NEW SHOES, OF COURSE!
I don't think I've mentioned that our littlest joy has cerebral palsy. We are blessed that it is only a mild case. We are also blessed that he's also got a double dose of stubborn determination in his genetics, so CP isn't about to slow him down! Oh, no!Three months ago I took W for his yearly orthopaedic appointment. W has weekly OT and PT (occupational and physical therapy) appointments, so I honestly assumed we'd go for the orthopaedic appointment and get a pat on the back for all of his hard work in therapy, a new prescription for an AFO (leg brace), and be out the door until next year's appointment. That wasn't the case. I was blindsided in the appointment, and left the office nearly in tears.
I'm a true believer that when you have a choice to laugh or cry about things in your life, that you should always chose to laugh! Laughing has been known to get me in trouble on occassion, but I just can't see much good in dwelling on the negative! Finding the positive feels so much better than staying focused on the bad. Lord knows, the only thing negativity will get you is high blood pressure and those wretched forhead wrinkles I'm trying to avoid.
With that said, I may choose laughter over tears, but every once in awhile a good cry just makes you feel better. Once I had my cry after leaving that fateful doctor's appointment, I was ready to find the positive.
And as you see, I'm so focused on the positive...
that I'm forgetting to tell you about the negative.
What we found out in the appointment was that W's x-ray showed he had developed scoliosis. His doctor requested intensified PT and OT focusing on his core muscles, and a follow-up scheduled in three months. At the end of the three months, if there was no improvement in the degree of scoliosis (or it had worsened), W would need to be fitted for a back brace to sleep in. Once a child begins wearing a back brace, it is normally worn until the child stops growing--around age 18. I knew it wasn't the end of the world if W had to wear a back brace, but I also was determined to do whatever it took to try and avoid another brace!
Fast forward three months to the follow-up appointment Monday...
Not only was there good improvement on the x-ray---good enough that I could see the difference myself--he won't be needing a back brace yet, or maybe ever! We are to keep focusing on his core muscles in OT and PT, and have another follow-up in six months.
AND IN OTHER AWESOME NEWS... he no longer has to wear an AFO.
Mama translation (what this means to me)- we're doing a good job, W is a hard worker, keep doing what you're doing.
Littlest joy translation (what this means to W)- He can finally go to the shoe store and pick out any type of shoes he wants to wear, no more orthopaedic tennis shoes, no more picking out shoes just because they will allow a brace to fit---FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!!!
As we left the doctor's office that was the only thing he cared about. The simple pleasure of being able to buy whatever shoes he wanted and liked, without any restrictions!
Yep, my boy has some happy feet! And Superman and I have happy hearts!
And thank you Grammy and Paw Paw for volunteering to buy him his first pair of "cool" tennis shoes. He picked them out all by himself! He loves them! In fact, he loves them so much I was afraid he was going to sleep in them the first night! Thank you, again!
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5 comments:
Wow! You do have such a positive attitude! Yeah to the little trooper for working so hard and YEAH for getting to pick out the cool shoes!!!!
I am so happy! Praise God. I know how this has been weighing on you. God is so faithful! His shoes are Wonderful!!!
Stephanie@inspired
I honestly had no clue from looking at the pictures that he has CP. And I am now a nurse of 8 years. Glad he loves his new shoes. You can tell him that now that he gets to wear these cool shoes he may have to get a spending budget and limit. Let me tell you we went into the Puma store recently and were floored at how much more some of them were than orthotics!! lol. Hope you all have a fun Valentine's week.
I kept wondering why there was OT and PT. Trust me I had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA!!!! But he is definitely a Little Joy in Boy's Club!!! :-) Are your hands clean of the clay yet? Did you want to play with more clay next month at club? NOPE!
Hi, we've never met, but it was fun to read some of your blog! I appreciate your positive attitude! I was wondering if you've ever taken W to a chiropractor. They can do wonders with scoliosis (sp?). My sister had this when she was young. Now she's fine thanks to a chiropractor. We take our kids up in Waxhaw, NC. He's done wonders for their health (breathing, coughs, allergies, bloody noses, etc.) Blessings, Melinda (from the BB coop)
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