Yesterday was a magical day. It was the annual SDR Ontario picnic which is an event where all families of children with cerebral palsy who have had SDR gather together. New families who are looking into the surgery also joined the event and children from Shriners, Sick Kids and St Louis were all together! What made the event extra special was having Dr Park from St Louis attend the picnic. He flew in for less then 24 hours to visit with his patients and then enjoyed an afternoon bbq. We didn’t let the rain get in our way – we had yummy food and the kids had a blast with lots of activities. We presented Dr Park with a Team Canada hockey jersey with the number 39 on the back which is the number of Ontario patients he has performed surgery on. Madison’s favourite activities were the face painting and the karaoke. We were lucky enough to have a private visit with Dr Park prior to the bbq to discuss Madison’s progress. We will post with more details in the next few weeks once we know more, but he has asked us to re-connect with Madison’s orthopaedic surgeon in St Louis, Dr Dobbs to discuss another lengthening surgery, heel cords. We weren’t totally shocked that she needed some more help, but a bit taken back as her previous lengthening was only a year ago. Madison has grown so much in this past year which has not been good for her walking. Unfortunately this is something she will always be up against because of CP. He really feels this will help with her balance and confidence when she is able to get her heels down. The first step is he would like up to date hip xrays in standing position to determine if her hips are stable enough for another surgery. We will then determine next steps. We really enjoyed sitting down with Dr Park, he offered us many stretching ideas and things we can do to help Madison. Overall he is very happy with her progress and we are grateful to have been able to check in with him. More details to follow…
Madi Moves 