One More Thing

We went to LA today to see an orthopaedic surgeon because Mia walks and stands on the inside of her feet. She has been doing this for awhile and her physical therapist has always told us that as she builds muscle strength in her legs and ankles, she won't do this anymore. Well, since there are so many other things going on with Mia, we thought it would be good just to get an expert to look at her feet and make sure she's ok. We saw him today and he checked her out and confirmed what our physical therapist has been telling us, she doesn't need braces on her feet...but...yup, one more thing...he was concerned about her hips and after getting an xray told us she needs a hip brace. The good news is she only has to sleep in it, the bad news is she has to sleep in it. Apparently, they are not comfortable and kids don't particularily like them. :( So, your hip is a ball and joint, her ball isn't fitting properly into the joint, it's slipping slightly out of it and that's because her muscles are weak there. The chances of this correcting on its own are 85%. With her wearing the hip brace it gets moved up to 98%. So, we will do this for 3-4 months and then recheck to see her progress. Pray for an easy transition to sleeping in this brace and pray for more leg strength.

I asked him what kind of shoes are better for her, structured or soft, and he said the best shoe is no shoe. They have done studies and found no benefit to either type of shoe, he said they are strictly cosmetic and you should only wear them if necessary. In fact, they've studied kids from Africa who have grown up never wearing a shoe at all and their feet are better formed and have less problems then ours. Interesting huh?!

On a side note, Mia has stopped talking altogether, she no longer says mama or baba, so will you please pray that we would get those sounds back. Thanks!