A bit of good news...

I cannot explain how excited I am by all of the news around Owen's leg. I will revisit our recent months for a minute. We switched Orthopedic docs a while back. When we first met Dr. David Feldman and Hospital for Joint Disease, he walked into the room, gave Owen's thigh a squeeze and said, "He has great quads, let's get him walking." And right there I knew, he was the doctor for us. Well, that and a ton of research on him including speaking to other medical professionals, docs, therapists, and parents who just kept recommending him. On April 9, 2012, Owen had his first knee release and right clubfoot correction by surgery. As you all know, Owen's clubfoot had been corrected maybe 6 times with serial casting and tenotomies. Nothing kept his foot in place. At times we did casting 3x a week. It was crazy but in the interest of treating conservatively and attempting to avoid surgery, we wanted to try. We gave it our best. It's hard to live like that, for Owen especially. Not many people are casted three times a week. Usually it's once a week, but Owen's foot had other ideas. Eventually, we made the decision to go forward surgically. Surgery was done and Owen's knee was taken from 90 degrees to 20 degrees. Imagine 90 degress as you sitting in a chair with you knee at a right angle. Imagine 20 degrees as a slight bend in an almost straight leg- maybe the stance you would take as you throw a basketball into a hoop. A knee bend for sure, but not a 90 degree knee bend. Needless to say, after 8 long hours of surgery, Owen's leg looked great. He recovered pretty well too. Only 2 nights in the hospital and only one of those was in the PICU. Once his O2 was stabalized, we were moved to a regular room and regular rooms mean you are one step away from going home! The weeks following were painful, but Owen is a trooper and quickly got himself back to playing, rolling and scooting all over. On April 23, 2012, we went back to the OR for cast removal, suture removal and cast change for the foot. He was placed in a splint that we could remove to move his knee joint. His leg looked great, foot looked great and everyone was thrilled with the progress so far. On April 26, 2012, I took Owen to see Dr. Feldman for joint moving. Dr. Feldman described this visit as a day that he did not want to go to work. He told me it would be "traumatic- not dramatic- traumatic." Prior to leaving for the doctor, I gave Owen some Tylenol with Codeine and we headed into the City. I was terrified as they took the bandage and splint off. Owen did great. His joint moved well, he cried a little and we were on our way home! We have been stretching it ever since and now he even moves it on his own. It's pretty amazing! Nick mentioned to Dr. Feldman at one point, that no one really ever spoke about Owen without referencing his future need for a wheelchair. I watched Dr. Feldman as he scrunched up his face, knit his brow and then he said "that's not the plan. I think Owen will walk." And Nick and I felt like a million bucks. We know, nothing is guaranteed. But we now have a different kind of hope. We go in for the left leg/foot and right foot pin removal on Monday (5/14/12). I am nervous. Surgery is going to be long. I pray Owen's left knee has a similar result. We will be at NYU for a couple of days and then hopefully home. Please send good thoughts and prayers. Love to you all! Sara