Who Knew a Cast Could be a Fashion Statement?

Abby has done quite well since her surgery. In fact, she hasn't complained at all! But we had noticed several days ago that her toes looked just a tiny bit further back in the cast than they had right after surgery and thought it was due to the swelling going down. Then Wednesday night there was a noticable difference in placement of about 1/2 inch and we knew something was wrong. We called the surgery nurse and were told to bring Abby in Thursday morning to have her cast removed. Had we known just how serious this was, we would have insisted it be removed Wednesday night. We cringed when we saw how horrible her little heel looked and felt heartbroken that Abby must have been in pain for several days while this was happening. But what's done is done and we're praying for a speedy recovery so she can wear her new braces when they come in. She was supposed to have the cast on for 3 weeks and yesterday was only day 9 but the doctor opted to leave it off because of the pressure wound. We have already called the orthotist and had a special brace ordered that has a "bubble" where the heel area is located to protect it and will be picking it up today. The great thing is that since the cast was removed, Abby has been moving her foot and leg a lot more than normal! It's almost as if the surgery triggered something in her nerves and now she has more feeling than before. We can tickle her foot and she will kick her whole leg and prior to surgery she may not even realize we were touching her foot. It's really amazing and gives us hope that our many many prayers for Abby's full recovery are being heard by our Heavenly Father.






Ready for church and all dolled up in a pretty pink cast and a "China dress" that matches it perfectly! Yes, I can maintain my girly-girliness even in a cast, people!




The pressure wound looked better even a couple of hours after being out of the cast and free from the pressure. It was actually black when the cast first came off and scared us quite badly. We are thankful we caught it in time before any major damage was done. Abby's orthopedic surgeon said he had never seen this happen before, and he's been doing these surgeries for many years. You can see her surgery scar right above the pressure wound. It's less than an inch long but the surgery definitely has made a difference! Abby's foot is much straighter than before.





Yes, the medical team really writes "yes" on the limb receiving surgery! Abby already had the beginning stages of a pressure wound on the top of her foot too.

It's Over!

Today has been an eventful but great day. Abby got up this morning in a great mood, which made it even harder for us to drag her off for another surgery. But as always, she plowed right through a tough day and came out all smiles. She couldn't have anything to eat or drink after midnight last night, but did recognize StarBucks (her special treat when she works extra hard at physical therapy) when we passed by this morning and said, "Yummmmm....Yummmmmm." Talk about tearing your heart out! This child of ours definitely knows how to do it! But other than that she never even asked for food or drink, so we were thankful for that.

We had a 2 hour wait at the clinic before her surgery started at 9am and the medical team decided to put her to sleep before starting IV, etc. The heel cord surgery took only about 20 minutes but then she still had to be casted for new braces on both legs and then have her left leg casted for post-surgery reasons. Her cast ended up being only up to her knee, not all the way to her hip area like we thought. The whole procedure took about an hour. When we were called back into recovery, Abby was crying so pitifully and one of the nurses was in the holding area cradleing her like a little baby and loving on her. It took a little while for us to get her calmed down but soon she fell asleep and was fine.

Abby had no nausea or vomiting, a welcome change from her surgeries in Birmingham, and was discharged a little before 12 pm. Once home she was able to eat a little bit and went down for a good nap. She woke up acting like nothing had even happened to her today...all smiles and playing. She ate some watermelon and udon noodles for supper. We took her for about a 20 minute walk around the neighborhood and even sat in the floor and played with her for a long time. Michael blew some bubbles and she had a blast chasing them around. She even felt good enough to aggravate poor Smitty! ha ha

To all of you who invested time praying over this day and Abby's surgery, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We could feel the strength of your prayers and the evidence of God answering them is in the outcome. We've posted a few pics below to show just how great our Abby did.



Just getting home, all relaxed and showing off my new pink cast. Of course it had to be pink since I'm such a girly-girl!

After my nap Dady blew bubbles for me and I had so much fun chasing them.

