Footsies

In about twenty minutes (after he finishes breaking up an ice dam on our roof that is causing water to drip through our windows), Jim will be picking up Moriah to take her to a doctor appointment. This will be a second-opinion appointment for her feet, which are proving to be troublesome appendages for our active tomboy.

She has very flat feet and the lack of arches means the mechanics of her feet aren't working correctly. This in turn is causing her feet to pronate and some of her bones are growing incorrectly as they adapt to the altered gait. It looks as though she has two ankle bones on each foot, to give an idea of what it looks like. This causes her pain and has impacted her skiing and other physical activities.

Her first foot doc (who has done Jim's two foot surgeries) said she may be a candidate for something called an MBA implant. Here's a very medical explanation:

"If flexible pediatric dysfunctional pes plano valgus deformity is diagnosed early in life, the treatment protocol can often be limited to a simple procedure entitled subtalar joint arthroereisis. This is an implant that is inserted into the sinus tarsi of the rearfoot and acts as a block to the excessive anterior and inferior displacement of the talus. This allows normal subtalar joint motion and blocks excessive pronation. The state of the art implant that will be utilized in the procedure that your doctor is recommending is known as the subtalar MBA implant." (taken from a website that you can see here)

Today's appointment is to see if another doc concurs.

For those of you who pray, I'd appreciate prayer for a wise doc, discernment for us as we decide how best to help Moriah, and peace for Moriah's state of mind as she deals with all of this.

Thanks!