“And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair”
― Khalil Gibran, The Prophet
Gabby all dressed and ready for cheer practice
I do not remember exactly when I came across this quote, but it has always embodied what it means to be a child to me. When I read it, I visualize my girls running barefoot and hair down, wild, crazy, and free from all the worlds worries. You can ask my mom and dad, I grew up barefoot, running up and down the country roads of D ’Arbonne, La. Even today I hardly ever wear shoes unless I absolutely must and if comfortable enough in the situation, I will readily kick a pair off when the opportunity rises. It never occurred to me to me how precious feet are at that young age. When Gabby was delivered into my life 11 years ago, we learned just how precious the gift of walking is and that we should never take that gift for granted. Gabby’s feet have always been a concern but unfortunately when born there were many many concerns and her feet… well, they would just have to wait, and for 11 years they have. We have an excellent team that helps us with Gabby at Lake Elementary where she attends school and on that team is a PT named Sue Lynn. She is always encouraging and makes sure that Gabby’s physical well being is always watched over. She encouraged me to look into PT for Gabby while she is out of school this summer. This landed us at Bourgeois Physical Therapy here in Prairieville. Once there, it was explained to us that Gabby has 2 pressure ulcers that have opened and started draining on the outside of her left foot. The therapist was concerned enough that he took it upon himself to call her pediatricians office and get Gabby seen right away. She did have a staph infection in the wound and has since completed antibiotic therapy, but we have also followed up with wound care last week at Baton Rouge General. We will see them again this week for another follow up to make sure that the wounds continue to heal properly. While there the PA that attended to Gabby told us that she could treat the pressure ulcers but until her feet had been thoroughly examined by a specialist that it was a moot point. Unless something is done to correct Gabby’s feet the pressure ulcers would persist throughout her lifetime. Bart and I have known for a few years now that Gabby’s feet are completely different sizes. This is due to Gabby’s left foot being more drawn up than her right. We brought up to an ortho that she saw in Cincinnati back in 2013 but he saw no reason for concern. I then started bringing it up to her ortho at Children’s New Orleans in 2019. He seemed more concerned at the time that she may start to develop scoliosis due to her tethered cord which brought the result of having a detethering surgery in February of this year. He told us that the detethering surgery could possibly relax the foot due to some crossed up nerve signals but here we are 4 ½ months later and her feet still look the same. The wound care PA suggested that we see an ortho that specializes in feet and ankle deformities. Today, that recommendation landed our family in the office of Dr. Brian Perry at BR Ortho. They took x rays of her left foot because that is the one of major concern now. From that x ray he diagnosed her with a new birth defect, like 4 wasn’t enough, called Cavus Foot or basically an extremely exaggerated high arch. Due to the extreme arch of her foot, it can not rest properly on the bottom of her foot like ours do. This causes her to walk on the side of her foot. The pressure ulcers have developed due to her foot trying to form calluses to help give her padding when she walks, almost like a defense mechanisms to protect her foot. He explained that he could do some incredible sounding things, moving tendons from one side of the foot to the other, lengthening her Achilles tendon to help her with her walking and balance. But he said that he wants us to get a 3rd opinion from another pediatric ortho on his team at BR ortho, Dr. Brad Cullota. He feels like she could possibly need surgery in her left knee also because he thinks her left leg is shorter than her right leg due to tightness in the ligaments and tendons in that knee. Since he specializes in feet/ankles he wants to get the opinion of Dr. Cullota on the knee. We did speak briefly regarding her right foot also. He said that he said without an x ray of the right foot he could guess that she has what is called a flat foot deformity in the right foot. Basically, this is the complete and total opposite deformity of her left foot. We will be seeing Dr. Cullota on 7/26, a longer wait than I was hoping for but unfortunately Dr. Cullota is in high demand in the Baton Rouge area. Bart and I sat down with Gabby after the appointment and asked her how she felt about the possibility of some more surgeries and the potential outcome of those. She told us that of course another surgery does not sound like a fun time at all but if it will help her have better balance and movement then she is ready for it, especially if she could potentially run faster than her sister! During the appointment yesterday Dr. Perry made sure to let Gabby know that even though he was talking to her parents that he wanted her to feel comfortable and understand what she may have coming up in the future. Bart and I have always been very transparent with Gabby about all the stages of her surgeries and what they will intel and what her life will potentially look like afterward. So here we are at the cusp of another surgery… we will keep you posted on the developments of that as they happen.
pressure ulcers on Gabby's left foot.
A picture of Gabby's feet together
Gabby's left foot, notice her heel never touches the ground
Gabby's right foot, this one never bends except at the ankle joint
As far as life is going other than with her feet. We are currently waiting on some bloodwork to come back that was order by her urologist. Once we have that we will see about when we need to schedule our next trip to Charleston, SC. Her pediatrician has been watching her iron, Gabby like me stays anemic all the time. Also like me she hates taking her iron supplement, but we are trying to do better because if she does not then they want her start seeing a hematologist. She had a hematologist for the first year of her life but has not seen one since 2014. Her pediatrician is also pushing for her to start seeing a nutritionist to help teach us how to supplement Gabby’s diet to help her gain weight. We have seen nutritionist at every hospital Gabby has had surgery at and we have yet to find a method that works for Gabby.
Fun things that have been happening is great times this summer with family and friends that feel like family. Swimming every day that she and Avery can when it isn’t raining! Cheer practices and lots of time being a couch potato. Just being a typically little sassy little preteen girl. Bart and I are enjoying every minute of these girls growing up in front of our eyes.
The title of todays blog entry came from the quote below. I think it is very fitting for Gabby's journey through life. Although she knows with every fiber of her being that she is different, she tries her absolute best to not let it hold her back from enjoying the world around her.
Don't walk through life, staring down at your feet. Be proud of who you are, Dare to be unique.
- Anonymous
