Journey to Another World: Prognosis is . . .

I've had the opportunity to talk with many about our appointment on Friday but I haven't had much time to sit down and type it out. Friday was the big appointment I was anxiously anticipating at Shriner's in Chicago. Our appointment was scheduled for 10am Indiana time. We left at 6am to give ourselves plenty of time to get there and we had Betty Lou the GPS to guide us all the way. She did us proud. We made it through without a hitch.

They called us back right away after a short registration process. A surgical resident came in and specifically asked us "why are you here?" In other words, he wanted to know what we expected to get out of the appointment. I shared with him that it is Jordy's hope to walk some day and we were looking for answers as to that possibility. He did a full examination and sent us off for x-rays. They took x-rays of Jordy's feet, knee, hips, and hands. Jordy did an excellent job and then we were sent back to the examination room. After a few minutes, the surgeon came in and did a full examination with the resident at his side taking notes. I didn't understand much of what the two doctors said but eventually, they stopped talking and addressed me. Not that they were ignoring me at all, they were just talking waaaaaaay over my head which was fine. The doctor said a few really great things. First, he has no doubt that Jordy will walk. He said even in his present state, he knows Jordy would find a way to walk. He also said he was actually thankful that his club feet surgeries were already completed and that he felt very good about the work already done. Yay! I was sort of worried about the previous surgeries and I was thrilled to have his approval. After the good news came the bad news. Jordy will need some very major hip reconstruction surgery on both hips. He's pretty sure that they will have to do two separate surgeries for each hip and each one will probably take 6-7 hours. He will be in a spica body cast for at least six weeks post surgery. The two surgeries will probably take place 6 months apart with the first surgery probably taking place in October or November. After the hips, he's going to stretch out his right leg by doing a series of casts. We will go in every two weeks or so to stretch and re-cast. Total time for all procedures will be about a year. It's going to be a hard year but we felt so good about our time at Shriner's Hospital, three hours total. We are heading back twice this month for a visit with a hand specialist and a visit with a neurologist. The doctor feels confident that we will not need to do anything for his hands but he wanted to verify it with a specialist and he wants us to see the neurologist just to be certain that Jordy's right leg issue has nothing to do with a nerve. So, now you are in the know and we would appreciate LOTS of prayer as we prepare for this year.

Here are some pictures from the last several days:

Guess who wouldn't let me take a picture of him? I tricked him and took his picture through the mirror at Shriner's Hospital.

Caydra is rescuing her brother Gerik during swim lessons. Ha! This might not happen in real life.

Now Gerik is rescuing Caydra.

Here's Natalie showing off her rescue skills.

Jordy's first day at Sunday school. He did awesome the first hour. The second hour I tried to leave him because he was doing so well. EPIC fail! He was not happy with me and I felt really really REALLY bad. I knew that it was sort of too soon but at the same time, he's been adjusting so well that I didn't want to be over protective. Ten minutes after I left he was a mess of tears. Mom was feeling like a jerk. On the other hand, I learned that he is very clearly attached!

Asked a friend to take a "family" photo for our first post placement visit. It's a requirement to submit a photo of the whole family. Jordy really hates being photographed when he knows that is what is happening.

Got out the sprinkler this weekend.

That's the smile we needed for our family photo!

Racing dad through the yard.

Guess who picked up on driving even with his "bad" leg.

As you can tell, he isn't really enjoying himself either. He rode the truck for at least an hour. It was long enough that everyone else lost interest and it was just Jordy and mom in the yard.