Foot Update

Kevin is walking independently and wearing the hinged brace. He can even walk short distances barefoot around the house. Walking barefoot was something that seemed very dangerous for him to do before the surgery. He still wears the brace all day but it is a nice option that he can walk short distances barefoot so that the shoes don't have to go on before he gets out of bed and come off once he gets back in bed. When we are out of the house we still use the stroller for longer walking distance. 

We discovered at a recent doctor visit that Kevin gained 10 pounds since January!!! We've been told that people with Cerebral Palsy use 2-3 times more energy to walk than than their peers. So while Kevin was non-weight bearing for 8 weeks after his surgery, he got to retain all the good nutrients and food that he eats every day - 78 pounds is a much healthier weight for a 12 year old. 

We had an appointment with the Physiatrist on May 5. We discussed Kevin's January, foot surgery and the upcoming hip surgery in June. I made it clear that I want good communication between our orthopedic surgeon and the therapy team during Kevin's rehabilitation. I don't want another mishap where we end up with two different braces. 

We met with the Orthopedic Surgeon on May 19. He said Kevin's foot looks good from the January surgery. He wants Kevin to wear the hinged brace at all times and not use the solid wedge brace. We met with the Physical Therapist the following week and he did his best to get Kevin's legs evened out with additional lifts in his shoes. There has been a lot of back and forth between the solid and hinged brace and lifts in the shoes with the corresponding brace. This will all change again after he recovers from the June surgery and we begin rehabilitation. 

We were also able to squeeze in a visit with Dr. Nemeh on May 15. We were on a waiting list for cancellations because we had to cancel our last appointment in December due to weather and we weren't able to reschedule with Kevin's January surgery and recovery. Dr. Nemeh was pleased with the changes in Kevin's foot from the surgery and said that the hip surgery will help improve his walking which is what we are hoping and praying for.  

Hip surgery on June 22.

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