Zoey's visit to the orthopedic surgeon

I took Zoey to the surgeon today and the report was pretty much as we expected. Her leg and foot are currently in the gray area between amputation or reconstruction. We are going to get her a foot brace for the next four months to straighten her ankle a bit, and then the doctor will measure her legs again. This will give him a good idea of how each leg bone is growing and be able to predict what her leg lengths will be when she is done growing. If the short leg is over 30% different than her normal leg, there is no way they can save her foot. If it stays where it is now (20%), then we have a decision to make. At 20%, she is looking at a minimum of 10 surgeries if we go the reconstruction route, and still never having a normal looking leg/foot. Her knee is also missing a major ligament, so it would be unstable and possibly unable to support all the bone reconstruction. That would necessitate a total knee reconstruction. If we choose amputation, she will have one surgery and a prosthetic. They would be able to leave enough of her leg that she would be able to get to the bathroom during the night without strapping on a prosthetic or having to hop. The doctor got emotional when he told me that if it was his daughter, he would probably choose amputation to spare her the trauma of so many surgeries. He insists on us getting a second opinion before he would perform an amputation, though.

None of this was a surprise to us, so I think he was relieved that I didn't freak out in his office. It IS very hard, though, to think of making the decision to cut off her cute little foot. We will have to pray a lot for the wisdom to make the correct choice for her. Zoey was a trouper throughout all the examinations and x-ray's. She smiled through the whole thing. We then met Grandma and Grandpa for lunch which was oh-so-fun! Zoey was so cute, enjoying her day out with Mommy. It was a 45 minute drive to the doctor and all the way there, she kept yelling excitedly and pointing out the window, 'Mommy, jabber, jabber jabber (in Chinese)!' I wish I could understand what she is saying. Whatever it was, she was very excited about it! It is so fun to see the world through her eyes because I don't think she ever left the orphanage before we adopted her. Everything is so amazing to her. Trees...sky...snow. All of it makes her eyes widen in wonder.


I know I am biased, but I think she is just so stinkin' cute!

If you are grossed out by poop stories, please read no further. Yep--I have another one.

Yesterday, Kate needed a diaper change after she cranked out something the size of a baseball. As I headed toward the bathroom, a little voice in my head warned me not to try to flush it. I foolishly ignored the little voice. I flushed. It jammed. I tried to plunge it to no avail. There was no way it was going down. It became apparent that it would have to be fished out. Gross. I contemplated several options and finally yelled down to Taylor, "Please go outside to get me a stick!" After some questions, he complied. He brought it up to me as the phone rang. Absently, I answered it but remained fixated on getting the thing out of the toilet. I stabbed at it. It eluded me. It was hard to concentrate on the phone conversation as I continued to try to snag it with the stick. After several attempts, I finally speared it. Ah-ha!! I suppressed a shout of triumph, disposed of it, and finished my phone conversation. I would like to think that the person on the other end was none the wiser...