Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Allie's Legs

Great news: the braces are coming off soon! At least during the day. Over the next month, Allie has been cleared for weight bearing exercise in physical therapy. And if Dancer Joan says it's okay, in a month Allie will have braces on the ankle and feet only.

At night, however, she'll have to wear the full HKAFO's. Her hips are mostly healed since the surgery, but the doc doesn't want her to lose any ground, so at night she'll have to stay in the full contraption. It keeps her legs open and her hamstrings stretched. This will give Allie the maximum use of her legs in the future. (We're not quite sure what "maximum use" is yet, but this will give her her best chance.)

We take her out of her braces for about an hour a day for exercise, a bath, and even a trip to the pool. She loves to have time out of her braces, but, believe it or not, she's also comfortable putting them back on. She's used to the support she gets from them.

Since the operation, she is much more comfortable in her stroller. Especially with the braces. They give added stability and she is able to stay in the stroller longer. Before her operation, her hips hurt since they were growing out-of-joint. But now, we roll out for a two mile walk over the Blue Heron Bridge every morning. It's time together we'll always treasure.

3 comments:

Vicki Small said...

She is such fun to watch, when she's enjoying life! I'm praying the physical therapy will enable her to start walking, but I realize there are other stages to be attained, first.

j a n said...

She is so beautiful! And I do believe she looks a little like your lovely wife...so glad to see her continued improvement.

Julia said...

Look at her go! I'm so glad she is becoming more comfortable all-around since the operation.