I woke up with such a peace yesterday that could only come from God. I knew as I headed in with Addie that God was right there with us, a wonderful feeling! The day just started off good. Addie and I left my aunt's house at 10:30, I left the boys with my cousin. As I got to the hospital I called the doctor's office to make sure we were parking in the area they would validate and they told me that they were able to get me a therapy appointment also for that day! When I had talked them on Tuesday they said I would not be able to see all 3 doctors and do therapy until May 28th! God had gone before us! We got to the appointment and we saw Dr. Wall (orthopedic) and Dr. Noetzel (Neurologist) both working with a special clinic specializing in erb's palsy, which Addie had been diagnosed with. Dr. Wall came into see us first. She looked over Addie and we talked about the lack of normal movement in her left arm, right and left fingers, right knee, and clubbed feet. Dr. Wall specializes in orthopedics on upper extremities. She mentioned that because Addie has so many joints that seem stiff a possible definition may be Arthrogryposis, which is more of a name for a symptom than a diagnosis itself. She recommended for us to go the the Shriner's in St. Louis because if it is Arthogryposis it could possibly make a difference on how they handle the hip dislocation. Dr. Wall specializes on upper extremities and works at Shriners were other orthopedic doctors specialize on lower extremities. She was going to call Shriner's to try and get us in and get back to me hopefully today. She gave no definitive prognosis on the arm, but mentioned she thought there could be a plexus injury and not just weakness. She was pleased with the progress Addie's arm had made and added another daily stretch to do. After Dr. Wall left us she went and conversed with Dr. Noetzel. Dr. Noetzel then came in and examined Addie. He took time to explain the idea of Arthogryposis and we discussed the difficulties Addie had during pregnancy; lack of space, lack of movement. After examining her and our conversation he stated that he did not think she was suffering from nerve or muscle injuries. He thinks her arm is just weak from not being able to move it during pregnancy because of breech positioning. He is expecting her to regain full use of her arm. When I asked about doing any testing he also recommended going to Shriner's and working with a neurologist there who would work with the orthopedic doctor there. He mentioned that there could be some genetic issues we may have not tested for that could add to what we are seeing on Addie.We didn't end up seeing the neurosurgeon because Dr. Noetzel did not think it was a nerve injury. We then went to therapy and met with a physical and occupational therapist who gave us some new exercises to do in addition to the range of motions ones we had been doing. I also discussed with the therapists about our plan of action with her therapists back home. They agreed that our plan of 2 times a month with occupational and 2 times a month with physical would be effective. I feel very good about the new exercises because even in the last week, I added 2 new exercises, I have seen a lot of new movement in her arm. God is not done yet and I am excited to see how He continues to touch our little Addie. I am now spending a couple days with my family near St. Louis, which is a nice bonus to the trip! We were able to go to church with them last night and the church family that has been praying for Addie for so long was able to meet her. It has been a great trip and I am so glad we were able to get in so quickly! Our God is faithful and He continues to show Himself as such! Psalms 86:15 "But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness."
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