Sweet Analise Rose's Journey with Arthrogryposis, Amyoplasia type: Analise is 3 months old and her casts are finally off!!

From Erik:

"Analise is 3 months old today, but when Analise was 30 days old, we started the process of casting her each week to try and correct her severe club feet. We had to go in each week after the initial casts, and have the casts cut off and put back on with a different position in her feet (Ponseti method).

After 9 weeks of casts, Analise is finally out of them. Yeah!!! They look so good and are such an improvement from before the casting. She keeps kicking her legs, moving her toes and extending her knees in and out. We can finally rub her legs and she can take a bath (for the third time in her life). It's actually a little bit harder to hold her and change her now because we were so used to the casts, but we will manage.

Unfortunately, when Analise goes to Philadelphia and has the hamstring tenotomy on November 23 with Dr. van Bosse, she will be back in casts (probably the big, clunky plaster ones) for about 4 weeks until our next visit out there.

Now that she is "technically" out of casts, she will need to wear braces on her legs for many years so her feet will not turn back in. She was fitted for them today and we should get them by Friday. They will be specially made for her and have a hinged bar in the middle so she can move and bend her knees. She will also be measured for another brace in Philadelphia for after the surgery on her hamstrings.

Analise has many things going on in the next two weeks. She has 5 doctor appointments and a fundraiser open house to attend on Saturday (thank you great grandma Thelma and her friend Debbie Freeman). She is finally getting her 2 month shots since she doesn't have casts. She also has a little cough and is congested so she might have a small cold/flu. It's not fun seeing your little baby sneezing and coughing so much. We hope she gets better soon.

Analise's 16 year old sister, Kaley, passed her permit driving test with 100%. Good job Kaley! You'll know it's Kaley driving because you'll see a very scared dad screaming in the passenger seat.

Analise's 11 year old sister, Kassandra, is finally off for a month from school after receiving honor roll. You did awesome in school and we are very proud of you. And she is all finished with soccer for the fall season. Great season Kassandra and keep working hard so you're even better for next season.

Analise's 13 year old brother, Kyle, is just finishing up soccer and is finally hitting a growth spurt. Hopefully he's taller than his old man.

Dawn is doing so much every day for Analise. She is trying new stretches and exercises and Analise is actually enjoying some of them. I just have to remind her to take time for herself every once in a while, but she doesn't really listen.

As for me, I'm doing fine. I get a little stressed from time to time, and I'm probably not as easy-going as I used to be, but I will hopefully find that happy medium soon.

We want to again say thanks for everything everyone is doing for us day in and day out. We might not say it enough, but we are truly grateful for everything everyone is doing. Our friends and family have been so generous and we hope you know we would do the same for you. Have a great Veterans Day weekend."