Grateful for Good News

There were a few anxious days at our house last week. Maddie has been battling her ankle injury for the past year. We had seen an orthopedist last September who had pointed out a spot in her x-ray, saying it was just a cyst or tumor in the bone where it hadn't calcified in-utero and it was nothing to worry about. We went back last month when her physical therapy had failed to solve the nagging ankle problem. The orthopedist sent us to have an MRI done. Upon receiving those results, we were referred to a Pediatric Orthopedic specialist at TOSH. I took Maddie to see him and he had new x-rays done, saying his office does a different type of x-ray and he wanted to see her ankle from a different angle.

I knew something was up as soon as I saw his face when he came back in the room. He pulled up the new x-ray and the MRI films to show me what concerned him - he thought the tumor looked different from the previous x-ray. We were referred to a Musculoskeletal Oncologist who got

us in just 4 days later. His evaluation is best case scenario ... he doesn't see it as anything aggressive. He thinks it's a benign tumor that we shouldn't worry about unless something changes. Maddie will continue with her current treatment at TOSH to strengthen her ankle. Because she is still growing, her growth plates are open so they don't want to attempt a surgical repair unless it's absolutely necessary. They are hoping that they can strengthen the muscles around the unstable ankle to compensate for the damage. They will re-evaluate everything in 6 weeks. Maddie is just happy to be out of her boot!

The anxiety over the unknown and the constant stress with work just about pushed me over the edge. I was unusually emotional (for me) so sweet Ed had the flowers shown above delivered to me at the office with a very thoughtful note. We are feeling very grateful for all that is good in our lives.