We've been in the DB bar and white Markell shoes since right before Christmas, when E came out of his post-op casts, so I guess it shouldn't be shocking that in seven months he's grown out of the shoes. His left (unaffected foot) toes hang way over the edge and the right (affected foot) side isn't too far behind. I don't think that would actually make too much difference, since the design of the bar prevents him from doing much standing aside from balancing on the screws beneath the shoes and occasionally swinging one foot or the other forward while pivoting and holding on for dear life to the crib bars. However, the straps look like they are close to splitting, so when we were in St. Louis last month, I asked Dr. Dobbs about replacing the shoes. I'd always preferred to have the Dobbs bar and AFO's, but if you'll recall from an earlier post, that got shot down by our former surgeon. I figured that E was used to this set-up, so there was no point in investing in a whole new bar and shoes when all he needed was a new pair of shoes. We are still in the middle holes, so there's room for E to grow into the bar some more with some new shoes. I was rather surprised by the orthotist's reaction, although I probably shouldn't have been. Dobbs apparently thought they still had some of the shoes, so he sent the orthotist in to talk to us.
According to the orthotist, though, most insurance companies have stopped paying for the DB bar and Markell shoes, so they quit carrying them in stock. We've only been in the stupid things for 7 months, and somewhere in that time frame, the insurance companies decided that they weren't the most effective ones to use (usually why they quit paying for something). Grrrr. So, it looks like we'll be getting a Dobbs bar and AFO's after all. We could probably buy a new pair of Markell's somewhere else, but on the other hand it seems like an opportune time to upgrade to what has always looked to me to be a better system. We'll be in Florida during the next few days, and one of the first things we plan to do is get in touch with one of the orthotists recommended by Dobbs' office. I'll be interested to see what the out-of-pocket costs will be compared with just buying a new pair of the shoes, and how much insurance will cover for a new set.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
The New Normal
I hope you'll forgive me, as I'm feeling a bit introspective today. We can blame the pregnancy hormones, I guess.
It's just strange to me - how "normal" can change from person to person. I have friends with kids who have no physical or mental disabilities, there are kids like E with a mild physical "issue" (funny - I have a hard time classifying it as anything else), there are friends with kids who have major medical problems looming constantly overhead (ie a life-threatening food allergy or a major issue with asthma), and I know of kids with truly life-altering disabilities who are wheelchair bound and require round-the-clock nurse care. What becomes the new normal for us - daily exercises, brace donning and doffing for naps and nighttime, repositioning him during his play to better use the affected leg, watching to see how E's foot responds to the therapy, and prayers for flexibility; and what is the normal for my friends with kids with medical issues - like my godson whose parents have to restrict where he eats, read all labels on everything, and cook way more often than they ever wanted to in order to provide their son with safe, fun, foods so he won't be left out due to his life-threatening egg allergy. These are the things you don't think about, or at least I didn't, when I was pregnant the first time. It's just not what I imagined when I dreamed about life with our new little one.
Now, I hope it goes without saying that I wouldn't trade my child for anything in this world, and I'm not thinking that the small things we do every day for E's foot is in any way comparable to our friend of a friend whose son will not move around outside of his wheelchair for however long we are blessed with his short little life. But I was describing our trip to St. Louis to some friends without kids, and I talked about the changes in how we were treating E's foot and the possibility of another trip out there next summer to either just have Dr. Dobbs re-check it or to plan for a few months stay to fix it again, and to her it just seemed so amazing. It's normal for us. It's actually way better than the worry and concern from last month when we thought E would be facing a foot reconstruction surgery because it wasn't healing perfectly. But to my friend, it was outside of her perspective of normal.
It's just striking me as funny today. Happy Friday!
It's just strange to me - how "normal" can change from person to person. I have friends with kids who have no physical or mental disabilities, there are kids like E with a mild physical "issue" (funny - I have a hard time classifying it as anything else), there are friends with kids who have major medical problems looming constantly overhead (ie a life-threatening food allergy or a major issue with asthma), and I know of kids with truly life-altering disabilities who are wheelchair bound and require round-the-clock nurse care. What becomes the new normal for us - daily exercises, brace donning and doffing for naps and nighttime, repositioning him during his play to better use the affected leg, watching to see how E's foot responds to the therapy, and prayers for flexibility; and what is the normal for my friends with kids with medical issues - like my godson whose parents have to restrict where he eats, read all labels on everything, and cook way more often than they ever wanted to in order to provide their son with safe, fun, foods so he won't be left out due to his life-threatening egg allergy. These are the things you don't think about, or at least I didn't, when I was pregnant the first time. It's just not what I imagined when I dreamed about life with our new little one.
