Casts are off!!!

After 3 weeks, the casts are off - yippee! The morning after they came off, Kaitlyn actually said "I feel free!" - very cute!

The casts were removed on Monday. Dr. Webster was very pleased with the immediate results. Kaitlyn was able to stand and take a few steps completely flat-footed in his office. It was really neat to see her easily stand with her feet down as opposed to being on her tip-toes.

On Monday evening and Tuesday, I started to become a little concerned. Kaitlyn wasn't walking on her own at all. Even when she used her crutches or held my hand, I noticed she was falling quite a bit. She seemed like a wet noodle with absolutely no strength. I started to wonder what was going on. I left an anxiety-ridden message for Kaitlyn's physical therapist - "Miss Cheryl" - asking her opinion. For those of you who don't know Cheryl, she is the therapist for the school system, and in my mind has been delivered to us straight from heaven. When I have the time, I'll have to dedicate a post to her and outline all of the ways she has gone above and beyond her job duties to care for Kaitlyn. She called me, and basically told me to calm down! She explained that Kaitlyn's muscles were certainly atrophied from being in the casts for 3 weeks. Further, she mentioned that Kaitlyn is acclimating to her new alignment. Both of these factors mean that it is going to take some time for Kaitlyn to regain the ability to walk again. She gave me some good exercises to do with Kaitlyn to help her regain some strength.

Of course, Cheryl was right. Today is 3 days since the casts came off. This afternoon she very excitedly said "MOMMY - I can walk again!!!". When I looked at her, she was walking across her bedroom - with her feet flat! She did this several times, then got quite tired and that was it. After seeing that, I felt assured that she was indeed getting stronger and soon will be back to her old self (if not better!) in no time.

I'll be taking some videos of her progress soon for you to see!