Another Hospital Visit

Adria's leg strength has greatly improved over the past six months! That's the official report from the doctors during our visit to A.I. duPont Hospital for Children on Tuesday.

Was it playing soccer perhaps? Or walking through the long school hallways? Or the weekly physical therapy sessions at school?

It's all working together to significantly improve Adria's strength and stamina, and her orthopedic doctor and assistants were quite impressed with the change  since our last visit in December. Adria walked and ran down the hospital hallway with and without her braces to show them her stuff.

We also discussed the pronation of Adria's feet and how her right foot especially seems to be turning outward more. Her doctor noted that the tendons on the outside of her feet are tight, like many children with spina bifida, and may need to be corrected with more than just leg braces (orthotics) in the future.

That means surgery. Thankfully it's not needed now, just likely at some point in the coming years. The exact type is yet to be determined, but the orthopedic doctor prefers to wait on surgery until the children are older. We've known about this possibility for a while, but have not discussed it much to this point.

I took this picture of Adria today without her braces on. As you can see, she was not too happy about posing for me.... She was actually complaining about her feet being in pain :(

It's incredible that she can even walk barefoot, but it does often cause her pain.

Adria's feet pronate outward without her braces on.

Adria has been extremely fortunate to have only had two surgeries at this point in her life. Many children born with spina bifida have more than a dozen surgeries in their youth. Surgeries to address the build up of fluid on the brain, problems with legs and hips, bowel and bladder issues, and much more. Even just yesterday, a boy we met in Indianapolis who is just a few months younger than Adria, went in for the Malone procedure and Mitrofanoff appendicovesicostomy, which are complex surgical procedures for children with severe bladder and bowel challenges.

While I do not like the prospect of Adria needing surgery in the future, I realize how fortunate she has been. Still, I pray that she will continue to walk and "run" the way she does and not require invasive surgeries.

We'll be traveling north again in July to meet with Adria's urologist at the same hospital and discuss how her life has changed since our last visit in December, when we learned the PERISTEEN procedure.

The physical therapist and other specialists at A.I. duPont Hospital check Adria's strength and leg movement.

All three of our children came along for the morning of doctor appointments on Tuesday.

Chubby Cheek Baby Boy :)

In spite of meeting with multiple doctors that morning, I think the most dramatic part of the day was taking care of the needs of three children in a public restroom!

Johanna who is potty-trained, Adria who requires catheterization, and Judah who had a nasty diaper blow-out. That was a rather time consuming ordeal, but at least Daddy was there to watch the other two while I took care of each child's needs one at a time. Shew!

We have been to the Children's Hospital many, many times since Adria's birth and will continue to do so at least twice a year for the foreseeable future. It's all just part of her life with a child who has special needs.

If you want to learn more about her past doctor's visits, here are a few posts to read:

• The Incredible Shunt Alternative
• Answer to Stinky Situation - Peristeen
• Learning to Catheterize a Toddler Girl
• Brothers with Spina Bifida
• Getting Wheels and Tests