Mommy is still sick. Yesterday her whole voice was almost gone!

I went to the orthopedist today. We got some news that we really didn't expect. My hip IS NOT dislocated! YIPPEE!! He said that little almost five-month-olds like me are pretty tricky with hips and sometimes positioning will make them appear dislocated. He said he can't guarantee that my hip will stay in place, but at least it looks good for now. :o)

As for my feet, well, that's a different story. I actually only have one clubfoot, my left one. My right foot has some big long name that Mommy can't remember. She only remembers "congenital" at the beginning of it. Which "congenital" means I was born with it. My left foot is clubbed so tightly that the doctor said that putting it into casts would do more damage than good. He said the skin on my feet and ankles is very tender and soft and putting it in casts wouldn't be good. Besides, it wouldn't be good to force my foot one way when my bones want to go the other way. As Mommy suspected, my left foot will have to have surgery someday.

Mommy expected me to get a cast on my right foot. She had already planned to pick yellow, as my Easter dress is yellow and she wanted them to match. WRONG! My right foot has to have surgery someday too. :o( The doctor said casting that foot wouldn't do any good because it would just fall back to its original position. (Mommy doesn't really understand why.) The doctor was very nice and said that he didn't want to do anything to risk my life. He said that I have already beat some numbers because I am almost five-months-old and still going strong. He doesn't want to do a surgery that will put my life at risk - which you all know what my heart thinks of surgeries! YIKES!! Anyway, he said that when I'm a big girl, if I can show him that I am going to walk, he will fix my feet. :o)

Now, of course, since my hip was good, that doesn't mean we can have all good news... Mommy had noticed that my leg between my knee and my ankle looked "funny". It kind of has a swoop in it. The doctor noticed it too and noticed that my knee will pop right out of socket! He said that is really bad for my ligaments and tendons, even if I like having my leg that way. When I start physical therapy (hopefully next week) my therapist has to make a splint that will keep my knee bent at a 20 degree angle. Also, the splint will run down to my foot (which is conveniently the left one) and will splint my foot a little to try to curve it back in the right direction. It won't correct the club, but it may make it where Mommy could get a shoe on my foot - if my feet would ever get big enough for shoes!

That's about all for my doctor visits. Thanks for praying for me!

Love,
Carleigh

We went to an orthopedist today. Carleigh does have a dislocated hip - it's her left one, not the right one. The doctor mentioned a Pavlik harness that would go onto Carleigh's body and attempt to put her hip back into place. His concern, though, was with her Spina Bifida. I guess putting her legs into the harness could bother her back. He wants us to talk to our neurosurgeon on Wednesday and ask him which orthopedist he works with. They will make the decision at St. Louis Children's whether or not to do the Pavlik harness.

As for the clubfeet, he said that we need to keep working with them and keeping them soft. They don't do surgery for clubfeet until age one, but it is possible that Carleigh will have to have a cast on her left foot. That will also be left for the doctor at St. Louis to decide. Carleigh is too small for AFO's. It would be nice if she could fit into them as they are removable braces, rather than casts.

Tomorrow we see the pediatric opthamologist and the pediatrician. Please think "big numbers" as Carleigh will be weighed tomorrow. We will be REALLY happy if she is 8 lbs., 6 ozs. or more!!!