Rachel's Shriner's Appointment (10/14/09)

Rachel had a great day! First of all, her first Speech Therapy session with Early Intervention (in our home) went well. Her therapist really thinks that she's got a good foundation (makes sounds, follows directions, points to things). That will continue every other week.
Her appointment at Shriner's went really well also. It's hard to explain the magnitude of it all, but essentially, they think that she will need less time and less equipment to be able to walk. Her left foot turns in quite a bit, and to correct it, they need to start at the hip. In about a month she will get a whole new set of AFO's (ankle-feet orthotics) and a walker. Her physical therapist at Shriner's (shout out to you, Janet!!) thinks that once she has stability under her with the new AFO's, she'll be up and MOVING!! I got tears in my eyes! Yeah GOD!!

The doctor did say that her left foot will need surgery to correct the turning in, but probably not until she is about three or four years old. We'll deal with that as it comes, but here's my thought:
*we were told she would die- and she didn't
*we were told she would be in the hospital for AT LEAST a week at birth and more than likely two week - she was home in less than a week
*we were told that there was, something like, a 99% chance that her shunt would malfunction in the first year of life, and she would need surgery- 18 months and she's still going strong
*we were told a year ago that she would need surgery to fix her hips- here were are a year later
*we were told she would never crawl- she's a cruising-machine!

We'll just see what God has in store for Rachel's future! Thanks to you all for your prayers! God has been very good to us!