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!
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