Today we met with the plastic surgeon to see about possible "balloons" for Olivia. Apparently her foot that is pointed (and she can't flatten it) won't have enough skin to cover the heal once they correct it. When "we" point our toes we have a little ripple of skin on our ankle, but since Olivia's foot has always been in the pointed position, she doesn't have that extra skin.
So we have to figure out how to cover her ankle with skin once her foot is corrected. The plastic surgeon didn't feel comfortable doing balloons with Olivia since her legs are very small and skinny. He said it takes a significant size balloon to create as much skin as we will need. He felt that the size balloon needed would most likely cut off her circulation. He also felt that filling the balloon would be traumatic for Olivia. So he wants to go with skin graphs. They will shave a small section off her hip, they then put little slices in it to expand it, so they can cover a larger area with a smaller graph, then have to graph that onto her heal. (the machine that expands the graphs reminds me of the little hand tools that you use to cut the pie crust to go over the top of the pie)
I was a little disappointed that we can't do the balloon, as that would have been limited scarring. I know as a girl/women that scars are not as acceptable as a boy/man. Men seem to be able to pass them off as "battle wounds".
We want what is overall best for our little girl, so we will move forward with the graphs.
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