Shriners

I have come to the realization to be thankful for my children's health.  Xander had to go to Shriner's today.  Being at any of the phenomenal Children's Hospitals in St. Louis reminds me to count my blessings.

Xander's situation while minor in nature compared to what a lot of people face is kind of a big deal or could be if physical therapy doesn't work.

So wish us luck with physical therapy over the next year (yep you read that timeframe right).  Xander is actually a candidate to have corrective surgery done now for his femoral anteversion or more commonly known as intoeing.  This kid, literally, trips over his own feet.  His left one is an issue more than his right.  Now I know this is common but I also know some cases are worse than others.  We noticed an issue when he was 3 but was told to wait til he was 5 or 6 because it could correct itself as he grew and if not he would be sent to a specialist.  So we changed pediatricians at the age of 5 and when we saw his new pediatrician he said let's watch it for a while longer.  Now he is 7, getting involved with sports and more active and trips more.  He falls a lot.  And while we were walking one night we realized how intoed he was.  Dr. B did his well visit and gave us a referral to Shriner's.  So that's where we went today.

This place was awesome (as far as hospitals go).  Xander was amazed at the little pagers they gave us telling us when to go where, the colorful circles on the floor and the changing screen on the wall (it was a piano, a fish tank and several other things in the few short minutes in that waiting room).

We met with his doctor, a nurse and nurse practitioner.  They said that he has severe femoral anteversion of his left leg and minor in the right.  It's bad enough surgery is an option but not immediate option.  We need to do physical therapy for a while to see if stretching the muscles will loosen them up some making it easier for him to correct the way his foot turns.  However, even with physical therapy the only way to truly "fix" the issue is surgery.  While he is a candidate for surgery, we are going to try physical therapy first because if it helps him enough to where he is not tripping over his own feet consistently then it will be worth it.  The surgery requires them to break/cut his femur and correct the placement of it.  This would require a 3 to 4 month total recovery time and a couple day stay at Shriners.  That being said we pray for the therapy to work and Xander is very cooperative because he doesn't want surgery (and neither do we).

This could be genetics and it could be from sitting like this as a child.  So remind your kids to sit criss cross applesauce and say no to the "w."

In the meantime, Xander is somewhat enjoying his exercises:

I did ask if we waited too long for treatment and they said no.  7 is about the earliest this doctor would even agree to start physical therapy because they need some coordination and ability to understand directions.