

A couple of months passed and Wyatt's feet were improving. They didn't curve out as much but still were always angled up. We saw our regular pediatrician for Wyatt's 2 month check-up. We brought up Dr. Babbel's concerns over Wyatt's feet and asked his opinion. He quickly looked them over and concluded that they looked perfectly fine. Phew! We all breathed a huge sigh of relief. Our little boy is perfect! Time passes again and I just can't get the feeling out of my mind that something is wrong with Wyatt's feet. They are so unusually fat and they still curve up and out. Something isn't right. When it came time for Wyatt's 4 month check-up I made sure we scheduled it with Dr. Babbel. I bring up Wyatt's feet again and he agrees with me 100%...something just isn't right. He is convinced that they don't look too bad and will hopefully just need close monitoring from an orthopedic specialist and maybe some stretching. Okay, I can handle that.

Wow...

It has been one week since Wyatt was diagnosed with a Congenital Oblique Talus in his right foot and a Congenital Vertical Talus (CVT) in his left. I still haven't wrapped my mind around the whole situation. I am terrified over what the future holds for us. Part of me is saying I am being silly. What Wyatt has is correctable! This isn't a terminal illness or a deformity he will have to endure his entire life. I am just saddened that my poor little boy is going to have to go through painful physical therapy, serial casting, and maybe surgery for the next year or two. He will never crawl correctly and his first steps will probably be in casts. Wyatt will not know any different or remember this, but I will. I need a place to write down all I am feeling through this journey. If I don't get it out somehow, I feel I simply might explode. I searched all over for information on this deformity only to discover very little. All attempts to find a support group yielded nothing. Wyatt has a rare deformity and I suddenly feel very alone.