Heel... Toe

That's how Will has been walking... heel to toe! No tiptoes! Not a one!! After his surgery, he completed 5 - 6 weeks of physical therapy and was released last week with the instructions of "go to the playground and play". :) YAY!!!!

She also said we could sign him up for soccer this Fall!

He has one final appointment with the pediatric orthopedist and this whole tip-toe issue should be behind us!!! :)

It's been a long journey and I'm glad it's just about over!

A Little Dirt Never Hurt... I Hope! :)

Down the Ramp

Will's Home!

I'll write more about the hospital stay later, but just wanted to let everyone know that Will is home from his surgery and doing well. He's in good spirits and enjoying his wheelchair. :)



Thanks to everyone for the prayers, thoughts, cards, packages, and support! It has been wonderful to have such loving people surround us!! Thank you all!

Surgery Decision

Life has been extremely busy lately. It seems like I've barely had time to breathe. We've had our second Open House on our old house, Spring is the busy season for Jeff's work, PT appointments for Will, Cub Scouts, blah blah blah blah BLAH. Just everything.

Anyway, that's not what this post is about. My brain is going in a million directions lately.

After MUCH deliberation and prayer, we have decided to go ahead with the surgery on Will's Achilles tendons. We've been given a top-notch pediatric orthopedist at a top-notch Children's Hospital. Plus, after 6 weeks of physical therapy and high-top boots we've seen no improvement. As soon as those shoes come off - he's right back on his tip tip tip toes.

I was very reluctant to tell Will he was having the surgery. He's a "dweller" and a worrier. My first instinct was to tell him on our way to the Hospital, but Jeff said no. LOL! And I'm glad he did. :) Will has heard us talking about casts and wheelchairs, so he knew something was going on, but just not exactly what.

Last week I told him that since his legs won't let him walk flat-footed that the doctors are going to help him with that by lengthening his tendons (and showed him what that was). I told him that we'd spend the night in a children's hospital, too. His first question was, "Is it going to HURT?!!!" I told him, "Yes, it would hurt afterward." He wouldn't even let me try to explain myself before he started getting really upset with, "I DON'T WANT TO GO!!!"

I calmed him down and explain that it would hurt the way a bruise does. That a bruise takes several days to heal, but that this would take a few weeks to heal and eventually wouldn't hurt at all. I explained that he'd be in casts for a few weeks and asked, "Remember when Nathan had a cast? His was blue and orange. What color would you like?" This put a "fun" spin on the conversation and at first he said purple, but then he decided he wanted "black like Hiro." We talked a little bit about having the Cub Scouts write their names on his cast, but he really didn't know what to think about that. :) Then I told him that he'd get to ride around in a child-sized wheel chair for awhile and he thought that was pretty cool.

So for now, he's ok with it. He's told everyone at church that he'd be in a wheelchair soon and wanted them to know because they might not recognize him. :) He did a really good job explaining what's going to happen to the people that asked him about it, so I think he has the perfect amount of information without going into detail about the specifics of the surgery. I really thought he would get more into the questions about the incision, blood, and how the doctors were going to do the surgery.

The surgery this Thursday in Birmingham and if all goes well, he'll be released on Friday. Jeff and I will stay in his room with him. Our other two boys will be with my in-laws.

We're trying to get everything ready for two weeks of non-load-bearing casts. I'm doing lots of grocery shopping tomorrow (with extra "treats" thrown in) . Jeff will be building a ramp for the front stairs soon. We're rearranging furniture so the pull-out couch will be near the tv and I've got a 4-disc set of Inspector Gadget coming from Netflix. I've requested the Cub Scouts and Bible classes send Will get well cards so he gets something in the mail, too. :) As for school, I've scheduled 7 days off if we need them, but I think he'll be fine doing school as there won't be much else to do.

Jeff will be traveling back to Georgia for a week shortly after the surgery, but I think that will be good for me so I don't feel obligated to cook a big meal and have the house clean every day before he's home for work. My plan is just to let everything else go except for the necessities. Life will be slow as far as things to do, but busy as far as taking care of and giving attention to the kiddos - especially Will.

