Kealan's Orthopedic Appointment

Last night we went to Kealan's Orthopedic appointment at Children's. I always say a little prayer as I turn right into the driveway at Children's that I am so thankful that I am here for the reason I am, not because my child is ill or hurt. It is a place filled with such sadness and hope at the same time. I have to say that I was a little anxious about this one. Usually I am very excited to go to these specialists to get some answers, but the possibility of surgery on my little girl was rough. However, it was a positive appointment, other than waiting for an hour past our time! After a lot of poking, prodding, stretching, and bending my Monkeypants like Gumby, the Dr. declared her case pretty mild. Yeah! We went in because her left foot has been turning in for the last few months despite PT, inserts, and stretching. This is one of the many little complications due to her CVA (stroke) at birth. It turns out that it is not structural (skeletal), instead it is functional (brain). He found only a 5 degree difference in the turning of her femurs (which is basically nothing), and her hips rotate equally. Though when she walks, there is a 30 degree difference in the turning in of her left foot from her right. That means her brain is misfiring to the muscles. She has also had the problem of a spastic lock in her left foot. Sometimes her foot simply will not flex and it will lock at about a 95 degree angle and this causes her to trip a lot. It breaks my heart because when this happens, she whines, "I just keep falling down!" The Dr. is expecting this to solve on it's own with some stretching of the hyper-strong interior muscles, and strengthening of the weaker exterior ones. We'll see him again in a year and see!