Baltimore/DC

     Whew....I think we need a vacation from our vacation!  I can't believe how much we fit in during the past few days.  Last week I was a nervous wreck over this vacation, packing ,planning and worrying about Joseph, and now we are already heading home.  To update  you on his visit, I'll have to fill you in on the past month:
A few weeks ago we went for Joseph's limb clinic appointment at Cincinnati Children's Hospital.  Joe and I knew exactly what to expect going in.  Their view of Joseph's leg is that they can't fix what mother nature didn't give him.  They strongly disagree with Baltimore's approach, they say there is no research to support what they do.  They feel like the surgeries are too painful and take too much time  away from growing up.  Their plan is to fit Joseph with a prosthetic leg and let him grow up as normal as possible.  That has obvious limitations, he will grow out of the prosthetics constantly, they cost a fortune and prosthetics ultimately aren't meant for legs that still have a foot.  All that being said, we were sold with Cincinnati's plan.  The thought of putting our family and Joseph through many surgeries out of town seemed too daunting.  Last week we even took Joseph for his first prosthetic fitting.  I was so exciting, Joseph was finally going to have a tool to help him walk.  He gets frustrated crawling trying to keep up with everyone, he is ready to go!
    Then we went to Baltimore.  Ughhhhh, the way I feel makes me want to scream.  I wish the doctors could agree on a plan.  I can totally buy into both  points of view, I wish I knew which was best for Joseph.  Dr. Standard knows SO much about Joseph's condition, he has such a positive outlook for Joseph's future-a future with two equal length legs.  He countered every concern we had with logical explanations.  He would like to operate this summer on Joseph's ankle to reconstruct it and then put a fixator on to straighten his tibia (which will also lengthen just a few centimeters). We would have to stay in Baltimore 2-3 weeks, then we could come home and send in x-rays from Cincinnati.  Then we'd come back to Baltimore after two months or so  to have a surgery to remove the fixator.
     As confident as we are in Dr. Standard's plan, we just aren't ready for it yet.  We decided we are going to wait a year to see how Joseph does with his prosthetic leg.  Technology finally seems to be moving along in the limb lengthening field.  In my dream world, they will perfect their internal lengthening devices and make it usable for small children.  Then we won't have any pin turns, infections or scary looking devices.
    On another note, if you haven't been to Baltimore's inner harbor, you have to go.  We had so much fun!  Grandma and Papaw took the kids on a water taxi, to a children's museum and we all got to explore old ships, submarines etc.  This picture is of Caitlyn and Jack after touring a submarine:

After Baltimore we went to visit Katy and Jason in Charles Town.  We got to see baby Sawyer's room.  Seeing Lucy the Dog was a highlight of the trip for Caitlyn.

Then it was on to D.C.  It was another great trip!  Caitlyn had just finished studying a chapter on the branches of government-so she was all about this trip (thank you Mrs. Willis!).  We became experts at riding the subway!  We went to Mt. Vernon, saw all the monuments, went on a double decker bus tour and had a private tour of the Capital.  Caitlyn got to sit in the same seat Hillary Clinton sat in during the State of the Union Address.  Here is a picture of the kids stepping on the very center of D.C.- apparently it brings good luck:

    Today we got to go to the White House Easter Egg Roll, it was amazing fun! (Thank you Congressman Chabot!!!!!!!!!!)  For you Disney fans, the kids got to watch a concert performed by Rocky from Shake it Up, we met the Power Rangers, Captain America and lots of other characters.  The kids rolled Easter Eggs down the White House lawn. 
....It is times like this that remind me, no matter what we decide for Joseph, he is going to be fine.  I'm quite in love with this little family God has given me:)