Molly the Indomitable Force

On Friday we went to Sick Kids for a second opinion on Molly's feet (actually about a sixth opinion if you count all the health professionals we've consulted in the past few months). Our new ortho guy seems fantastic and under his advice we decided to proceed with re-casting Molly's feet. The only issue with her left foot is the stiffness of her ankle, so she is in a short cast (hot pink!) whose only purpose is to stretch her achilles. The positioning of her right foot needs a little tweaking in addition to the achilles stretching, so unfortunately her right leg is in a full leg cast. We'll be going back to the hospital every week or so to have the casts changed (she can pick different colours each week) and she should be into two short casts after about 3 weeks and out of the casts entirely after about 8-10 weeks (depending on how they respond). And at some point during or after the casting, it will become apparent whether she requires surgery (which would mean more casts during the recovery period).

We're confident that we've made the right long term decision, but it is not going to be much fun for her over the coming months. She isn't in any pain, just some discomfort, but the logistics are quite staggering. The full leg cast is bent at the knee and her foot is positioned outwards at quite a dramatic angle. The hospital staff all said that kids figure out a way to be mobile, but we didn't really see how it would be possible. But within two days she is walking, climbing stairs, riding the push-bike and even playing soccer (see video below!!). I went to school with Molly this morning just to talk with her teacher, who seemed nicely unfazed and very supportive. So Molly is spending today at home but the plan is for her to return to school tomorrow. Her attitude has been fantastic but she is definitely scared about the social side of returning to the classroom.