Post-Op: 9 days

Well, E has been making slow and steady progress. I was starting to get discouraged...E's been crawling and getting into chairs, but really up until today, she hasn't done much standing; zero walking, and no cruising. Well, today's different!

Yesterday E tried the treadmill. We spent maybe 5 minutes on it, and most of that was just trying to stand up tall.

Today, we did 20 solid minutes of walking and standing, where I was moving her legs slowly, and aiming for strikethrough with her right foot (this stride is typically very short) and it was well-tolerated. Elena was definitely gripping the handlebars tightly, and complained that "her hands hurt"--but she was also bearing weight in her feet, which was the goal. I stopped when she said she was done.



Later on that day, we went to work; E can't use her crutches yet, and we don't have a walker. Cue The Beach Walker! E even ran a little bit (on the "toes" of her casts). We got a "coffee" and then headed off to Feldenkrais.



E was pretty warmed up (and silly) by the time we got there, but she had a great time with Mr. Keith. We haven't been to F'krais for about a year. I like the way he's focusing his efforts on different parts of her body since her feet are in casts (today was mainly her obliques, I think--their recruitment for walking).

We had some friends over for dinner; all the kids played, and then we got ready for bed. Tonight is E's first night with casts, without Valium; so far, so good.

Independent Treadmill!

Sidebars are GO!!

Here is Elena on her treadmill, moving independently thanks to Steve the Welder!



These bars are adjustable height, and removable so the treadmill and bars still fit under Elena's bed for easy storage.





The bars not only save our lower backs, but also allow us to help her initiate heel-strike, which we couldn't do when we were holding her by the waist. Hopefully, that will help her gait pattern. So far, she doesn't hold onto the bars with a "death grip", so she's not using her hands to stabilize herself too much--but she still (obviously) leans into her stride if not closely supervised.

Preparing for SDR

Elena has a busy schedule normally, with PT and school, but right before Christmas (under the guidance of our main PT) we ramped up her workout schedule to best prepare her for SDR this year.
I'm not sure if this is for everyone, but here is what we're doing:

Elena's normal PT schedule:
Monday: PT (public school), school (all school days include PE)
Tuesday: school, Little Gym class (gross motor play sessions)
Wednesday: school, speech therapy (she doesn't really need it anymore)
Thursday: private PT, school
Friday: PT (public school), school
Saturday: therapeutic horseback riding
Sunday: "day off", but if it's warm enough, we go to a park or the mall, or the hospital (where I work) to walk around/play
EVERY NIGHT: Stretching regimen (takes about 10 minutes, includes hip "bridges", sit ups, and transitional sit-ups to partial standing)

So, in addition to this, we added weight training, strength training, and treadmill to her schedule. I had been trying to get Elena to use her pediatric treadmill by introducing her to videos on my computer, which she only got to watch while walking on the treadmill. It worked--all too well, actually, as we initially added treadmilling Wednesday and Sunday nights, but she soon demanded it EVERY NIGHT (no joke). She walks (assisted) 5-20 minutes, we end whenever she says she's finished.
Weight training consists of 1-lb velcro weights we wrap around her ankles to do sitting leg raises. While sitting straight up, she is to straighten her leg out as far as possible with the weight on--this was initially difficult, as she wants to move both legs at the same time. We hold down her non-weighted leg to help her differentiate the two. She has gotten better at singularly using one leg at a time. She does (ideally) 5 raises/side, repeated 5 times, with a "playtime reward" after each set (we use magnetic dress-up dolls). It didn't take her long to insist on doing these every night also. Her leg strength increased dramatically once we started the weight regimen.
Strength/flexibility training consists of wall sits (normally bare-footed), where she puts her back against a wall (we have a growth chart here) and with her back on the wall, she squats down and then stands back up, with her feet as flat on the floor as possible. We call this "tall and short". We also do leg lifts--on all fours, with her head up, she raises one leg as straight as possible, as tall as possible, with the end goal being that her back and leg are in the same horizontal plane. We call these "puppy exercises" and tell her she's a puppy looking for something to chase. When she finds it, she points her leg (backwards, but who cares) and after holding it for 5 seconds, she can go chase (we put out stuffed animals down the hallway).

I'll try to get pictures up.