The Big Reveal

Today's appointment went well, really well. I arrived in ample time (it stopped raining long enough for me to walk to the ALRT), got Hayden fed and then the cast technician and I removed his casts. His legs reeked to high heaven, but his skin was not too bad, all things considered. Had they stayed on that long at the "other place", his skin would have been rotting off, I'm sure of it. The cast technician told me that the batting type underlayer is synthetic and it doesn't allow the skin to breathe at all, whereas the sock type underlayer that Dr. Pirani uses is cotton.

Dr. Pirani came and had a look at his feet and was beside himself with happiness. His exact words were "I'm tickled pink"! I guess there is always a certain level of wariness, particularly when you are presented with a difficult case and he was definitely happy with how Hayden's feet looked. And the scars from the tenotomies? What scars? There are no scars! Since I had been booked in at 12:30 and I had to wait for the orthotist to come in and take the molds of his feet (and she doesn't come to the hospital until 2:00), I had the opportunity to give Hayden a bath (he was NOT pleased), take some pictures (see below) and then I cruised over to the gift shop where I bought him this. It was definitely a toss-up between that one and the purple woolly mammoth, but the mouse made Hayden laugh harder. And well, I like rodents and most of the time these purchases are about me, not my kids!

The orthotist came in finally and we did the molds and then eventually it was time to re-cast him and he was NOT THRILLED. He pretty much screamed the entire time no matter how I soothed him, but it was over soon enough and he fell asleep. I was also introduced to a pediatric physiotherapist who is joining the group and we have made an appointment for February for Hayden. She was very nice and said she could see weakness in his lower legs (well, duh) and she wondered about developmental delays due to the casting. I told her I felt he is behind in sitting and that he'd like to get his knees under him, but that he had figured out rolling over. So I am interested in seeing what suggestions she will have. In addition to that, Dr. Pirani asked if I would talk to a couple coming in for an antenatal consult for their baby. I ended up being there for over three hours, but that's the way it goes.

So. His feet. Here they are...

Left foot:



Right foot:



The tenotomy scars:




See those tiny purple dots on the backs of his legs? Me neither.

And last but not least, here is the video of him kicking. You will probably think his feet look funny and wonder what the heck I mean when I say they are "corrected" - well, they are supposed to look like that, trust me. They won't look like regular feet for probably about a year because he has so much excess skin to grow into and the big toes need to catch up with the others. Also, you will notice that he doesn't really move his feet, which is where the physio will come in.

Two more weeks and we can put the worst of this behind us. I am SO relieved!