Casting

First an update. Mollie is doing great in school - she has a best friend, Josh, who shares with her every day. (When I asked Mollie if she shares with Josh, she said, "No!" Hmm - we're working on that!) She loves her wonderful teachers, and her school really is amazing. This is Community Helpers week in her class, so yesterday the fire truck came and let them explore the truck, and then the Blue Bell ice cream truck came and gave them all ice cream! Today, the mounted police came with their fishie (aka horse) and they all got to pet the horse. Mollie hasn't stopped talking about that since I picked her up!
At school, she regularly sees an OT, a PT, a speech therapist, and a music therapist, and is making notable improvements in all areas. I've really loved reading her music therapist's notes each week and seeing her progress: at first, she wouldn't say her name, and wouldn't participate with the other students. Now, she proudly says her name, asks for her instrument, pretends with the rest of the class, and gets a glowing report!
We met with her CP doctor this week and developed a new plan, based on the recommendation of her new PT. Mollie walks with a slight limp, due to the fact that she can't raise her toes on her right foot. Her heel cord is extremely tight, and she can't raise her foot past neutral. To compensate, and avoid tripping on her toes, she raises her right hip. There are several approaches we could take to address this problem, ranging from "do nothing" to surgery. After much debate, we've decided to try serial casting and an AFO. With serial casting, the PTs will put a cast on her, and then recast her in a slightly higher position every week for 3-6 weeks, hoping to stretch the muscle and joint enough to improve her mobility. After the casting, the hinged ankle-foot-orthotic is basically a small brace that she can wear inside her normal shoe, which will allow the ankle to flex but won't allow her toe to drag. We hope that this plan will improve her gait, allow her to expend less energy walking and running, and also help avoid future problems in her hip caused by the hip raise. Tomorrow she will get her first cast. Please keep her in your prayers. I think she'll handle it fine, and it's a walking cast, with no broken bones inside, so she should be able to remain active and mobile. But it will make life tougher for her (and us) for a few weeks, so your prayers are appreciated!
I'll close with a pic of Mollie in her fabulous hat that she made at school. She was so proud and couldn't wait to show her sisters!