Maddy Is Doing GREAT!!!

Well, sorry the pic is sideways, I can't figure out how to turn it. Oh well.

Maddy is doing awesome in therapy. Her walk is getting better and better. We are working to strength her left left.

At her othro check up, her x-rays looked good.

Sorry this is so short, but the kids are hungry!

Maddy Is WALKING!!!

Sorry, no picture right now.

But, yes, my girl is finally walking. She started on February 12, 2008. I was rearranging her room and she just took off. As I was moving her bed she started walking in circles to my amazement. She was amazing steady on her feet.

Maddy has started physical therap, which is helping her tremendously.

That is the quick update. I will update again after the ortho appointment on the 12th.

Maddy Personality Is Coming Out More Everyday!

Today, I asked Maddy is she was poo poo. She told me no, and as I began to move toward her, she said repeatedly mine. She is too cute.

Now on to updates, since Maddy was put in the spica cast she has not been able to wear her Ponsetti shoes at night. Her feet, especially the right one, has been affected by that. We now have new Ponsetti shoes, yeah! She still has to wear a night cast on her legs, so the shoe place had to modify a bar for her shoes. I'll take a picture when I get a chance.

Maddy was evaluated for physical therapy. The ortho doc says she needs PT, then the PT place has to evaluate her to make sure she needs PT, whatever. So that starts this week.

My cousin also told me about ECI, they come to your house to do therapy with children under 3 years for a monthly fee. It is through the government and available to children that are behind developmentally. The payment works on a sliding scale. I have heard good things about it, the PT place recommended it also.

So this is our schedule:
Monday-normally consumed by playing and homework for me
Tuesday-Classes from 8am-3:30, that doesn't include the 1.5 hours drive both ways
Wednesday-PT and HW for me
Thursday-Class again
Friday-Hubby works overtime
And somewhere in there I have to cook, clean house, spend time with family, and this next week I will be getting temp custody of 2 more kids (18 months and 3 months).

Oh, and Maddy is 2 now. Yeah for Maddy!

Maddy is cruising still, but she has taken a couple of steps all by herself. I cannot wait until she is walking on her own again.

Well, I will let you know how PT is doing in a week or two.

Ortho Appointment Today

We went to Maddy's ortho appointment this morning. Maddy had her xray, and then we go to a room to wait for the doctor. And let me say Maddy remembered the last visit because she started screaming and wanted to leave immeddiately. The doctor comes in, Maddy is still SCREAMING, we look at the x-ray. He says that he cannot see the left side clearly and wants another z-ray, but the right side looks funny to him now. I told him that I could not handle any more bad news. So off to x-ray we go AGAIN. This time the doctor comes in to hold Maddy's hips and legs the way he wants them. It takes 4 people to hold Maddy down for the x-rays this time. So then back to the room, to wait for the doctor again. When he comes in the room this time Maddy is hysterical. Kevin (hubby) has to take her out so that one of us can hear what the doctor has to say. The left side is good,it is in the correct position, blood supply good, that side is where it is supposed to be. Now the right side, he says that there is dysplasia on that side as well, although it is very mild. So I ask what our next step is. We are just going to watch both sides, the right side might correct itself. He said that when the kids reach age 4 the ball of the femur stops affecting the growth of the hip. The dysplasia, as simple definition as possible, is the hip socket is not cupping the ball of the femur, the hip is kinda straight instead of curving. So once she is 4 if the hip socket is not cupping the ball of the femur, surgery will be needed. It is a pretty big surgery, and she would be back in a spica cast. I was afraid to ask for how long.

Our next issue was that Maddy is not walking yet, and it looks to us that one of her legs (left) is longer than the other, a lot longer, like about 1.5 inches. The doctor lined her up, and her legs are the same length, thankfully. She is holding her pelvis crooked making it look like her legs are different lengths.

Next, her feet. The right foot is really curving inward. He felt both of her feet, and they are both still really flexible so he is not too worried. We are going to see if we can find bar for her Ponsetti shoes that is wide enough that she can wear it with her night cast (the purple cast, a couple of posts down).

He also prescribed physical therapy twice a week for her which will help her range of movement, and correct the way she is holding her pelvis. They are also going to work with keeping her feet stretched properly.

So we had a busy day. At the doctor's office from 10 to 1, and then after we made it back home. I was on the phone setting up appointments and such. Between taking 17 hours of college classes and PT twice a week, we are going to be a very busy family. I will try to update as much as possible, but please understand if it get a liitle long between posts. Although if you have any specific questions please ask and I will answer them the best I can and as quickly as I can. Questions from anon. posters will not be answered.

Out Of Spica Cast 2.5 Weeks

The swelling in Maddy's leg is gone, and we have a little progress to report. She has started moving her left leg on her own. When she crawls, she still scoots, but occasionally uses the left leg as well. She can pull up to a standing position, and occasionally puts some weight on the left leg. She can climb on the couch totally by herself. We aren't to the cruising stage yet, but slowly I am sure we will get there.

Maddy has a ortho appt. on the 23rd, we will get an x-ray done to make sure her leg is still in the hip socket. My biggest fear is that it will be out of socket, and then she will need an open reduction which is a huge surgery.

I am definitely going to push for physical therapy (PT), at this next appt. I have learned about Early Childhood Intervention (ECI). They will come to our house and do PT with Maddy. So if the doctor won't prescribe PT I am going to go the ECI route. ECI might be easier anyway beacause I start school next week, and I am taking 17 hours.

Senthil-I am here if you have any questions. I started this blog to help others. Everytime, Maddy has had an issue I have looked to others that have gone through the same situations for help and ideas, and with questions.

Maddy's First Week Out of the Spica Cast

Well, it has been one week since the spica cast was removed. Maddy is still not using her left leg. She has figured out how to crawl. The way she does it reminds me of a frog because her left leg is bent, and she uses the right to hop/scoot around. Maddy's left leg is also still swollen a little. So I am going to call the doctor tomorrow with my concerns. It is my opinion that she needs physical therapy. The doctor had originally said that they typically do not prescribe PT for children because they play so hard that they get PT through play. Maddy is playing, but absolutely not using that left leg.

Christmas was great this year. Everyone received what they wanted from Santa.

I will update when I have more news. Hopefully, tomorrow.

Nightime Cast

This is the cast that Maddy wears now at night. I forgot to take the picture when she went to bed so I had to take it after she fell asleep.

Picture of Maddy's Hip Spica Cast

Maddy was a lifeguard for the Fall Fest at our church.