By the time he's out of casts, the nice weather will be here to stay (with little rain) and he'll be able to play through the summer and be ready for soccer in the fall. We're also planning to have the Cub Scouts come camp in our back field at the end of May. Lots of fun stuff to look forward to, but we just have to get through the next 5 - 6 weeks.

Please say a prayer for Will, his recovery, and the doctors, too - especially the anesthesiologist, as the biggest complications would come from that; Will has never been put to sleep before. (Side note: The surgery is actually out-patient, but since he's a child they'll keep him for 23 hours. There are no major blood vessels in the surgery area, so there won't be a lot of blood and even if the tendon was cut in half, they say it can be sewn back together. So there are generally few complications from the surgery itself and if there are any they are fixable.)

Thanks for the prayers and I'll try to update once we're back in town.

Now, I must go clean my house, do the mountain of laundry, make lunch, figure out what I need grocery wise for the next two weeks, plan our meals, break up an argument between the boys, make the beds, kiss a boo-boo, get some packages wrapped for the post office and find time for a shower while the boys bang on the door asking if they can dig holes in the yard or make their beds into slides. LOL! A mother's work is never done.

And if you made it to the end of this post, I give you two stars and a happy face sticker. :)

Pocket Rock Part 2

... and within 12 hours...

he lost it.

Oh well. :)

Pocket Rock

While trying to make our decision regarding surgery for Will's toe walking, my educational consultant friend that works with gifted kids suggested a worry stone for Will. It would be a sensory experience for him that would help replace the toe walking sensory experience.

Will has been collecting rocks lately (and losing them... lol!), and I asked him if he had any smooth ones. Nope, not a rock in site. So I raided my jewelry box and found a stone on a keychain that my mom had made for me that was slightly bigger than a half-dollar. It's red, round, thin, and oh so smooth! We'll give it a shot! (Thanks, mom! Hope you don't mind that I disassembled your keychain!)

I sat down with Will and told him that the rock is for him only and it's supposed to stay in his pocket. When he wants to walk on his toes, he's supposed to put his hand in his pocket and rub the stone. He can also take it out of his pocket to rub it, flip it, or transfer it from hand to hand, but he's always supposed to put it back in his pocket.

We're going to call it his pocket rock or pocket stone.

I told him he is allowed to use it when he's anxious or scared about something, too. When he doesn't understand something (usually it's mechanical or electrical) he really kinda flips out on the anxious scale. His voice gets a higher pitch and he dances around until someone explains how it works or why he doesn't need to worry about it.

He seemed VERY receptive to the idea of the pocket rock. He asked why he needed it and I simply told him that we are going to try to get his brain to stop thinking about his toes and start thinking about the stone. He took that in very well, too. :)

Granted it's only been 20 minutes, but I've ALREADY seen a decrease in his toe walking. I know it'll get harder as time goes on because the stone is new and fresh on his mind, but hey... it's an improvement! :)

Other things we're working on while we make our decision:

• Go shopping for some high-top lace-up "farmer type" boots soon
• Also get walking shoes instead of running shoes that encourage heel-toe walking
  
• Continue with stretches as much as possible (3 times a day just might not happen...)
• Keep shoes on him as much as possible as his toe walking is even more exaggerated when barefoot.
• Professional pediatric PT weekly sessions
• Gentle reminders to heel/toe walk
  
• More research on how to correct the sensory seeking aspect of toe walking (yes, I have an engineering brain. LOL!)

Anyway, I'm pleased with the pocket rock so far and I hope it will continue to be a good source of mental redirection for Will.

Well, I need to go do... the dishes and the laundry and the bed sheets and the sweeping and the food prep....

... maybe I need a pocket rock, too! :)

Surgery or Therapy?

{WARNING: LONG POST. I want to get all this info down so I don't forget what everyone has said. So many differing opinions, it's hard to keep it all straight! Plus as a bit of a disclaimer, I didn't reread this post... forgive grammatical, spelling, and incoherent thought errors. I'm tired and worn out. Thanks. :) }
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Will, now age 7 1/2, started walking on his toes when he was about 2 years old. I was told that he would outgrow it as it was just a habit. Then when he was 5, I brought it up to his (new) pediatrician and after watching Will walk, he referred us to a (somewhat) local orthopedist.

