Everyday A New Beginning.....

OK, so today was an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon for Brock. Yikes! A surgeon, really? Yep.
For those of you followers that don't know all the details about Brock....one of his diagnoses is Cerebral Palsy. He has always been hypotonic, or low tone, except in certain areas--one being the feet and ankles. Brock always had tendencies of toe pointing, but could dorsiflex himself out of that position. Over the course of this past year, and especially the past 6 months or so, Brock's feet have begun to turn inward. The boy was developing club feet! His therapist kept suggesting we get Brock to wear his braces(AFOs) longer and get him in his stander more often. It wasn't helping!
In desperation at one Neuro appointment, I asked what I could do to help Brock. She was mortified how bad B's feet had become. However, he was typically wearing his AFOs during each appointment and we were so concerned about seizures! She pulled some strings and referred us to an orthopedic surgeon in Peoria. He was great.
Brock had x-rays today of his feet and upon my request, also his hips. Brock's hips aren't in the best shape, but that is a whole other post/topic/bridge to cross later.....
So, the x-rays were just as nasty as the visible foot curvature. Brock requires some extensive surgery. The ligaments and tendons on the inner part of the foot will be lengthened, and the tarsal bone on the outer foot will be cut, then that piece will be grafted to the inner tarsal to help straighten his foot. Both feet will have the same procedure, but the right is significantly worse. Apparently the tightness pulling inward for so long have caused the bone to grow deformed.
If my memory serves me correctly, Brock will be put in casts up to his hips for about 3 wks. These first casts will have his legs in a bent position. After those, the next set of casts will just be from the knee downward. I believe those will be on for 3 wks as well....
After all the info, I said: OK, let's do it. I want the first available surgery date!
To my surprise, the date will be May 18th!!!!!!!!!!! Wow!
Brock will be inpatient for 1-2 days for this. It is a big deal, but very necessary for Brock and any future use of his feet that he may have.
On a good note, he has been feeling well after the Carnitine was stopped. Monday, he had a coughing fit at school and I had to pick him up early because he got sick. It appeared to be an allergy attack? He has had some coughing since and has been home with me, just so I can keep an eye on him.
Tomorrow morning, I hope to be able to get him into the lab first thing for some blood work. I am anxious to switch to a new seizure med, but we will see what the labs say. Finding a new med could be interesting so perhaps I will be happy that Brock is not seizing and is feeling well at the moment. One day at a time, right??
I should mention that Avery and Cora are doing well. They are anticipating an upcoming field trip to the zoo on the 17th. Virtually everyday I hear: "How many days until the zoo?"
Another repeated question is: "When can we get the pool out?"
To a five year old, a few days can be an eternity!
Stayed tuned for future updates.....