Double Doctor Day

Sorry, I got behind with blogging. Life has not been relaxing with my mom in town. We are always on the go.

Monday morning we had two doctor appointments at UNC.  The first visit was with orthopedics to look at Willa's left foot. To refresh, Willa's left foot is turned outward which is called valgus.  The doctor isn't overly concerned but did give us stretching exercises. We are to go back in two months to see if we have made progress at home. If not, they will look to do a cast/brace to correct the issue.

The second appointment was with prosthetics and orthotics to check the fit of Willa's new prosthetic device for the omphalocele. There must have been some notes made about how Willa expressed her displeasure during the last visit. The temperature in the exam room was a good bit higher and the tech knew that it worked to wrap Willa in a blanket when she needed soothing. The tech took some pictures and measurements of the omphalocele. These were compared to the images from our first visit on November 19th. The omphalocele is shrinking - as in the organs are slowing starting to go back inside. My mother wasn't seeing things. I guess I don't realize it b/c I see it every day.

Additional padding was added to the brace and we go back again in just less than two weeks to see how things are progressing. My mom also asked if the omphalocele was all that common. I think my mom was asking about the occurrence of the abdominal wall defect. The tech took it as her inquiring about the steps being taken to correct the defect. He told us  the use of a prosthetic device is very rare and there is only one published study.  The tech, like most doctors in all the different areas of medicine, seem to be appreciative of the chance to work with an omphalocele baby. Most say they have not seen one since residency.

*I'm going to add a picture of Willa's feet. I just don't think trying to take a picture right now will be conducive to trying to get her to sleep.