Best News We've heard all day....

Yesterday, Jonathan has his first Ortho appointment at DuPont. He was getting a full evaluation of his fibular hemimelia (on his right leg) and we were expecting his "clubbed foot" (which was on his left leg) to be getting casted. Just as an FYI- The clubbed foot procedure is casting each week for up to 3 or 5 weeks and the last cast would be on for 3 weeks. After the cast came off, then Jonathan would have a brace with a bar on for 3 months and then it would only have to be worn and bed and nap up to age 2 to "train" the foot" to be set properly.

Anyways, we got down to DuPont and met Dr. Nicholas and her wonderful team. We were immediately reminded of why we choose this doctor. She's compassionate, understands we're a need to know information type of parents, and just so good with our little boy. She took one look at Jonathan's left foot and told us he doesn't meet the "club". That club is having a clubbed foot. Keith and I were immediately shocked and I was ready to cry. She said his foot looked good and the slight turn in that he has will fix itself as he grows. So we have spent months of trying to mentally prepare for our little boy to have casts on his leg, followed up with a brace, in his initial first stage of life. And then a few simple words brought us joy and we now just get to enjoy our sweet baby boy!

As for his FH diagnosis, the prognosis for that looks good too. The Doctor look at his right leg and said, "I like the length of this leg". For those who don't know what FH is, basically the tibia bone is underdeveloped, and Jonathan is a missing his fibula and his tibia is also bent. He also lacks (at least a portion) his ankle. The fact that the doctor liked the length of his leg is BIG and hoping that means there isn't to much of a discrepancy between the two. They'll have to break his tibia and reset it, which will also give him some length as well. She seemed happy with his overall leg and foot development, which was a relief to hear. She also said the rest of his skeletal frame looked great, although his one hip has a "click" to it, but that is probably nothing.

Our poor little boy did have to go for x-rays yesterday to check out both his legs/bone structure and all, but he did fantastic! Jonathan was wide awake, but never cried. We go back in 3 weeks for an ultrasound to check out his hip and then meet with the doctor for his treatment plan. Most likely, his treatment probably wouldn't begin until after he's 1. I guess we'll learn more about the course of action at the next appointment.

What we to know is that Jonathan will have to undergo a MRI at some point in the next year or so and his first surgery (fixing his ankle and breaking of the tibia) would be at 18mos to 2 yrs. Jonathan will probably have 2 more surgeries throughout his childhood for limb lengthening.

We are excited about the outlook and the answer to prayers we have already received. We are super excited to be working with our DuPont team. Although I know this poor baby will endure pain and a rough road ahead, we are thankful for all the good news we have received and that what once was a devastating diagnosis has turned to have a lot of positive outcomes. Of course, we will continue to keep you updated on our little Peanut, but for now we can just track baby milestones!