Whitney's feet seem to grow incredibly slowly. She's been wearing her current set of DAFO ankle braces for almost a year now. But they're starting to get tight and her little toes are sticking a bit far beyond the end of them.So last week it was off to the physical therapist's office again. The therapist turned on some Elmo for Whitney to watch while she took new molds of Whit's feet. Whit was sufficiently distracted that she really wasn't bothered by the wrapping process going on down below.
Once the wrapping had hardened, the therapist cut off the molds and Whit was free to go. In about a month Whitney will be fitted with her new braces. They'll likely reach just above her ankle even though the molds reached up quite a bit higher.
They should get my little girl through another year of growing and learning to walk. The braces she's had have been instrumental in helping her get confident on her feet in spite of her floppy ankles. It's amazing the progress that is made possible by some carefully crafted, molded plastic.
5 comments:
At least you guys are on top of it and are getting her fitted for new ones before she gets uncomfortable! Give her a big hug from us!
Sophie started out in the afos that went all the way up to her knees, before she started walking. Then when she was around 4/5 they did 6 weeks of serial casting. That is where every week you go get new casts on and the angel is set to stretch the heel cords. Then we went to smos. She started walking in Dec. 2007, almost 6. She has worn both afos and dfos at different time during the day too. along with a pair of splints to sleep in at night. We can see where the whole process has done great things for her. She now walks everywhere. A little wide gait and stumbles now and again, but not bad for a little girl who we were told wouldn't do anything. we dont know if the wobbliness(if thats a word lol) is part of 1p36 or her newly diagnosed chiari 1 malformation. Congrats to whitney on her new feet jewelry. kim stipes
Thanks Julie!
Kim, that's exciting Sophie is doing so well with walking. Whit's getting more sure footed every day. She's got that same wobbly wide walk. It sure is fun to see her walk around though!
Olivia's feet grow extremely slow, too. We get her AFOs redone about once every 12 - 18 months. Another trait of our kids?
Yup. I think it's just tied into the whole nutrition and growth issues. But at least it keeps us from burning through braces faster. We just got the bill today. $850 a pair!
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