The orthopedist did his evaluation and watched Will walk, too. He said it was habit and that Will should outgrow it. He said no physical therapy was needed and to not even bother drawing attention to it. He did, however, throw in the statement that if he hadn't stopped walking on his toes by age 8, he would probably need surgery to lengthen the tendons so he could physically walk flat-footed.

So that's what we did. We left it alone and ended up just watching it continue.

Summer of 2009, Will began having terrible headaches and we went to a chiropractor. The chiropractor basically said his hips were out of alignment because of the toe walking which in turn landed him some pretty harsh headaches. The chiropractor was able to bring the count of headaches from 6/week down to 2 in 4 months time. Very nice!

During the time with the chiropractor, Will began walking flat-footed occasionally as well. I figure at some point his hips were hurting so badly that the toe walking helped with the pain and once the hip stopped hurting he was more able to land flat-footed. It's a theory anyway. I estimate that his toe walking/toe standing went from 95% of the time down to about 85% of the time. So while it was a decrease, he was still on his toes a lot.

Shortly after we began seeing the chiropractor, Will had his annual well visit with his pediatrician. I mentioned that the toe walking was still going on and he recommended another orthopedist. I'm not sure if the first one was pediatric or not, but this second one is. He comes from Birmingham once a month to see the patients in the area. He's the guru 'round these parts and I've been told he's one of the best nationally. We'll call him Dr. K.

So we saw Dr. K about 10 days ago. He evaluated Will and watched him walk, but Will wouldn't walk on his toes. He tried so so hard to walk flat-footed, and it was much like a duck walk. Even without the high tip toe demonstration, Dr. K said that no boots, casts, or stretches would be able to fix the problem. Our only option would be surgery to lengthen the tendons. Basically he said that if we don't do the surgery and leave him 'as is', there will most likely be degeneration of the fronts of his feet, with severe callousing, and his feet & leg bones will grow improperly. Oh, and the brain hard-wires itself between 6 - 8 years of age on how to walk. Great.

My understanding is that the surgery is a quite "easy" one, but it does require Will to be "put under," and any anesthesia is scary to me. The procedure would be a few small incisions and they would poke tiny holes in his Achilles tendon to weaken it and allow it to lengthen. Although it is technically an out-patient surgery, he would have a 23 hour stay at Children's Hospital in Birmingham because he's young. He would come home in non-loadbearing casts that he would have to wear for two weeks. They would equip us with a child's wheelchair as well. After that, he would be in load-bearing casts for another two weeks. After that, 7 - 10 days in special boots and then finally after that in his regular shoes.

If we do the surgery now, he could be in his regular shoes by summer.

At first I was in agreement with the surgery, although it scares me terribly. But being the engineering folks that we are, we begin to poke around and ask different people for differing opinions. And here's where it gets hairy. So if you've stuck with this post for this long, try to stay with me. :)

The pediatric physical therapist pegged Will as a sensory seeking, gifted child. She said that when you have a gifted child, their brains like to work... a lot. He stands on his toes to keep sensation going. She equated it to sitting in church during a boring sermon. When you start to fall asleep, you move around to keep your brain stimulated and awake. Same for him, it's just all the time. If you have spent any time with Will, you know that his brain is ALWAYS going. I tend to believe that this why he started walking on his toes. Although he is walking on his toes for the sensation and not because of a physical deformity, the therapist is in agreement with Dr. K about having the surgery. She also mention that sometimes toe walking does return in sensory seeking kids.

We have a personal friend that is also a PT (but not pediatric). He said that if it were his child he would exhaust all other options before committing to surgery. He seems to believe that since Will is still growing, that the tendon and muscles should also continue to grow and stretch. (I believe that's what he said anyway. :) )

So, if you're keeping count, that's two orthopedist that say surgery by age 8. 1 PT that says Yes and 1 PT that says No.

Then, bring in another friend that is an educational consultant that deals with gifted children and knows about sensory seeking kids, too. (She's nationally recognized for her work, I just happen to be lucky enough to know her as a friend in real life and get free consultations! ;] ) Anyway, while she agrees that Will may be at a point where he does truly need the surgery, she suggested that we work through the sensory issues first while doing physical therapy and give it until August. When I mention the hard-wiring of the brain by age 8 (which will be September for Will), she enlightens me that while that is true for most kids, gifted kids don't hard-wire those motor skills until closer to 11. Good to know. :)

Today we went to see our chiropractor who also "votes No" to the surgery. He agrees that the sensory issue needs to be taken care of or the toe walking could just come back. Plus he, personally, had a similar surgery at age 12 and has had problems with his Achilles tendons his whole life.

