AFOs

What are AFOs? Ankle-Foot Orthotics. LJ started seeing a physical therapy (in addition to speech and occupational therapies). At our second visit, the PT recommended AFOs for his legs. I was happy to hear that we're progressing to treatment that will fix his legs while he's still young. Joe is worried that people will pick on him so he's not so keen on the idea. I keep telling him that 4 years olds are a little young for picking on kids. Maybe I'm just naive but I don't think they will. I told Joe we'll tell LJ they're superhero legs...they make him run faster...or something goofy like that. We'll really talk them up and say how cool they are so he won't feel like there is something wrong with him.

The PT sent me this 4 page work up of her notes. Most of it I don't understand. Basically it explains that his range of motion is limited. His Achilles tendon is shortened because of his toe-walking and his calf muscles are very tight. His left leg is worse than his right leg. Maybe I'll sit down with dictionary.com and go through the letter looking up every other word so I can understand exactly what it says. LOL Or maybe I'll just ask my sister-in-law...she's an OT, she may know the terminology.

Our appointment for the casting process is tomorrow at 10am. I've showed LJ videos and pictures of other kids having their feel/legs cast. He doesn't seem worried about it or scared at all. He saw one picture of a girl writing all over hers while they were drying so he got excited. I think I'll pack a Sharpie marker just in case they let him write on it. :) They'll cast his foot, wait for it to dry, and then cut the cast off. Then they'll use that to make the AFO. We return on June 9 for delivery of the orthotic. They'll make adjustments if needed and then we'll see the PT for our regular visit.

Then the fun comes....shoe shopping. (Where's the running like mad away from the insanity smiley?) Shoe shop with LJ is already a difficult task. Not we'll not only be accommodating his fat foot, but also the AFO. I just hope we'll be able to find regular shoes in a size larger and not have to look at orthotic shoes. They are okay but they LOOK like orthotic shoes in my opinion. LJ prefers Sketchers! Hehe I swear that kid can spot Sketchers a mile away. When did my 4 year old learn brand preference? Silly boy.

I'll update tomorrow with some pictures. Joe thinks I'm crazy but I told him I wanted to take some photos of the casting process. He said it's not something to remember and I tried to explain (once again) that unless someone tells LJ that this is a bad thing, then he'll never know any different. He'll just know it's something that'll help him walk better...and he'll be glad for it. When I said something about LJ being "special needs" Joe quickly piped up and said "LJ isn't special needs" to which I responded that yes, he was special needs. Any person with a special need is a special needs person. Which makes all 3 of my children fit that category. LJ with sensory processing disorder, Trinity with ADHD and asthma and Alyssa with asthma. And I said again that unless we make him think that means something is WRONG with him, then he'll never know he's any different than other kids. Heck, most people already blow off this SPD stuff and say "He's just being a boy"

Off to give my crazy man a bath and get him ready for bed. I've got a bag packed for him to keep him busy during our (at least) 1 hr. appointment tomorrow. I hope he finds this all cool and exciting but we'll have the "busy bag" just in case he gets bored.