February 7, 2013 was a day that
changed my life forever. My wife had a
weekly prenatal visit scheduled that morning. About three in the morning she
began having labor pains that continued for the next few hours. As the pain increased and time between contractions
decreased, we made a decision to call the doctor. Within an hour we arrived at St. Luke’s Labor
and Delivery and by eight the nurse informed us that she was definitely in
labor and we would be having a baby today. Around noon the doctor came in and broke her
water and started getting us prepared. As the day wore on, she was finally
ready to push. After two hours of pushing, she delivered a baby boy at 7:10pm. There
were no sounds as he arrived and the cord was wrapped around his neck, my wife
could see the look of panic on my face. Within seconds the doctor spun his
little body like a football and lifted him up for me to cut the cord. Words
cannot describe the emotion I felt, it seemed as if God reached down and
breathed life into him. Troy Thomas entered the world weighing 7 pounds 10
ounces and was 21 inches long.
When I opened my hand to hold my
new born son on his birthday I was speechless as he squirmed in my arms. My
wife and I, with God’s blessing had created this amazing child. Wrapped in a
warm blanket he was passed around to family members to adore. We were all
oblivious to the fact that he had a birth defect, a crooked little foot. The
next day nurses and doctors began explaining that he had a club foot. My heart
nearly stopped beating and fear swept over me as they explained the cost, casts,
braces and possible surgery needed to give him a chance to walk. My son who was
born in America, in a sterile hospital with the best medical care available,
and his mom had early prenatal care, was born with a birth defect. We couldn’t
help but wonder if it was something we did wrong as parents. Did my wife eat
the wrong food, take the wrong medication, was it heredity? Hundreds of
questions filled my mind.
It was three weeks until we were
able to meet with the orthopedic specialist to evaluate him. He said it looked really good and we were
lucky it was only one foot. The plan was to cast it for a series of five weeks,
each week rotating the foot position. After five casts we would reevaluate and
see if he needed to have surgery. I left home with a baby with a crooked foot
and hundreds of questions. I returned with my child in a cast up to his hip and
hope for the future that this birth defect could be repaired and he will have
full function in both his feet. He will run and jump and play like other kids.
The type of clubfoot he has is
idiopathic or positional. Basically his mother was so small and he was too
crowded and did not have room to move about. The clubfoot was a result of the
position his foot was stuck in during the later part of the pregnancy that inhibited
the foot from developing properly. There was nothing we could have done
differently and we are very fortunate that with advanced technology and proper medical
care he can completely recover.
As of today we have completed the
series of casts and rather than surgery the doctor felt he could use a mechanical
brace. He is required to wear the brace 23 hours a day for the first three
months. After that, if everything goes as planned, he will only have to wear
the brace at night until he is four years old. He was fitted with two sandal
type shoes that position on a bar that is shoulder width. The bar allows the
doctor to manipulate the rotation of the foot. The next few years will be
filled with doctor appointments, medical bills and shoe fittings but in the end
when my son takes his first step the struggle will all be worthwhile.
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