So that's two more votes for No surgery, bringing the professional votes total to 3 YES and 3 NO. Nice, huh?

I now go back and forth on what the "right" answer is. I don't know that there truly is a right answer.

Please pray for guidance and direction regarding this decision. I need to turn this over to God and realize that no matter what Jeff & I decide, He is in control of Will's life.

{And HERE is our decision}

Dem Bones Dem Bones

(Fair warning: LONG post)

Will's Bones

Ever been to the chiropractor?

Will went two years ago. I took him to see if there was anything that could be done to help him stop walking on his tip-toes, which he has been doing since he was about 2 1/2 years old.

I've had two medical doctors give the opinion that Will should have surgery if he hasn't stopped tip-toeing by the age of 8. This surgery would include snipping the tendons in order to lengthen them so he would physically be able to walk flat-footed. Not something I'm really interested in doing.

So, we went to a chiropractor and he had a few things to say, but after two months of 2 -3 visits a week (!) I didn't see any improvement. Plus, the new year was coming with a new deductible to meet... so we quit going.

Starting mid-summer of this year, Will has been having severe headaches, possibly even migraines, lasting anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple of days. After talking with a friend in our homeschool group, I decided to bring him back to a chiropractor... but I chose a different one this time (Dr. R).

Will's first appointment was about four weeks ago. The initial reason for the appointment was the headaches, but I also brought up the tip-toes again. After a couple x-rays, the ultimate source of he headaches was said to be from his misaligned hips which he thinks is a congenital issue. (I was given further information, but not going to share the lengthy diagnosis here.) The doctor also felt as though Will was tiptoeing as a response to the hips to keep from hurting while he walked.

Will has had a total of four treatments this go-round. Dr. R hasn't popped Will's back even once (which I really like); he has solely used a sort of percussion instrument that taps.

Will hasn't had a single headache since then! Four weeks without a single headache is a FANTASTIC improvement for Will. I am so pleased!

Will has also started to walk flat-footed a *little* more. From time to time I notice that he's not on his toes, which is s wonderful improvement as well! It's just going to take time for him to recondition his brain into knowing that it doesn't hurt anymore to walk flat-footed now that his hips are figuring out how they should be properly aligned. It's going to take some work to stretch out those calf muscles of his, too. Whew! He's got some mighty tight muscles from tip-toe walking for 5 years!

So far, I am very pleased with the results Will is having!

My Bones

Shortly after Will's first appointment, I hurt my back somehow so I made an appointment for myself. After an x-ray, it was concluded that most of my problem was muscular. I got a few taps here and there with that percussion instrument (sorry I don't know what it's called) and then I had my first-ever acupuncture treatment. (Yes, he is a licensed acupuncturist, too.) I walked out of there a new woman!

The following week, I told Dr. R that the muscle in my shoulder has been bothering me on and off since Nathan was born (he had colic and I held him A LOT). More acupuncture and a dramatic improvement.

Today, I discussed my plantar fasciitis issues with him. Basically, it feels like someone is jabbing an ice pick in my foot between the heel and the arch. Nice, huh? I went to our family doctor about this earlier this year and received some inflammatory meds as well as some PT. The PT and meds really helped and has dramatically decreased my pain, but it was still there... nagging. Well, today I got a few needles stuck in different places than before plus a tug, pull, and tap here and there... and my foot feels as good as new! It's not tight. It doesn't nag. It doesn't ache. It doesn't hurt. At all! And my back and shoulder are still doing well!

I'm feelin' pretty good these days! LOL!

Nathan's bones

Nathan has had sinus issues since, well... forever. I remember telling Jeff when Nathan was 3 months old, "He's only been here for 12 weeks and for 8 of those weeks he's been on a decongestant." He's always had sinus trouble and I figured I might as well get Dr. R's opinion about Nathan's sinus situation as I've heard of chiropractors working on the sinus area.

