Last appointment with Dr. Woo

Yesterday we had our last appointment with Dr. Woo (Eli’s surgeon).  The last time we saw Dr. Woo was in September, and so today’s appointment was so that Dr. Woo could see Eli walking and get an  x-ray of Eli’s leg.

The x-ray was done first and boy was it a doozy.  It took three people, lots of tape and two tries to get a decent x-ray of Eli’s legs.  This boy is strong as a bull and he’ll let you know when he doesn’t like something – geez!

Then we played with wagons, gurneys, stools, etc. until Dr. Woo came in to see us.  The best part of the whole appointment was when Dr. Woo saw Eli walking down the hallway, “He has a completely normal gait!” Dr. Woo shouted – why yes, he does :)  People always comment as to how “normal” Eli walks, but it just felt so good to hear Dr. Woo say it.

Then Dr. Woo reviewed Eli’s x-rays with me.  The whole point of the x-rays is for Dr. Woo to get baseline data of the length difference between Eli’s two legs. 

At this point the difference between the length of Eli’s left and right legs is 31 mm (3.1 cm).  Dr. Woo explained that the majority of the discrepancy in length is due to his missing right foot, and then you can see a slight difference in the length of his femurs and tibias.  We’ll need to get x-rays done of Eli’s leg every six months for a year or two and then every year.  It’ll be important to plot the length difference between his two legs and then we he is about 4 or 5 years old decide if any additional procedures need to be done. 

Dr. Woo mentioned that if the length difference is severe and Eli’s knees are not on the same plain, then most likely lengthening of his right femur would need to be done.  We are praying that this will not be needed and that the length difference between his two legs will not be a problem, and honestly, in my heart, I feel like it’ll be fine.

Dr. Woo also took a look at Eli’s leg, scar and heel pad and said all looked wonderful!  Eli was very leery of the medical staff after the x-ray, but he just loved Dr. Woo.  He was so cute with him and it just warmed my heart.  I’d like to think that somehow he understands all that Dr. Woo has done for him.

We told Dr. Woo that we were moving to Michigan (he’s originally from Michigan too) and he thought we were crazy to move back to all that snow!  I have to say, that leaving Dr. Woo & Paul is the hardest part about moving.  They have played such an integral part in my boy’s life and I can never thank them enough for all they have done.  We met Dr. Woo for the first time when I was about 7 mths pregnant and he is probably the person that really made me feel like amputation was the very best thing we could do for our baby.  And as I told him today, he was right about everything that he told me.