Courage

She has more courage in her two little feet than I do in all of my being. The last 6 weeks have brought us 2 surgeries, casts on both legs, and now what I am quickly learning - a recovery that will be anything but quick or guaranteed. We went into this ordeal holding fastly to the belief and hope that she'd have the surgery and then we'd be done with braces for good. I learned today that this may not really be the case. Gulp.

So this was this morning. Sophie had asked repeatedly to have her toe nails painted. I finally got around to doing it on of all days, the day she was having her casts removed. The last 2 weeks have been harder than I thought. I expected as time went on, walking and mobility would get easier. We found that the compacting cotton inside the casts just made them much less comfortable. Constant chafing is does not feel good. She was very ready for today. That is until the cast saw came out and she saw just how they were to be taken off!
She screamed for 10 straight minutes, dripping lollipop all over both of us. I know that the cast saw does not hurt you even if it touches bare skin, but apparently it vibrates a lot and she did not like that. Once they were off she was very timid to even try to move the feet. Standing on them was out of the question. Her feet are still swollen so her normal socks are too thick to wear with her braces. With any luck, she will be walking in a few days, and able to do it without the braces in a matter of 1-2 weeks. It's a catch-22...She has significant strength to gain, but cannot get this until she can truly use the foot without the brace, but yet she is not to walk without the brace because this will ensure that the clubfoot tendencies do not reappear. Until then, at least her legs are not purple fiberglass, and they are much more comfortable. Plus, she got one of these for the first time in 41 days!...

A jacuzzi bubble bath! Her favorite! I let her scrub away the weeks of dead lizzard skin that was on her legs and feet. Even after 45 minutes in the tub, they were still scaley! Maybe she can hit up Nana for a pedicure appointment (he he).

Now if you are squeemish, this is where you should go find another quilty blog to peruse. But if you are curious what she really had done, keep looking. Until tonight, I must say I only speculated what that doctor did for four and a half hours. Her left foot was more invasively repaired, but the incisions are 4-5" and completely enwrap her ankle, around the achilles tendon. I think that the right foot only had the achilles or heel cord lengthened. But in the left foot he did the achilles as well as 4 or 5 other tendons within the ankle joint itself.

I am amazed that the scar is not more evident. There is visible swelling though. It's very nice to see that foot going to a 90 degree angle all on it's own.

...another peek at the carnage we call my daughter's feet. I know that this is far better than any other birth defect I could ever imagine having to live with, but I have just had enough. Time for life to return to normal for this kiddo.