Now, I hope it goes without saying that I wouldn't trade my child for anything in this world, and I'm not thinking that the small things we do every day for E's foot is in any way comparable to our friend of a friend whose son will not move around outside of his wheelchair for however long we are blessed with his short little life. But I was describing our trip to St. Louis to some friends without kids, and I talked about the changes in how we were treating E's foot and the possibility of another trip out there next summer to either just have Dr. Dobbs re-check it or to plan for a few months stay to fix it again, and to her it just seemed so amazing. It's normal for us. It's actually way better than the worry and concern from last month when we thought E would be facing a foot reconstruction surgery because it wasn't healing perfectly. But to my friend, it was outside of her perspective of normal.
It's just striking me as funny today. Happy Friday!
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Fell off of the wagon...
It's been a busy 3 months, and I've been lousy at keeping up with this blog. Death in the family, house under contract and closed, packing up the house, and chasing after a 21 month-old. Oh, and going through the first trimester of pregnancy. Lots of positives, but some things had to give, and unfortunately this blog didn't make the list.
When last we spoke, the hubby and I were discussing taking E to see Dr. Dobbs and whether or not to stay with Dr. H's protocol. Well, the more we talked, the more we decided that Dobbs protocol makes so much more sense, and it also made sense to take E to see him to have his foot checked to make sure it was healing correctly. We opted to take E out of the AFO during the day, and his gait improved SO much in a short amount of time, as long as he was wearing shoes. We added stretches, and I took E's brace to an orthotist friend of mine who showed me how to adjust it so the affected foot was in a neutral position. My only concern was in the last month - we were staying with my parents, who have a pool, and it really gave me an opportunity to watch E walk without shoes on.
I keep him in shoes, as I feel like given his history, he needs the support. With shoes on, you can't tell there's any difference right vs left. While barefoot though, he walks with the right (affected) leg rotated out and he does not roll off of his toes (termed toe-off in PT speak). This can be a common way to accommodate for a limb that is weaker (he was in casts for 5 months and then a solid AFO - weakness would not be surprising), and it can be habit (he favored the right side while casted because he couldn't use it), but it definitely made me nervous.
The visit to Dobbs however, helped put me at ease. He agreed with Dr. H that, according to the x-rays, E's foot was only partially corrected. While E's range of motion is fairly good, and he can use the foot in a functional matter, there is some rigidity at the end ranges that concerns Dobbs. If we lived closer he would suggest a re-do of the procedure (casting and pinning) to complete the correction. We don't, however. Dobbs said that most kids with a correction to E's level and some mild rigidity remaining go on to do fine, but there's no way to tell for sure (obviously). His recommendation was to continue with stretching, make a few further adjustments to the nighttime bracing (bringing the unaffected limb into a more neutral position because it makes no sense to have him braced into outward rotation anywhere and we'll try toeing him in a little bit on the affected side to increase the overnight stretch), and just to watch how E does. They like to have corrections done by the time the patient is 3, so we'll have until October of next year to see how he does. If he continues to do as well as he has up until now, we're good. If his foot gets tighter, the kids and I will be taking a trip to St. Louis for a few months next summer for a revision.
In the meantime, we're moving to south Florida and preparing for a new job (hubby) and a new baby and life with an increasingly active toddler. Life is good!
When last we spoke, the hubby and I were discussing taking E to see Dr. Dobbs and whether or not to stay with Dr. H's protocol. Well, the more we talked, the more we decided that Dobbs protocol makes so much more sense, and it also made sense to take E to see him to have his foot checked to make sure it was healing correctly. We opted to take E out of the AFO during the day, and his gait improved SO much in a short amount of time, as long as he was wearing shoes. We added stretches, and I took E's brace to an orthotist friend of mine who showed me how to adjust it so the affected foot was in a neutral position. My only concern was in the last month - we were staying with my parents, who have a pool, and it really gave me an opportunity to watch E walk without shoes on.