Turns out his cranial bones are out of place! Dr. R was surprised that Nathan could even breathe or hear out of the left side of his head. After seeing Nathan's xray, Dr. R was very displeased that no one had caught the obviousness of the problem before. I saw the xray. I saw what he was talking about. And I teared up. My poor little guy.

Now I will admit, I have a bit of hard time with this. Backs and hips are one thing, but the bones around the brain are a different story... and scary one at that.

There were no tools used on Nathan. He laid down and I was right there with him. Dr. R applied some pressure on his head in the appropriate places with his hands then released and gave Nathan's body a few moments to adjust to the adjustment. Nathan was never in any pain and never winced or looked uncomfortable. During the moments of rest, we could actually watch as his facial features changed. It was really strange and cool and again, scary... all at the same time... to see his bones and muscles adjust to a more natural looking forehead and hairline.

Dr. R is also a homeopathic doctor and gave me a solution to take home for anti-fungal use against the current sinus infection. While on the topic of medication, I asked him about Nathan's eczema. It has been really bad this season. I have been rubbing him down with EV coconut oil this last week as I've heard it is a really good moisturizer. Dr. R pointed out the coconut oil has a particular acid in it that might actually irritate the eczema further and recommended shea butter and/or Desitin (zinc oxide) as a better topical remedy. Hey... I've got Desitin here at the house; I can do that! (And the shea butter will be a good excuse to place an order with Mountain Rose Herbs! :) )

Witt's Bones

Well, Witt really doesn't have any bone issues, thankfully. HOWEVER, I did ask if there were any tests regarding food allergies. I was just curious. Apparently there is a test that has something to do with electromagnetic fields. Huh. Who knew? Not me. I'm thinking that since we've met our deductible for the year, I might as well give it a go... even if it is just out of curiosity.



Speaking of curiosity... anybody else have good experience with a chiropractor? bad experiences? Have you been to a homeopath? Undergone acupuncture? I'd love to hear about it!

Some Answered Prayers

In Philippians 4:6, we are commanded, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God."

I vaguely mentioned this scripture in my recent pity rant. I should have taken my own advice and listened. It would have done myself and everyone else a whole lot of good if I had.

In 24 hours, I've had huge weights lifted from me, the heaviest being Will's orthopedic appointment. After a quick evaluation, the doctor said that he really thinks it is habitual toe walking... he's made it a habit and he should just grow out of it. NO SURGERY NEEDED!! Thank you, thank you! He said we don't need to remind him to walk flat-footed and not to draw attention to it. It should just go away. However, if he hasn't stopped by age 8 he wants us to come back in for another check-up. No follow up appointment right now. I will take that answer. Go home and be happy!

Witt didn't moan last night. He still woke up twice, but no moaning. He's been a much nicer nurser today, too. No pain for me. Alleluia! And... he took a 2 1/2 hour nap this morning! Unfortunately, I had to wake him to go get Will from preschool, but that was 2 1/2 hours for me and only 1 child to deal with. It was nice.

For the rest of my rant.. "This too shall pass" (I Corinthians 10:12 ). Amazing how God has given us all the information we need to live our lives happily...

Poor Little Pitiful Me (Pity Rant)

Just a little FYI: I just need to vent. This isn't for you... it's for me. There may be too much info or not enough info. I'm just going to type and not reread. I just need to get my complaining over with so I can move on. Read or skip if you like...


I'm spent. I'm tired. I hurt. These last few months have drained me and now I'm just feeling quite empty. I feel like I don't have much to give my children or my husband. I'm tired and just want to be alone to rest and possibly cry.

We've traveled to so many doctor's appointments in this last year, not even counting all of mine when I was pregnant. Sick visits, well visits, ear tubes, broken leg, allergists, TMJ issues, back pain, shoulder pain, chiropractors, orthopedists, I'm sure there's more... I just can't think and don't want to right now.

