Blindsided

Let me preface this by saying that I have really been struggling as to whether or not I wanted to post this information. On one hand, I figure why not…I’ve shared just about everything else on this blog. On the other hand, this is a tough one to grasp and uncertainty is surrounding my family right now. And let’s face it…I don’t have many details yet and therefore maybe talking about it here is a little premature.

But sometimes, when my thoughts overwhelm me and I am too tired of talking about things out loud (and my husband is away at work for days at a time), the next best thing for me to do is to write my thoughts down.  With that said…

Ever since Tuesday I have been walking around feeling as though I had just been hit by a speeding train.  As we all know, Abby is just about 2 ½ years old. She has been through so much and has fought so hard. She is so awesome and big and strong and smart and pretty and our miracle TTTS survivor and when you look at her, you would never in a million years believe that she was ever a preemie, let alone one who went through what she did in the first 6 months of her life.

When we brought Abby home we were followed by CCS. She got 1 hour of physical therapy once a month for about a year, until we were eventually cut off, not only because of state budget cutbacks, but because Abby was doing so well, developmentally. She was also seen by early interventionists every 6 months and was discharged at age 2. Awesome.

Something I’ve always noticed is that Abby doesn’t quite walk on her right foot the same way she does on her left.  She seems to slightly ‘favor’ her right heel. I’ve kept my eye on it for a while now, and last week I started to think maybe we should have it looked at by an orthopedist. I didn’t think she was injured. I just remembered that before she started walking she was definitely pigeon-toed in the right foot, but it certainly didn't get in her way. I just thought maybe he could prescribe a little physical therapy. No big deal. After all it couldn't be anything major.  The previous therapists didn't notice anything. The early interventionists at EDAC didn't notice anything. Our pediatrician didn't notice anything.

So I made an appointment and Tuesday we went to see the doctor.  He took us into the hallway to play with a ball. He wanted to see her run. She ran.  Then he did a little examination…checked her reflexes and stretched her out a bit. Then he looked at me and said…

“She doesn’t have an orthopedic problem”.  (you may have heard my giant sigh of relief)

He said:

(cue the speeding train)

“It’s a neurological one”.