I keep him in shoes, as I feel like given his history, he needs the support. With shoes on, you can't tell there's any difference right vs left. While barefoot though, he walks with the right (affected) leg rotated out and he does not roll off of his toes (termed toe-off in PT speak). This can be a common way to accommodate for a limb that is weaker (he was in casts for 5 months and then a solid AFO - weakness would not be surprising), and it can be habit (he favored the right side while casted because he couldn't use it), but it definitely made me nervous.
The visit to Dobbs however, helped put me at ease. He agreed with Dr. H that, according to the x-rays, E's foot was only partially corrected. While E's range of motion is fairly good, and he can use the foot in a functional matter, there is some rigidity at the end ranges that concerns Dobbs. If we lived closer he would suggest a re-do of the procedure (casting and pinning) to complete the correction. We don't, however. Dobbs said that most kids with a correction to E's level and some mild rigidity remaining go on to do fine, but there's no way to tell for sure (obviously). His recommendation was to continue with stretching, make a few further adjustments to the nighttime bracing (bringing the unaffected limb into a more neutral position because it makes no sense to have him braced into outward rotation anywhere and we'll try toeing him in a little bit on the affected side to increase the overnight stretch), and just to watch how E does. They like to have corrections done by the time the patient is 3, so we'll have until October of next year to see how he does. If he continues to do as well as he has up until now, we're good. If his foot gets tighter, the kids and I will be taking a trip to St. Louis for a few months next summer for a revision.
In the meantime, we're moving to south Florida and preparing for a new job (hubby) and a new baby and life with an increasingly active toddler. Life is good!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Whoops - the last post, didn't!
So I will attempt to re-create that one. I was re-reading the article "A new approach to the treatment of congenital vertical talus" out of the Journal of Children's Orthopedics published in 2007. It was the only article I could find published in the last 10 years on the treatment of CVT leading up to E's surgery, and the surgical procedure described was similar to what Dr. H was proposing. I noticed this time, however, that the authors talked about the post-op bracing being done on CVT kids with an emphasis on keeping the foot in neutral (not in external rotation which was where E was braced into) and on frequent stretching (not recommended by Dr. H). Now, keeping the foot in external rotation (ER) never made a whole lot of sense to me. For one, it was the hip that was rotated, not the foot. It puts no stretch on the outer tissues of his foot as it puts the foot into the same directional rotation that it was when he was born. Dr. H assured me that was the correct position, however, so we went with it. I have been stretching E's foot since it came out of the cast. I'm a physical therapist - it's part of my genetic makeup to stretch. It's good to stretch if you have NO orthopedic problems. It cannot hurt to stretch someone who does. So that, too, made sense to me. The article does NOT talk about wearing an AFO during the day. Attached to the article was an email address to Dr. Dobbs, of the Dobbs brace, who happened to be one of the co-authors. Now, the article was published in 2007, so I figured no way was it still a valid email address. But, on the chance it was, I sent off an email with a quick synopsis of E's case. At 10pm on a Friday night. And I got a reply by 10:05pm. Seriously. I've worked in health care for 10 years now, and I don't think I've ever had a doc respond to a question I've asked that quickly - or even close to that quickly.
He said that yes, that was still his post-op protocol for CVT kids and he braced them differently than club foot kids because the problem was basically the opposite of what goes on with a club foot. Putting the foot in neutral keeps it in a better position. He is a strong advocate of stretching the foot, and he does not put them in an AFO during the day unless there is something else going on with the child. All of which made sense to me. So, trying to be fair, I called Dr. H's office on Monday to find out what his rational was for putting E in a standard club foot brace and position. Tuesday afternoon (a much more normal doctor-returning-calls-via-the-nurse time frame) his nurse called back and said he put E in that position because it was the position your foot naturally goes when you lie down, but we could change it if we wanted. Not really a ringing endorsement, in my book.
So we're leaning toward switching protocols now. And Dr. Dobbs has offered to take E as a patient. However, Dr. Dobbs is located in St. Louis, and the funds are a bit tight right now. We are looking at the Ponsetti docs down in southern Florida, since we're moving there this summer. I'm planning to call the 2 closest to us to find out what their protocols look like, since switching over to one of them makes sense. Of course, we could always still fly to St. Louis - who knows?
