Holly and the girls are still in Chicago.  Mia received her 4th cast in Iowa on Monday.  Holly's Dad Gil went with Holly to Iowa on Sunday night.  They met with Dr. Ponseti and several Orthotic Specialists on Monday to look at Mia's feet before they put the new cast on her.  When they first looked at Mia's feet, they agreed that she would obviously need a brace on her right foot to help her walk.  They were unsure whether they would need one on her left foot which is not clubbed.  Holly has always been curious if she would need a brace because when she stands, her left foot rolls to the inside of the foot.  Holly asked if she could have Mia stand and walk so that they could she what she was talking about.  As soon as Mia stood up, they immediately said that she would indeed need a brace on her left foot.

After the first cast, we discovered Mia had a blister on her right foot underneath the cast.  When Dr. Ponseti removed the cast, there was a blister where the cast rubbed when Mia stood up on the foot.  Because Mia cannot feel the bottom of her right foot, she could not tell us that there was a rub point.  Dr. Ponseti made the decision to not be as aggressive with the casts so that she would not have as much rubbing.  The drawback is that this means that she will most likely need six casts instead of five.

We are so very thankful to have such wonderful doctors and nurses working on Mia.  They have hearts of gold, and we appreciate all of their care.

Mia will have her 5th cast placed on her foot on Monday August 7th.  She will then get her 6th the following Monday.  We hope that will be the last, but we remain flexible knowing that we need to do this correctly the first time.

"Dr. Ponseti recently received the 2006 Award for Distinguished
Achievement from the Pediatric Orthopedic Society of North America
(POSNA), awarded at their annual meeting in San Diego in May."

for those who want to check it out, here's a write-up about him that
mentions it:

http://mmdnewswire.com/content/view/310/5/

Thank you again for your prayers.  We will keep you posted on her progress.

List of Events

9/12 - Accepted Mia's referral                         3/21 - Shopping!!!

2/27 - Travel Approval                                     4/8 - We are Home!!!

3/1 - Consulate Appointment                           5/26 - Surgery update

3/3 - Travel Plans Complete                            6/18 - Surgery Prayer Request

3/13 - Forever Day                                           6/27 - Surgery

3/14 - Chang De Visit                                       7/1 - Making progress

3/15 - Girls photos                                            7/13 - Back home and happy

3/16  - Embroidery Institute                             7/25 - Casting update

 3/17 - Changsha to Guangzhou                        8/2 - 4th Cast day

3/18 - First day with group                                8/25 - Home from Iowa

3/19 - Caroline's Birthday                                 10/24 - Ready to enjoy life

3/20 - Medical appointment                              3/2/07 - She's Walking