The Casts are Off (Before and After)

Maeve has had her casts off for about a week and a half now and things are going pretty well. We have run the emotional roller coaster this past week regarding our decision to do this surgery. See, the to-do or not-to-do surgery for cleft feet is difficult to make as a parent. This is not a common defect in North America and little information has been published to support one decision over the other. Of the research that has been done, the recommendation is to close the clefts (as much as possible) prior to the child's 3rd birthday. The goal of the surgery is a little bit cosmetic and a little bit comfort. Maeve's function (walking, running, climbing, jumping etc) was perfect before the surgery. She did not need this procedure in order to improve any particular function. Her biggest issue was that her feet were very wide. Based on her x-rays and the way her clefts were formed, her feet would have continued to spread as she grew. There was already some shoe fitting issues (we had to buy a 1/2 size larger to fit her left foot) and her left foot really rubbed on the outer portion of the shoe. Eventually this would have caused some issues. As far as cosmetic, Maeve's feet are never going to look "normal" and we are okay with that. We love her feet and her hands and every other part of her just as we love the individuality of our boys. At the same time, we know growing up is going to be difficult for her at times. We will give her as much strength as we can, but also realize she will have to face some difficult questions and experiences. One goal of the surgery is to close the cleft a bit and give the foot a more "normal" appearance. Maeve's clefts were pretty deep and wide to the point that someone would be able to see the cleft if she were wearing certain (what I call "girly") shoes. Again- this was okay with us, but we wondered if this would be okay to Maeve. Our hopes for the surgery were that with some of the cleft closed, she would have a little more control over with whom and when she shared her feet.

We agonized back and forth over the decision to make for Maeve. It was difficult because we didn't want to *wait* and miss our window to do the surgery, but also didn't want to rush into something that wasn't right for Maeve. Then we made our trip to St. Louis and met Maeve's surgeon. He was wonderful and had experience with cleft feet. He was very encouraging about the outcome and really put our fears to rest. Obviously, we decided to move forward.

The surgery itself went well. They had to do more bone reconstruction than they were expecting, but hopefully it all prevents her from having to have any future surgeries. Originally when Maeve's casts were removed, Susie and I were taken aback. We knew her feet would not look *normal*, but we found ourselves staring at her feet thinking they looked exactly the same. Funny how not seeing something for 5.5 weeks allows you to forget. At the same time, Maeve was super tentative to walk or bear any weight on her feet. We somewhat expected this, but not to the extent that it occurred. Maeve was in lots of pain for a few days and moderate pain for about a week anytime she attempted to walk. She was back on narcotics for about 5 days. Of course in our minds we were thinking, "she will never walk again and we have forever changed her life!" Thankfully that was not the case and things have slowly returned to normal. Maeve is walking much better--almost pre-surgery-esque and starting to jump and slightly run. She is in zero pain and I think most of her previous pain was probably related to fear and sensitivity rather than actually bone pain.

As we get more used to her new feet, we are very happy with the results. Her feet are actually straight and slide right into shoes. No more squeezing and cramming. She could probably use an entire size smaller in her shoes. She still has clefts in her feet, but they are much smaller and the bases (or rear) of her feet are normal. I think she will be happy with the decision we made.

The important message we would like to get out about this "special need" is that it is completely manageable. The decision to pursue surgery is each individual parent's to make. At one point we were talking with our adoption agency and the rep told us that only one other family has even considered a child with cleft feet since Maeve. They can't get perspective parents to even look at the children's files. I don't get it. This is so easy (really it is!). Aside from this surgery, we don't even think about Maeve's differences. She is such an amazing child and I am so thankful our lives were matched. I hope someone else is out there and maybe reading this post, considering a child with cleft hands and feet. DO IT!
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Pre surgery.

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Post surgery.