February 14, 2006

So Sadie has cast number one (which was red) put on her foot/ankle on the 9th and taken off yesterday. The great thing is that during the time this cast was on Sadie experienced no pain at all… she was as mobile as ever and really, other then it being a bit clunky you wouldn’t even know.
Yesterday they took it off and were very happy to see some increased motion and signs of some correction going on. Within 5 minutes however her muscles tightened up and went back to the old pattern. This was not a surprise to them, but concerned me. They assured me they expected that and this would be the reason for the second cast. They did a cast to do a mold for her brace which will hopefully arrive when we take this new cast (which is bright green) off. The brace should actually help with support and correction and hopefully keep her pain free!!!
On an entirely different note… Bill and I have been doing a lot of research, reading, talking to people and are very conflicted as to which direction we should head in the future treatments with Sadie. On March 6th we got back to Children’s; if the medications are not working then we would be looking at starting Remicade (the last drug available to us that is approved by the FDA for kids). I am having a hard time judging how her joints are doing since her ankle is where I gage a lot of my information and right now, in the cast… I can’t.


We made an appointment with a naturopath on the 27th. I am very curious what their approach to treatment would be. We have looked into diet and other things as a replacement to the medications. However, going off medication all together after all this time is somewhat of a scary proposition too. On the flip removing many, many of the foods that we are accustomed too is very scary and a little overwhelming. Surely we won’t take the easy way out – we will look for the best solution to all of the information we are taking in.


After seven months of this I am ready to try just about anything and if I feel that going natural is worth a shot for a while, that is just what might happen.


I ask for prayers for Bill and I right now – prayers for wisdom and guidance as we try and process all this information and make the right choices for Sadie. We ask for continued prayer for Sadie, to really just continue to be so positive and strong.


Happy Valentine’s Day!