Andrew's Consultation....

Ok, well before we had Andrew's consultation... yesterday we visited the St. Louis Zoo... Which we had a Wonderful time at. Although the weather is quite steamy here, we all enjoyed all the animals. Andrew & Matthew especially enjoyed the Primates area... The apes and gorillas loved them too. One gorilla made it well known that it was HIS territory by thumping his chest and banging the glass where they were kept to let Andrew & Matthew know. They even got to watch a little baby and it's mother give kisses & hugs to each other. Andrew REALLY loved the penguin and puffin area... there were a few that looked like Happy Feet and Andrew said that he can't wait to dance like "Happy Feet"!!!

So we went to Andrew's consultation today and met with a physical therapist first after watching a video slideshow of the surgery. The PT told us that they were downgrading Andrew to wearing "Polywogs" shoe inserts for a while rather than the AFO braces that he has been wearing. They feel that he is using them to lean on when walking & standing. We're hoping the surgery will eliminate the braces altogether. The PT was reassuring that his recovery will be quick since he has great range of motion and strenght and the surgery will only help him to increase that strength over time.

After the PT meeting we met with Dr. Park, the Neurosurgeon... He was very happy to see Andrew and is pretty confident that the surgery will benefit him. He told us that basically all of our hopes for the outcome of the surgery are not too far away. He gave us much needed info about the surgery and recovery which has helped put our minds at ease. He really told us that he would not tell us that he could benefit from the surgery if he was not sure that Andrew WOULD. It will definitely be a long road to get Andrew strengthened but we are prepared for the work. Dr. Park explained to us what to expect during and after the surgery. He told us that the surgery may not FIX his pronated ankles but will reduce his chances of having to have orthopedic surgery. He said there is about a 20% chance that he will have to have the surgery but that it would not be until he is at least 11 or 12 years old. The hip dispasia will hopefully also correct itself over time and therapy. He told us that it is common for children with CP or other kids that walk at a later age, have hip problems with displasia because of the weight that should be upon the hip at an earlier age to help to develop the bone more normally. But over time, Andrew may be just fine in that are as he starts to bear more weight onto his legs post-op.

So, overall, everything is going as planned. We will be at the Hospital with Andrew at 11am. His surgery will be started at 12pm and he is not expected to be out of surgery into the Pediatric ICU until about 4pm. We will keep you all updated when we have time.

Oh and after his appt. today we visited the St. Louis Arch. The boys had a BLAST there. We got to go up inside this monstrous structure in a sort of space ship pod that is inside the arch. Andrew LOVED the ride up... Matthew was not so confident... I think he was picking up on Sean's uneasyness of the height. This thing was huge. We took lots of photos, but we've attached a few to get you started... I am trying to upload the rest to to a webpage. Be back tomorrow.... And thank you all for the Well wishes.

If you would like to send Andrew an email or pics or something you can send it to drewmatt@charter.net That is Andrew & Matthew's email address.