SMO!!!

Thank goodness, Sammy outgrew his brace. Because insurance won't pay for another brace UNLESS the child outgrows the brace that he has. We knew he had a growth spurt so I was optimistic. The doctor looked at him walking without his pants and shoes on, and said he was doing great! He was really happy with the progress he is making. The doctor said that he felt like we could go with a SMO, to give him the best mobility but still give him the support that he needs. The SMO will work great (I HOPE!) because he has FULL use of his ankle and can bend his knee normally. They did warn me that shoes are going to be EVEN harder to find because with the SMO the brace wraps around his foot. We are also getting a new UCB insert for his other side. I have mentioned this before, but the UCB insert is to make both sides equal to prevent any leg length problems or a limp. Sammy NEEDS support for his foot. He is not using his ankle properly and turns his foot outward on his affective side. But the SMO will help with both of these problems. We fixed the AFO so that we can use it as a night time splint to stretch out his hamstring, which with all the growing and walking has gotten tighter. He will wear it at night......if it works. If not they said we can donate the brace to children in third world countries. Which I thought was such a great idea!!! We will definetly be doing that once Sammy outgrows these braces. We gave them the old UCB insert so they could send that one on already.

All in all it was a very positive appointment. We talked about Botox and he said that Sammy was not that tight right now. He said that it has worked amazing for kids that need it. We also talked about CIMT and he wants to make the cast where it bends at the elbow, which I think is a good idea because Sammy would figure out how to use his arm to do many of the things that we would want him to do with his left arm during the process. HOWEVER, this means that he has to use his left side to catch him for any falls. SO....we need to be MUCH more solid on our feet. Sammy still falls a lot. He stands right back up, but it would be a nightmare for him right now. Once he said a bending at the elbow cast, I knew that we would have to wait. Our doctor says when they have been walking for about six months is when he has seen the best results. That would be about four months from now, which is around the time of our next appointment. Our PT came to the appointment with us, she is such a great support for us. I often think about how blessed we have been to meet these people that now are so important to us, and love our kid. Through all of this, that has been a huge blessing. Karen especially has a way of calming me down and understanding what we want for him.