He said that yes, that was still his post-op protocol for CVT kids and he braced them differently than club foot kids because the problem was basically the opposite of what goes on with a club foot. Putting the foot in neutral keeps it in a better position. He is a strong advocate of stretching the foot, and he does not put them in an AFO during the day unless there is something else going on with the child. All of which made sense to me. So, trying to be fair, I called Dr. H's office on Monday to find out what his rational was for putting E in a standard club foot brace and position. Tuesday afternoon (a much more normal doctor-returning-calls-via-the-nurse time frame) his nurse called back and said he put E in that position because it was the position your foot naturally goes when you lie down, but we could change it if we wanted. Not really a ringing endorsement, in my book.
So we're leaning toward switching protocols now. And Dr. Dobbs has offered to take E as a patient. However, Dr. Dobbs is located in St. Louis, and the funds are a bit tight right now. We are looking at the Ponsetti docs down in southern Florida, since we're moving there this summer. I'm planning to call the 2 closest to us to find out what their protocols look like, since switching over to one of them makes sense. Of course, we could always still fly to St. Louis - who knows?
Friday, April 8, 2011
5 days and still no AFO
but boy, am I enjoying watching my little boy running around in TWO SHOES! I know it won't last, and the brace will likely arrive on Monday, so it will be back to business as usual, but MAN, is it nice. I specifically sent the brace to Cascade on Monday with the hope that it would make it back by today to minimize our time out of it. I'm going to drop my rep at Cascade an email tonight (she won't read it before Monday, I know, but that way it's done and I don't forget) to find out what day it got shipped out.
In the meantime, learning to walk without the brace was exciting. There was a lot of falls on Monday, a few on Tuesday, and only 1 significant one on Wednesday where he actually landed and gave himself a nice bruise. Yesterday and today it has seemed like he's gotten the hang of walking with shoes and no external support on that right ankle. He's getting more adventuresome though - repeatedly walking across the mulched flower beds off to the side of our driveway almost as if to prove he can - followed by shooting me a triumphant grin like "Hey Mom! Did you see what I did?" So cute!
Also, I sent out an email to Dr. Dobbs (of the Dobbs bar fame). I was reviewing the one current research article on CVT that I've been able to find to see pre and post-op protocols to compare with Dr. H's, and I noticed that there was an email address attached to it. So I went out on a limb and shot him an email with a brief synopsis of E's progress. I'm curious about the ways that his post-op protocol differs from Dr H's, and I'm wondering if those differences are significant, or if, because we're stretching E's foot in spite of our surgeon, that should be sufficient. So, we'll see. I'll be sure to post back what his response is.
In the meantime, learning to walk without the brace was exciting. There was a lot of falls on Monday, a few on Tuesday, and only 1 significant one on Wednesday where he actually landed and gave himself a nice bruise. Yesterday and today it has seemed like he's gotten the hang of walking with shoes and no external support on that right ankle. He's getting more adventuresome though - repeatedly walking across the mulched flower beds off to the side of our driveway almost as if to prove he can - followed by shooting me a triumphant grin like "Hey Mom! Did you see what I did?" So cute!
Also, I sent out an email to Dr. Dobbs (of the Dobbs bar fame). I was reviewing the one current research article on CVT that I've been able to find to see pre and post-op protocols to compare with Dr. H's, and I noticed that there was an email address attached to it. So I went out on a limb and shot him an email with a brief synopsis of E's progress. I'm curious about the ways that his post-op protocol differs from Dr H's, and I'm wondering if those differences are significant, or if, because we're stretching E's foot in spite of our surgeon, that should be sufficient. So, we'll see. I'll be sure to post back what his response is.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Oops - a busy toddler kept me away!
