On August 4th Daniel had surgery on both legs to lengthen the tendons in his calf. He has walked on his toes his whole life (which I thought nothing of) until my sister in law mentioned his balance in March. We brought it up to his pediatrician who was concerned because he wouldn't put his left heel to the ground at all and the right only briefly before it hurt him. So she referred us to an orthopedist in July and we found out from her that there was no give (spasticity) in his calf muscles and she recommended surgery as his best option. So early on the 4th of August Daniel and I headed up to Primary Children's after being in quarantine when he got his Covid test done the Saturday before. They settled us in a room (corner one, with a bathroom attached yay!) and Daniel got in his hospital clothes. A nurse checked on us, the anesthesiologist came in and spoke to Daniel about the mask he will wear when he was put to sleep. Dr. Holmes (Daniel's orthopedic surgeon) came in and spoke to us briefly and marked his legs. After about 45 mins of waiting they came and took Daniel back to surgery. It took just over an hour and Dr. Holmes came and said he did well and was in recovery.
Well, Daniel took his sweet time waking up. The surgery was over at noon and he didn't come back to the room until almost 2:30. When we got back to the room, another nurse came and gave him shoes to wear since he had both legs in casts and our discharge instructions. We left about 3:45 from the hospital and we followed up the next Tuesday with Dr. Holmes who checked his incisions and fully closed his casts. He got to wear those for the next five weeks. (It was a very long 5 weeks).
September 17th we followed up with Dr. Holmes who took his casts off, checked his incisions and walking and said he is doing well. The surgery was successful, and she told me he just needs to walk and increase his muscle strength. We follow up with her again in January. Daniel's balance is better and his walking is better and I am grateful everything worked out well.
Before Surgery
After our follow up, his casts are closed!
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