Andrew's Appointment went well...

We went to Andrew's appointment this morning and everything went very well. Dr. Park met with us for quite a while and reviewed his files. He told us that it did not look like Andrew would need to have any heel cord lengthening surgeries!! What a relief. He told us we were doing a great job with therapy and keeping his range of motion up through therapy and stretching. His left leg still has only a 18 degree range which they said was fine since they did not really want any more since it would make him crouch and fall forward on that leg more. His right leg was about a 20 degree range which is considered normal~ Even though he is still walking on his toes, Dr. Park is not concerned. As long as he keeps that range of motion and keeps his heel cords stretched he will be fine. He said his hips looked fine at this point and that his pronation of his feet is keeping up fine. The polywog inserts are doing a great job of keeping his arch up. We're hoping that he will continue with this and never have to have any surgeries.

Dr. Park and his staff are amazing. We cannot believe the progress that Andrew has had in the last 4 months! Dr. Park was happy with Andrew's progress and told us to lay off the concerns about him walking on his toes. As he grows, and gains weight and gets older, he will become more aware of this walking and will eventually walk more normal. He kept reminding us that he is only 4 and that any 4 year old will do the oposite of what he is told, so he just told us to be patient and just continue the therapy and be sure to stretch him EVERY day. That is the most important thing at this point. Otherwise he is happy with his progress. He even told us that it would be a good time to enroll him in some sports like soccer, or taekwondo or karate. Even basketball or other running and jumping sports would be fine and that the younger he starts and the more he runs and jumps, the better he will be. We were shocked to hear that since we hadnt considered it, but he told us that at this age, he will be just fine if he cannot keep up and being in a competitive sport will only help motivate him. He also suggested swimming lessons since the water is wonderful therapy. Since his aquatic therapy was not working out too well since he did not like the therapist manipulating him and holding him in the water, we all think that swimming lessons would be the way to go. Also, much cheaper than therapy. So we plan to look into these things when we get home. With winter coming, we thought it would be a good idea to get him involved in something soon to keep him active through the winter months. With the snow and cold, outdoor play will be limited really soon.

So we are pleased to say at this point, there will be no return to St. Louis for quite some time unless something comes up that we are concerned about. Dr. Park told us that his line of communication is always open and that any time we have any questions or concerns, to feel free to call him with anything at all. At this point, Dr. Park is releasing him from his care until we need him again!

I think that is all.

Now we just have to figure out how we are getting home. We've got a few flight options but Angel flight has not gotten our last 2 legs of the flight filled yet. Our first pilot will take us to Indiana but from there, we have no clue yet. We will hopefully find out in a few hours where we stand. We may just end up flying commercially tomorrow morning or we will see how far the first leg pilot can get us and go from there. Either way, it is still a blessing to have had the generosity of the Angel Flight pilots for our trip out here. It really will ease the burden of the cost of round trip air travel.

We'll keep you all up to date. I will upload the photos now and a video of Andrew when we landed after his thrid flight and relaxing comfortably for a bit in the Spirit of St. Louis FBO... enjoying fresh coffee and cocoa and freshly baked cookies!