Right now I'm fearing today's appointment the most or maybe it's just the straw breaking me finally. Will has been going to the chiropractor with me now for a week. He's been walking on his tip toes since he was about 2 1/2 years old. Today we have another chiropractor visit and our first appointment in a different county with an orthopedist. There is a possibility that Will is going to need surgery to lengthen the tendons in his legs so that he can walk properly. Cut tendons?! What? That is so scary to me. I don't even know how to explain to Will why he is going to so many doctors. He's a bit of a worrisome child and I don't want him to think he's done anything wrong or that there is anything wrong with him. I don't want to constantly tell him to walk flat footed because I don't want to draw attention to it. I just don't know what to do. I hope everything will go well today and I can look back at this and say I shouldn't have worried. In typing that I think about the fact that God has told us not to worry. That he will only give us what we can handle. I am also thinking that right now he is thinking too much of me. I am emotionally weak right now.

I am tired. Witt is not sleeping well. He's teething. Teething with my first two boys was a breeze. It was like, "Oh! There's a tooth! Surprise!" Witt, no. He moans throughout the night. His nose runs, his mouth runs, I swear he's just got fluid pouring out of his face. He's a puddle. I'm up with him nursing at least twice a night because it soothes him back to sleep. His gums hurt and when he nurses he hurts me because he can't latch on properly. I'm really considering switching to pumping daily and giving him a bottle. I'm not ready to switch to formula as it scares me to death thinking of what his first bottle did to him. It's been recommended to go to soy, but then I read that too much soy is bad... especially for boys and especially early on. There is so much estrogen in soy that they compare it to giving several birth control pills daily. It has caused some boys to grow breasts among other things. It's just sounds awful. So what do I do? Go broke and buy the really really expensive stuff when I have free "stuff" that I can provide? It's just going to take a lot of time and I don't feel comfortable pumping in front of the boys so I'm going to have to schedule it appropriately. More time I don't have right now...

I took Nathan to the pediatrician this past week because he's never really gotten over his last cold. More than a cold. He had a spot on his lungs, but not quite pneumonia. The pediatrician said that in kids with ear tubes they either get sick and get better or get sick and get sinus infections. Nathan has a sinus infection. More antibiotics. More diarrhea. Bless his little bottom. On the bright side, he is walking fine as the cast has been off for a month. That is getting better.

Jeff's company just received a huge amount of projects for this next quarter. I'm glad because it will help bring in more money for us to get started on building our house, but not so glad because it will mean more time away from his family and more stress on him. I hate for him to be stressed from work and come home to me in shambles. He is such a wonderful, supportive husband. He's a rock. I don't know how he manages it all.


The last few days I'm realizing that I don't have healthy kids. I don't have the sickest of children, but mine aren't the healthiest either and that bothers me. I don't know why but it does. We weren't sick growing up (that I remember). The occasional cold, yes, but nothing like what I'm dealing with. [And I do realize there are mothers dealing with much more than I am.]
I just need a break. I was asked last night at church when the last time Jeff & I had a date was. The only thing I could think of was my birthday in April. It completely passed by me that just this past weekend we were in Nashville for a whole night! But you know what we did that night, I took a muscle relaxer and he took a sleeping pill. After the Christmas party, we slept... each in a different bed. There were two queen beds in our room (we didn't make the reservations). Anyway, we slept. We drugged ourselves to make sure we slept. How pitiful is that!

I also had a doctor's appointment this week to follow-up on my low iron. Turns out I have TERRIBLE TERRIBLE cholesterol. Almost none of the good stuff and way too much of the bad. Thankfully the dr said it's mostly hereditary and not what I'm eating (at least it's not my fault). However, I do need to watch my diet and start exercising. He wants me to visit with a nutritionist, which I would LOVE to do, but I see it more along the lines of unnecessary amongst all these other doctors and specialists. I don't have the time even though it is COMPLETELY PAID FOR by the lab they use. I don't pay a penny, I just have to have the time. Which I don't.

So, here's what I'm doing. I'm putting one foot in front of the other. I'm making my way through each doctor's appointment hoping there won't be a follow-up. Deal and cope with the information I'm given and change my lifestyle to fit accordingly. I just want some normalcy. I just want a week (maybe even two) without a doctor of some sort. I want to not be rushed. I want rest and peace in my life. I have high hopes and lots of praying to do for 2008.

If you made it this far, thanks for listening. I'm not usually a big grump that complains a lot. Come back and visit us another time, I promise we do have fun stuff happen here! :)