So we've been walking for almost 2 months now, which means I rarely get to sit, much less write a blog LOL! E's walking is going great, and in the last few weeks he's finally figured out how to stand up without using his hands. Today I noticed he walked straight from the driveway onto the pinestraw in the front yard - a feat that previously would require holding mommy or daddy's finger for stability. He is actually falling more frequently these days because he's less cautious. He picks up the pace at the drop of the hat, and he's not always very good about toe clearance on the affected/AFO side which results in tripping. We're getting ready to ship his AFO back to Cascade tomorrow morning for the addition of a "Houdini" strap. As any healthy almost-18-month-old would, E has figured out how to unstrap his brace. He hasn't transitioned to removing it completely, but I figure that's not far behind. Hopefully the brace will only be gone until Friday, and since we're within the first 90 days, Cascade is both paying for shipping and covering the repair/upgrade. The only other issues we're having with the brace is where it contacts his skin it is causing some increase in his excema and there's a little bit of wear on the padding where the brace hits his calf. The one issue is going to be a concern as the weather gets warmer, so we may have to invest in special socks to protect his skin and minimize heat. The other issue I'm hoping Cascade will fix while they have the brace. If not, no worries - it's not structural. I'll be calling Dr. H tomorrow morning at hubby's request to find out what his opinion is on E's footwear while the brace is gone. I'm banking on it only being gone 5 days, and I'll extend how long E wears the DB bar/shoes both after waking up in the morning and after nap and make sure he wears shoes with good, supportive arches at all times in between. DH wants confirmation from the doc that this is ok. I think Dr. H doesn't have to live all day with a toddler who will NOT like being in the DB bar back to the 16 hours per day we were in prior to the AFO. Right now, E doesn't mind the bar/shoes. If it becomes an issue and we have to fight him to wear it, it may decrease the length of time we use it overall. At our last appointment, Dr. H said we basically needed to keep him in it until at least 2, but the longer the better. If the next 6 months is a battle, we'll likely stop then. If it continues to not be a battle, we can probably keep with it until we hit potty training at night and naps, which from what I've been told is likely quite a while since E is all boy. So, I have my opinion (shocking, I know!), but I'll give Dr. H an opportunity to weigh in. We'll see.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
And we're off!
I think some people treat babies taking their first (and second, and third...) independent steps as an opportunity to be a downer on their parents. As in, "oh, well, nothing is safe now!" and "everything will get so much harder now!" But from those of us whose precious little ones have worked so hard and gone through so much to get to this point, I say plefffffffttttt on you! Yes, life will be more challenging now. But life with a little one is challenging....and wonderful....and all brand-new again. And after the last almost 7 months, it just makes me so happy to see him stretching his confidence levels and bravely venturing out away from the safety of handholds (I'm hearing the theme song to Star Trek in the background now). He's been such the rock star throughout this whole process, and I am so very proud of my little man!
But yes, we're now walking. In 5-10 feet segments. On a variety of surfaces, although some more successfully than others. We had our first face-plant in the backyard today, and he was much more timid about venturing outside of my reach for the rest of the day. I don't think the fall bothered him that much, but he's not a fan of actually having to touch grass LOL, and falling means you really can't avoid having your hands touch the stuff. Aside from touching the grass in the backyard, you can tell he's having a blast. He's awfully proud of himself when he makes it from one piece of furniture to another without incidence, and that is happening more and more often. The only issue we had was one day his top of his foot was pretty red at the end of the day. I think the AFO strap was perhaps not tightened snugly enough, and there was a lot of walking going on, so there was a lot of opportunity for rubbing. The next morning, his skin looked fine, so no worries there. We just keep checking his skin, and as the weather warms us, I will start changing his socks midway through the day. We're mostly down to one nap now, so I'll likely change his socks after his nap so that he'll have a fresh one on for the afternoon. The things you don't think about, huh?
But yes, we're now walking. In 5-10 feet segments. On a variety of surfaces, although some more successfully than others. We had our first face-plant in the backyard today, and he was much more timid about venturing outside of my reach for the rest of the day. I don't think the fall bothered him that much, but he's not a fan of actually having to touch grass LOL, and falling means you really can't avoid having your hands touch the stuff. Aside from touching the grass in the backyard, you can tell he's having a blast. He's awfully proud of himself when he makes it from one piece of furniture to another without incidence, and that is happening more and more often. The only issue we had was one day his top of his foot was pretty red at the end of the day. I think the AFO strap was perhaps not tightened snugly enough, and there was a lot of walking going on, so there was a lot of opportunity for rubbing. The next morning, his skin looked fine, so no worries there. We just keep checking his skin, and as the weather warms us, I will start changing his socks midway through the day. We're mostly down to one nap now, so I'll likely change his socks after his nap so that he'll have a fresh one on for the afternoon. The things you don't think about, huh?
