Look, Ma! No brace!

Micah had another set of x-rays on his leg yesterday.  It looks much better.  Sorry... no pictures of the actual x-rays this time as I was attempting to keep him quiet enough to hear what the surgeon was saying.

In a nutshell, the bone is filling in nicely.  The risk of re-fracture is low.  He would like Micah to wear the leg immobilizing brace while he's in the car and when he is fatigued.  But Micah is cleared for weight-bearing, including walking with assistance.  He actually stood up himself in the middle of the floor and posed for this picture before taking a couple of steps.  Woohoo!

On a separate note, Micah also had the privilege of seeing his other orthopedic surgeon yesterday morning for a check-up on his hand.  Both of his hands were x-ray'd to make sure that they're growing at an equal rate.  Visible on this year's x-rays are the growth plates on the bones on both hands.  Last year's x-rays looked like an infant's bones (no growth plates).  Long-term plan is to clip the webbing between his fingers to increase the functionality.  His middle two fingers, for example, don't move well independently of each other.  But we're going to delay that for a while.  And we don't go back to see her for a year!

At that appointment yesterday morning I had the privilege of meeting a special military family in the waiting room.  Their son, Elijah (almost 2 years old), is recovering from a serious bacterial meningitis infection.  He went into septic shock (like Micah) and ended up losing some limbs.  He has been inpatient at Children's of MN for 2 months.  During that time, he has become a big brother! (can you imagine your child being airlifted to Minneapolis and you living in the hospital with your critically ill son when you were 33 weeks pregnant?).  Anyway, Elijah was at Gillette Children's seeing some of the doctors that will be caring for him when he is *hopefully* transferred there for inpatient rehab this week.  He is absolutely adorable!

Okay, I needed that reality check.  Seriously, Micah had a similar toxic shock experience.  By the grace of God, not only did he survive, but he also had no long-term effects.  I'm sure that Elijah's parents are just happy that he is alive.  But he has some struggles ahead of him.  Please pray for this sweet boy.  I'll share his CaringBridge page if I get permission from his parents.