Where did it go?!

Wow! They're everywhere!

Who knew a surgery day could be this much fun?

Let's do that some more, Daddy!

Is it gonna bite me?

Bursting a bubble that's sitting on the floor. See how long my hair is getting? My Mommy wishes she had my pretty eyelashes.

Yet Another Surgery....

Well, here we are again, facing another surgery with our sweet baby. A lot has been going on this year that we haven't posted on our blog...we try to stay positive even when the circumstances aren't :0) But things seem to be smoothing out, so we thought we might share a little of our lives with you.

We have been trying to get this surgery scheduled for 2 months now and have encountered problems. Slowly but surely we are learning to lean more and more on our Heavenly Father and trust that He is ultimately in control. On May 6th, Abby was seen by a pediatric orthopaedic doctor, Dr. Dempsey, who told us that she would need heel cord lengthening surgery on her left foot. It was not something we really wanted to hear, but it's obvious just by looking at her foot that something is wrong. Her entire foot is "curled up" including her little toes. This poses a huge problem with her braces because if she ever curls her toes underneath while her foot is in the brace, her heel pops up and her foot is no longer down in the brace like it's supposed to be. Now, factor in the doctor telling us that Abby needs to be in her braces 8 hours a day. Big problem! We did ask if physical therapy would correct her foot over time, but babies that come into the world with a birth defect are only correctable with surgery.

Abby had a bad case of pneumonia and a severe urinary tract infection in April (ended up in the ER) and a lighter case in June. Then in July we took her back for a check-up as she had been running a low-grade fever almost every day since April. Again, she was diagnosed with pneumonia and her pending surgery was cancelled. And then......great news. The pediatrician called back last Wednesday and said a specialist had reviewed all of Abby's chest x-rays and she did not currently have pneumonia (although she definitely had it in April). A network of blood vessels in her right lung appear to be pneumonia on her x-rays. The blood vessels are harmless and it's normal for some babies to have this. She is probably running the fever due to teething since all of her labwork came back normal. So again, surgery was rescheduled for this coming Tuesday, July 21st, at 7am.

After the surgery is complete, and while Abby is under anesthesia, an orthotist will come in and cast both of her legs for new braces that will fit much better. Then her left leg will be in a cast for 2 weeks up to her hip and then for 1 more week just below her knee. During that time she cannot get her cast wet at all, which means no bath for 3 weeks. Now folks, that may not sound like the end of the world to you, but to a 2 year old who absolutely loves her bath every day, it is :0) Since Abby is still so small, we normally bathe her in the kitchen sink. But lately we wanted her to venture out and really enjoy her bath time until surgery, so we moved her to the big tub and added lots of fun toys. Of course she loves it! (See pictures).

But here's how good our God is: one of my friends put a post on Facebook about her little boy being able to go to youth camp and still swim in the pool even with a broken arm. So I emailed her and found out about a cast cover that is 100%waterproof and you can shower, swim, and bathe even with a cast on! We have one ordered for Abby and hopefully it will get here in time. You know, God knew our baby needed her special time that she enjoys so much in the bath tub. If anyone out there thinks God doesn't care about the little things in your life, HE DOES! And maybe He chooses not to change or fix your circumstances, but just look around and you'll see that He is there with you and He cares.

We aren't crazy about our precious Abby going through another surgery (her fourth one) but we know this is best for her in the longrun. We cherish your prayers and encouragement and consider it an honor that you would continue to remember our sweet Abby and our family in your prayers.



Rub-A-Dub-Dub, Abby's in the tub!





You should hear her say "dub dub dub"...she's really
loving the tub thing!





Everybody should have a rubber duckie!

Oh, So Proud to be an American!

Then....and Now




Abby at the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou, China. She's proudly wearing her red, white and blue dress as we finalize our documentation. Now she will be a U.S. Citizen when we step off the plane back home!

.....and 10 months later as we celebrate Abby's first 4th of July

(we were so glad the dress still fit her!)