Monday, February 7, 2011
Almost 2 weeks in to the AFO
And things are going VERY well. E is really starting to take off with his walking. We go just about everywhere with him holding on to 1 finger. We walk pretty much all day - up and down the house, outside, up and down the driveway, around the car (cruising). He got a tricycle for Christmas from his grandparents, and his feet don't quite reach the pedals, but it is the kind that has a handle for the adult to steer it. He prefers to push it down the driveway and ring the bell from the front of the bike :-). I'm having difficulty finding socks long enough for the AFO, but his skin seems OK with that. It helps that he's still (sort of) on 2 naps, so he only wears the AFO in 2-3 hour blocks during the day. We are still wearing the Denis Brown bar at night and during naps. Neither the bar/boots nor the AFO seem to bother him in the slightest. I say it on a regular basis - hubby and I are very lucky that E inherited his daddy's temperament. I am way too high strung - if his personality was like mine, we'd be in a battle, I'm sure!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Some delay, but...
We have our new AFO! Hooray! Last week we were supposed to go back to Chapel Hill and get E's new brace as well as get a check up from the surgeon. Unfortunately, we got hit by the stomach flu and that totally sidelined us for about 4 or 5 days as we all worked it out of our systems. This week we are much healthier, so we headed back up to UNC for the appointments.
First we met with E's PT Kerry, and at this point he just cries any time any provider approaches him while at UNC, so I hope she didn't take that personally. I think he's just tired of the whole process. Anyway, she put the AFO on his foot and adjusted it to fit him. The good news is that the company warranties the brace for 90 days, including if he has a growth spurt and needs a new one. The bad news is that he's going to need a new one probably every 6-12 months. We'll see what our insurance company says about that :-P.
Then on to Dr. H. We didn't have to wait very long, fortunately, because E was starting to get grumpy. The fluoroscope was quick and painless, but the expression on the doc's face did not give me the warm and fuzzies. He was not happy with the alignment, but he said that the only way to correct it any more would be very extensive surgery. Not an option, in my book anyway. Before we started this journey, E's foot obviously had something wrong. The muscles were not developing with the proper "rhythm." His foot works just fine now. He may end up with a flat foot on that side, but no big deal on that one. I have 2 of those, and I use a hard insert in my shoes when I run - whoopie. Dr. H said that usual recommendations are to wear the bar and shoes at night until 2 and the AFO until 2 or 3, but as long as the braces aren't bothering E, we should keep him in them as long as possible. I can definitely live with that.
We still aren't walking independently, but the 2 of us do laps up and down the house with E holding my fingers, and he cruises around the furniture like nobody's business. He has a few toys that are push toys or walkers, and he adores those, but I'm not sure they aren't holding him back, so I'm going to put them away for a few days. He did take a step on his own a few nights back, so I'm sure we're on our way. When I asked the PT, she said the it could take him as long as 3 months to catch up the time he lost in the cast and adjust to the AFO, so no worries. He'll walk when he's ready, and very likely he'll just about skip straight to running. Maybe I won't worry so much about getting to the gym, because I'm sure I'll be running from here on out!
First we met with E's PT Kerry, and at this point he just cries any time any provider approaches him while at UNC, so I hope she didn't take that personally. I think he's just tired of the whole process. Anyway, she put the AFO on his foot and adjusted it to fit him. The good news is that the company warranties the brace for 90 days, including if he has a growth spurt and needs a new one. The bad news is that he's going to need a new one probably every 6-12 months. We'll see what our insurance company says about that :-P.
Then on to Dr. H. We didn't have to wait very long, fortunately, because E was starting to get grumpy. The fluoroscope was quick and painless, but the expression on the doc's face did not give me the warm and fuzzies. He was not happy with the alignment, but he said that the only way to correct it any more would be very extensive surgery. Not an option, in my book anyway. Before we started this journey, E's foot obviously had something wrong. The muscles were not developing with the proper "rhythm." His foot works just fine now. He may end up with a flat foot on that side, but no big deal on that one. I have 2 of those, and I use a hard insert in my shoes when I run - whoopie. Dr. H said that usual recommendations are to wear the bar and shoes at night until 2 and the AFO until 2 or 3, but as long as the braces aren't bothering E, we should keep him in them as long as possible. I can definitely live with that.
