The Chadwick Chronicles

We just have to share with you our most recent praise and answer to prayer! The day after Lilia was born, the pediatrician came to us and told us that her feet were twisted and that she suspected that Lilia might have club feet. We were a little shocked and Elise kept imagining her perfect little baby being made fun of on the playground. The doctor told us that it was something that we would have to talk to an orthopedist about but she wanted to see Lilia in a week to check up on how she was gaining weight. We didn’t really think much about her feet for a while but randomly googled ‘club feet’ and ‘baby’ and learned that there is a very effective treatment for club feet that must be begun in the first couple weeks of a baby’s life. It involves casts up to the baby’s hips for 6-8 weeks, shoes with a bar connecting her feet, and then further braces for a few years.

Our minds were flooded with questions: can we get this done here in Peru? would we trust someone here? should we try to go back to the USA to have this done? and even did we make the wrong decision to have Lilia in Peru? Since she is not American until we finish her paperwork for a passport, we didn’t even know if we could get her out of the country. We went to our next appointment and the doctor confirmed that her feet were still crooked. We frantically started looking for a doctor to do the treatment and quickly. We found one and immediately made an appointment for two days later.

God was so good and brought to mind Rodolfo, Jon’s Bible Study Fellowship discussion leader. Rodolfo is a Peruvian doctor who did his studies in England and is now in hospital administration. We just wanted a reference for a another good orthopedist, but he really wanted to come over and meet Lilia. Within a few moments of seeing her, he looked at us and said ‘there is absolutely nothing wrong with her feet!’ We were SO relieved. He gave us the name of his pediatrician and told us we should go see him for a third opinion. On Friday we met with his doctor and he confirmed what Rodolfo had told us…there is nothing wrong with our precious little girl. Her feet are a little turned in, but it is purely because of her position in the womb and they will straighten out with time. We were SO impressed with this pediatrician. The plaques on his walls: ‘Chief Resident of Miami Children’s Hospital’ and ‘American Pediatric Society commends Dr. Ferreyros…’ told all we needed to know. This doctor is more than qualified to take care of little, precious Lilia. We feel so blessed to be able to access such excellent health care here in Peru. Even though Lilia having club feet wouldn’t have been the end of the world, we are so grateful that her feet are fine and we won’t have to go through painful and inconvenient treatment. God is so good. Check out some more recent pics of our beauty.