New Year!

A very important year is behind us. We spent most of 2014 together with Antosia in the USA, undergoing complex and painful treatment for her legs. We are very grateful to everyone who was with us the whole time, offering support, encouragement, and faith when days of doubt came. Upon returning to Poland, Antosia was ready to walk independently; however, her muscles—which had been immobilized in a special device for nearly 8 months—and her tiny feet, which had never borne weight, were too weak. We started intensive rehabilitation. Thanks to this, her muscles grew stronger, her feet slowly began to get used to the ground, and at the end of August, Antosia started taking her first independent steps. We are practicing all the time. Her gait is not yet stable and ‘stands out’ from the crowd, but we are not losing strength or faith that once Antosia stops growing (around 16 to 18 years of age), it will only get better.

Between January 21st and 24th, we will see Dr. Paley. We hope he will reassure us that everything is going according to plan and that we won’t have to fly across the ocean in 2015.

This year, we want to improve the function of Antosia’s left hand. If all goes well, at the turn of March and April, our daughter will undergo surgery to separate cutaneous syndactyly with minimal widening of the web space. The surgery is expected to cost between 8,000 and 10,000 PLN.

Thanks to numerous fundraisers and the help of the NFZ in covering the first stage of treatment (nearly 900,000 PLN), we do not have to worry about funding for rehabilitation, medical check-ups, and procedures for the next 3–4 years (if everything goes according to plan). We realize that treatment until she reaches adulthood will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, which is why we ask you to keep Antosia in mind—perhaps not this year, as there are many in need, but in future tax years 😉