We still aren't walking independently, but the 2 of us do laps up and down the house with E holding my fingers, and he cruises around the furniture like nobody's business. He has a few toys that are push toys or walkers, and he adores those, but I'm not sure they aren't holding him back, so I'm going to put them away for a few days. He did take a step on his own a few nights back, so I'm sure we're on our way. When I asked the PT, she said the it could take him as long as 3 months to catch up the time he lost in the cast and adjust to the AFO, so no worries. He'll walk when he's ready, and very likely he'll just about skip straight to running. Maybe I won't worry so much about getting to the gym, because I'm sure I'll be running from here on out!
Thursday, January 6, 2011
A new year, a new perspective
And given that my brilliant son has figured out how to crawl, on all fours, while in the Denis-Brown brace, my husband and I have decided to not go ahead with the purchase of the Dobbs brace. I think that the Dobbs brace is a better option to make the transition easier for the older baby, and it looks like he would have had an easier time dealing with that vs the DB bar. However, 2 weeks into this lovely journey, he's got the DB bar mastered. It isn't keeping him from sleeping, and it's only keeping his mobility limited due to the fact he's in it 18 hours per day. As soon as Jan 18 rolls around, we'll have the daytime AFO brace and that won't be an issue anymore. I'm still not a fan of the DB brace for older babies, but we have it, and he's used to it, so we'll keep it. For now.
As for his mobility in general, his right knee is getting stronger and stronger. Staying at my in-laws house for a week with their carpeted staircase, gave him a great daily workout as we climbed the stairs (again, and again, and again LOL). He now not only doesn't limp when he walks holding out hands or with the toy walker Santa got him, but his step lengths are evening out. For you non-therapists out there, that means that he's not hurrying to put the left foot down faster than the right one because he doesn't trust the right one to hold his weight. It's a very good sign of gait development. I'm not 100% sold that him using the walker toy is a great thing for independent gait development (I'd heard from a pediatric PT many years ago that they actually might slow down independent gait development), but he likes it, and until or unless it becomes a problem I'll roll with it.
The skin on his right leg is also starting to look a LOT better. His knee had been very red for several days, mostly due to all of the crawling and pressure he was putting on it that he had not done for 5 months, and the redness is gone. We're using a blister preventative on a few spots on his feet that wanted to be red after the brace comes off, and that combined with (I believe) us getting better at putting the brace on snuggly is keeping the skin on his feet looking better. His eczema is back unfortunately, that he had as a baby, so we're lotioning the dickens out of his arms and legs after bath and in the mornings. I think, most likely, this is coming from not having a true bath daily for 5 months and all of a sudden going back to that. He is loving bath time though, so unless the eczema gets really bad we'll just keep slathering on the lotion.
So the new year is looking brighter indeed. God is good, indeed!
As for his mobility in general, his right knee is getting stronger and stronger. Staying at my in-laws house for a week with their carpeted staircase, gave him a great daily workout as we climbed the stairs (again, and again, and again LOL). He now not only doesn't limp when he walks holding out hands or with the toy walker Santa got him, but his step lengths are evening out. For you non-therapists out there, that means that he's not hurrying to put the left foot down faster than the right one because he doesn't trust the right one to hold his weight. It's a very good sign of gait development. I'm not 100% sold that him using the walker toy is a great thing for independent gait development (I'd heard from a pediatric PT many years ago that they actually might slow down independent gait development), but he likes it, and until or unless it becomes a problem I'll roll with it.
The skin on his right leg is also starting to look a LOT better. His knee had been very red for several days, mostly due to all of the crawling and pressure he was putting on it that he had not done for 5 months, and the redness is gone. We're using a blister preventative on a few spots on his feet that wanted to be red after the brace comes off, and that combined with (I believe) us getting better at putting the brace on snuggly is keeping the skin on his feet looking better. His eczema is back unfortunately, that he had as a baby, so we're lotioning the dickens out of his arms and legs after bath and in the mornings. I think, most likely, this is coming from not having a true bath daily for 5 months and all of a sudden going back to that. He is loving bath time though, so unless the eczema gets really bad we'll just keep slathering on the lotion.
So the new year is looking brighter indeed. God is good, indeed!
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