Orthotics
We spent the afternoon at Children's today. Our doctor was able to get us an earlier appointment for Waverly to see a physical medicine doctor. She was wonderful!! As we suspected, Waverly is going to be fitted with orthotics for both feet. Her feet are turning in, causing her to stumble quite often. The hope is the orthotics will help straighten her feet and allow her to walk without falling so much. I am not sure how she is going to tolerate them though. We are waiting to make an appointment with the assistive equipment folks. They will take molds for her orthotics and work with us about a safer car seat option for Wavey. She is currently in a booster seat, but she is leaning over and moving the seatbelt off her chest - it is just not safe. They will be able to help us find the best seat to keep her safe in our car.
It was another beautiful day. It actually hit 70. We so busy with therapy and doctor appointments that we weren't able to get out and enjoy it. But I do have some windows open and the fresh air feels divine.
Comments
Julie has had some AFOs made. They used this amazing tape (wrapped around the foot, ankle and up to the knee) that hardens so quickly and then they just cut off the whole thing. (Then they make a cast and then the brace.) She is supposed to wear them at night to keep her achilles tendon stretched and her foot straight- (back from when they thought she had mild CP.) She, too turns her foot in and sometimes stumbles a bit. Amazingly, she has had this issue since she began walking. At 14 months, a PT stopped me in the grocery store and referred me to early intervention.
I hope it goes well with the orthotist. They are usually so kind.
And please pass along the car seat info. I know it's only a matter of time until I need to move Julie out of the booster, too. She weighs 50 lbs right now and is 45 inches tall. How big is Wavey?
My best friend is a car seat technician and works for Safe Kids. She recommends a car seat made by Sunshine Kids-it's a 3 point harness for up to 80 pounds. It is called the Radian80. You can look at their website at www.skjp.com for more info. Hope this helps.
Carin (Margaret's Hope Chest)
Also, look carefully into your insurance. Plain foot orthotics are not covered by many insurances, luckily, it sounds like she may need AFOs as your friend mentioned (ankle-foot-orthotics) which almost always are. however, there is often a cap for how much during the year a patient can spend on orthotics, which will only be an issue depending on how much she grows.
(i worked for an orthotic company at childrens in boston)
this is good news though, AFOS are usually very helpful!
yay and good luck!
Hi, I graduated from Taylor with you two - I was Ann Hartmann back then (2WO freshman year, sister wing to Matt's wing). I have been following your story and praying for you. I wanted to tell you that I have a Britax Regent that is a couple years old but is barely used (it didn't really fit in our small car). It has a 5-pt harness and is for kids up to 80lbs. If that turns out to be a good choice for Waverly, I would be happy to send ours to you. Email me at hwairimu (at) hotmail.com.