Update On Theo And Our Homestudy

We still have a $1500 matching grant to meet for our adoption of Amos and Daisy! Donations are tax deductible!

What a busy week!

One of the best parts of our recent move has been getting things established with our new medical team in our new state. I am SO happy with them. Let's compare. Our last medical group was highly recommended. The surgeon had pioneered some of the techniques Theo might have had. Unfortunately we were stuck spinning our wheels in referrals from one area of the hospital to another, so he still hadn't even had a surgical consult. We started out in the international adoption clinic, who referred us to the rehab department. Theo's first doctor was very pessimistic about his ability to gain any functionality because of his age, before she had even examined him. We needed to wait for him to be transferred to the other doctor in the department who Evan had been seeing. We liked her and she was very positive about our boys. Unfortunately everyone else liked her too and it took a long time to switch Theo over to her. From there we needed a referral for the CP clinic, who would have referred us to surgery, but we are still on their waiting list to be seen! (Could you follow all that? Now imagine adding in treatment for other medical issues, and billing and insurance hassles.) 

In contrast, our new family doctor is highly recommended by United CP. She was able to get Theo a referral to an ortho surgeon with an appointment a couple weeks later, and surgery a couple weeks after that. They've been great. They're realistic but positive about what we might see with surgery and therapy.

Before.

Theo just had his first foot surgery and the results are amazing. We started out with his consult and the surgeon looked everything over. They decided to do one foot first and see how it responds, then use that information to decide what's best for his more complicated foot. We met everyone who would do the surgery, they prayed over Theo, and told us when to come back.

Ready for surgery!

Theo did a really great job going into surgery. Medical procedures can be very scary for kids, but especially kids who have been adopted. We had to calm a hysterical Orion before his first doctor appointment because he was terrified the doctor would hurt him or cut his legs off if he didn't listen. We explained everything to Theo ahead of time. He was nervous but he did great. 

The surgeon tightened and loosened different tendons and ligaments through Theo's lower leg. Seeing Theo's foot sit flat for the first time ever was amazing. They sent him home in a gauze bandage to rest. And rest he did, at first. Then he started waking up more and wanting to be able to move around. That part was tough for him. We've spent the last two years teaching him to get up and go do what he wants without asking permission. He's gotten much better at that! Now suddenly we didn't want him to move. Luckily we only needed to make it through one night.

Sleepy boy!

It was easier to keep his foot elevated while he was sleeping!

Flat-footed for the first time!

This morning Theo went back to get his surgical site checked out and to discuss casting. He is in a hard cast for six weeks, with recasting every other week to turn his foot closer to center. The cast is a big improvement because he has the freedom to move around again. The team was so impressed with how it came out that they told all the other doctors and nurses from the group to stop by his room and check out the results.

Look at the difference between those feet!

Theo is pretty impressed too. He is ready to be up and learning how to walk. He is allowed to bear weight on the cast as he can tolerate, but it will be a little while before he has healed enough for that. We also need to get his second foot straightened so that he isn't standing on that foot upside down, causing more damage. He keeps asking if they can start the other foot tomorrow. Soon, buddy!

Orion has had a couple appointments with this medical group as well. We've been tracking his thyroid since he came home, but his most recent values have spiked. If they are still elevated in a month they will need treatment. They are also trying to get to the bottom of some spinal issues he has. He was very excited when he got home from his most recent appointment and could tell everyone about his X-rays. He kept his wristband from the hospital as a bracelet for a couple days!

Barton and Evan have both had appointments with this group too. Barton is very shy in new settings and Evan can still get overwhelmed at appointments, but everyone was great with both of them. Again, we LOVE this medical group!

We are sending over all of our completed paperwork for our homestudy, then waiting on our draft. After that is checked over it will be sent on to our Hague agency for review and then forwarded to USCIS. We have been busy getting our dossier paperwork done in the meantime so that everything will be ready to go. Most of the dossier is still the same as last time, so that part of the process has been much easier the second time around. I knew to request our marriage certificates from the filing office, signed by the elected official, written in ink rather than stamped. (Guess how many tries that took to get right last time!) The homestudy felt much harder this time. Our social worker is really nice! But I have everything stuck in my head from our last homestudy which was done in a different state with a different agency. I think we made it through! Lots of work but it is worth it!