NO MORE CASTS!!!

Pretty feet!

Dr. Tony Herring and his M.D. assistant, Suzanne

Gwen Monahan, RN

Felicia Cox, LVN

We went in today to get Cast #4 for McKenna and Dr. Herring was just amazed! He said that her feet look wonderful and he didn't feel she needed anymore casts! He said her flexibility was amazing and that she didn't need the tenotomy (her Achilles tendon cut) or anymore casts and he felt it was time to move her on to the boots and bars!! Chris and I were both fighting tears when we heard this. Dr. Herring said she set a new Olympic record for the clinic of being corrected in only 3 casts!! Before her, the least amount of casts used for correction was 4. She is an AmAzInG little person! She is progressing so quickly it's just so wonderful. She will wear the Boots and Bars for about 3-4 months 22 1/2 hours a day and then 12 hours a day (so, technically nighttime and naps) until she's 3 or 4 years old. She will be a normal kid who can run and play and that makes us so happy. Way to go, Kenna Bug! We are love you and are so proud of you!!

Celebrity

Uncle Cameron
Cousin Noah

McKenna is our own little celebrity. She gets her casts signed every week by different people and it's fun to see how much she's loved. This week we had some special signatures...cousin Noah left his mark, along with Uncle Logan and a few of Chris's co-workers.

Cast Removal

Cast #3

Look how straight her feet are getting!
Re-casting
Dr. Herring working his magic
The Red Plaster Team:

Gwen-Dr. Herring's nurse, Suzanne-Dr. Herring's Assisting MD, Dr. Tony Herring, Felicia-another nurse, and Deborah-Child Life Specialist

(she helps McKenna stay distracted and she's SOO nice!)

The new casts

So here we are! Already on cast #3 of the series! Dr. Herring said McKenna is coming along nicely and that her feet are looking great. She's such a trooper! She cried a little at this casting because they manipulated her feet a little further than they did last time. Now they overcorrect her feet so that the muscles and ligaments stretch and she doesn't have stiff feet and is able to learn to crawl and walk. There may even be a slight chance that she doesn't have to have the tenotomy (her Achilles tendons cut!) so we're crossing our fingers for that one! Dr. Herring and his team are just great, though. We really feel confident in their abilities and they are so kind to McKenna and seem so happy to see her every week. It's nice to feel like we're among friends.

Cast #2

Look at the difference after just one week of casting!
This week's new casts. Much better looking than last week's!

Well, we now have cast #2 of the series on! McKenna was SUCH a trooper! She didn't cry at all when they used the cast saw to remove her casts and when they pried them open to get them off and took her first bottle like a champ while they were re-casting both legs. She didn't cry one little bit! She is so brave and her feet look AWESOME! Dr. Herring said her feet are moving quite nicely and they are very pliable, so that's a good thing. Maybe less time in casts! We are so proud of her and can't wait until these casts are off for good!