Freedom, Fresh Air, and Crumpled Toes

No more casts! It is so amazing to be at this point in Alder's Ponseti treatment. It is wonderful to see his knees, as red and scaly and odd as they look right now. He was VERY upset to have his casts removed - they had to be kind of rough with his legs because there were three thick layers to cut through and pry off (cotton, plaster and webbing).


He is not too happy with the brace either. He cries every time he moves his legs, but it is hard to tell if it is frustration from not being able to move both legs independently or if it just hurts to move them at all. It seemed that at first the discomfort was the result of really sensitive skin. His thighs-to-toes were really red with dead skin sloughing off and he didnt want to be touched. The padding under the casts had to be peeled from his tender skin. As time went on, after an hour or two, it seemed that the discomfort was more related to movement, or perhaps muscles, tendons, and ligaments stretching for the first time in a long while. For whatever reason, it makes sense that it would hurt considering that he has not moved his ankle and knee joints since he was 4 days old! I bet they are a tad bit stiff! Regardless, he was able to fall asleep on the way home. His carseat is no longer a good fit...thank goodness I bought it on craigslist for cheap!

Fashionable little sandals aren't they

We were able to adore his smooshed up toes for an hour or so while we were at the orthotist waiting on his brace. And it was amazing how fast the color changed to match the rest of him. There are some purplish patches still on his legs - bruises and abrasions from the casts??? And an old blister that formed broke and heeled over the past three weeks on a big toe.

He has a nastly little blister on his left foot from the casts...I wonder when he was crying due to this bit of discomfort??

The best part is being able to give him a real bath... truly submerged in water. While he was uncomfortable with pressing feet against Mommy and such, he was very striken by the feeling of warm water surrounding him and being poured over, keeping an amazed look on his face.