Part 3

Heath's Story Part 1 Part 2

Heath's dad took the day off work and we all went to the hospital to have Heath's surgery casts removed. Heath absolutely screamed when the nurse sawed them off - afterwards we even noticed she had nicked his leg with the saw. Ouch! Poor little man.

His feet looked lovely and straight with lots of dead skin and two meaty looking scars.
The surgeon said the correction was excellent and he didn't need any corrective shoes. He said that standing and walking is the best thing he could do for his feet. An appointment was made for a check up in six weeks time.

We rushed Heath home to give him his first full bath in three months, which he really enjoyed. Then because we were so keen about the bath thing we gave him another one later. This time he was really happy and squealing and splashing. It also helped to lift some of the dead skin.

It took five days for Heath to start crawling again. He was generally not very happy after the casts came off. His knees and feet were very tender and weak so he was unable to crawl and definitely couldn't stand. This was probably the most unsettling time for Heath, going from full mobility in the casts to not being able to move without them.

To help strengthen his legs and get him to use them I was putting him in the "Jolly Jumper" (hangs in doorway, spring at top and baby sits in seat and jumps up and down) a couple of times a day. He had lots of fun in this jumping up and down, especially when we had music on.

Heath started standing in his cot again about 2 weeks after the casts came off. The day after his first birthday (8 Jan 2000) he took some steps holding onto the handle of a wooden trolley he got for Christmas. So now he is standing regularly and we are encouraging him now and then to take steps as well. It is fantastic what the surgery has enabled him to do.

Heath and I went to the hospital last Thursday for his six week check up. We saw our original surgeon (not the one we saw at the cast removal). This surgeon usually gets his children to wear corrective shoes after surgery. He said Heath's feet are great and have good flexibility. They do turn under very slightly on the outside but that won't have any effect on his ability to stand and walk. To reduce this effect however he recommended he wear Dennis Brown boots at night (the ones with the bar between). He asked me what I thought about this and I said I just wanted to do the best for Heath.
Heath is fine wearing the boots to bed. We attached the bar after he had gone to sleep. I think he managed with the boots ok because he has already started wearing shoes so is used to having them on his feet. Heath goes back for a checkup in May.

So now we are just waiting and watching as our little boy learns to walk.