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.