What a way to end they year! The casts that Mike has donned from hip to toe are officially history! Here’s the breakdown…
Three weeks ago at the tender age of 16 days, Mike was put in his first cast to correct his bilateral club feet. The cast started at his toes and went all the way up to his hips on both legs. Seven days later, that cast was cut off and the second one put on. Then after another seven days (on Christmas Eve), that cast was cut off and the third one was put on.
That was when Dr. Crawford gave Mike some early Christmas news – the bones in Mike’s feet had responded much faster than he anticipated and the third cast would be the last!
And today was the day that the third cast was removed (Happy New Year Mike!!!).
The saga isn’t completely over yet. Mike still needs to wear a brace between his feet to hold them in place while the bones set. For anyone who has had braces for their teeth then you will understand exactly how this works. The casts are like the braces – that is what actually does the moving. The brace is like the retainer you had to keep your teeth from moving back.
So now he looks like he is wearing a baby snowboard! Who knows – maybe you will see him in the winter X-games in the future! He has to wear the brace 24/7 – and it’s winter. It’s never to early to start training!
Check out my hot new brace – it’s red anodized aluminum!
X Games here I come!
1 comment:
I stumbled onto your blog today and wanted to say hello. My son (now 7 yrs) was born with a left clubfoot and also went through serial castings, tenotomy and wore the bar. At 15 m he was also diagnosed with nerve damage which has made his journey much longer then most clubfoot kids. He has endured numerous castings (last one was in Oct), surgery, botoxing, physiotherapy, and wears an AFO. That said, he can walk, run, ski, play soccer with the best of them.
I have a long list of clubfoot blogs on my blog and was wondering if I could add your blog to it. If that is alright, please stop by my blog and let me know.
Oh, and by the way, my son Matthew wants to try snowboarding. Should be a natural!
Post a Comment