We were at the PT Eval for 1 1/2 hours!
Here we are waiting to be called in:
Meeting Gerri:
Checking out her range of motion (ROM):
The PT did take lots of measurements.
We did try out the walker since the Ortho Dr wanted us to attempt it.
But it was very uncomfortable for her.
We left the PT office very confused.
She contradicted the Ortho Dr several times.
In her opinion Gerri would NOT benefit from serial casting. She thought Gerri's feet had no flexibility and some bones were fused. She was also VERY concerned with her leg length difference.
She had never worked with a child this old that had not had any corrections to their feet and just thought we should go to surgery. I told her I knew of several of families that had children with arthro, club feet and came home at 4,5 or 6 and that serial casting had benefited them tremendously.
I told her that Gerri was already doing so much more than she did when I met her 2 months ago. I also explained that Artrho kids do not do well with surgery. They tend to scar and nonsurgery is the best method.
The PT then went on to say that she would get in touch with the Dr to explain her point of view. She then wanted us to contact another family that had a child with leg length differences and call their Dr in MD. I asked if this family was dealing with Arthro or club feet and the answer was no.
We did agree with her about exercising and stretching and working on crawling as opposed to walking.
The good thing is that we actually won't have this PT for our PT sessions as she is going out for surgery and we will have another in the office that seemed really nice.
I kept repeating that we were in this for the long haul and not trying to FIX everything right away.
Ortho Dr wants to do her feet, then if need be release the tendon in her feet and groin and take out her hip hardware. Once all that is done Gerri will have a totally different posture and we will evaluate her leg differences. Ortho Dr said heel lift would be ok for now!!
Then the PT said their schedule was very full and they could not get her back in till end of June!
We left there and headed off to school. Everyone was so happy to see her and it was like having a celebrity :)
End of day was spent on the trampoline as always :)
Gerri pushing Victoria on the swing :)
Comparing feet and toes :)
They were all very tired and the girls were watching a Pony movie after tubbies :)
Dan and I were both second guessing ourselves all day.
I was really surprised that the PT would so blatantly contradict the Ortho Dr.
Gerri does not mind the exercises or stretches at all. Hard to believe that 2 months ago I could not even touch her legs or feet and here I am stretching her :) We even got her up into a crawl position!!
3 comments:
I'm keenly interested in what you are learning as we are adopting Aaron and need to learn as much as we can. We have NO IDEA what he is going to need but I am glad you are posting details. The more we know, the better prepared we will be. He apparently walks and is 'minimally affected' in his hands and feet.... whatever that means!
I think a lot of medical professionals don't know about AMC. I FiNALLY met a guy who does, and he's a chiro. I almost hugged him. My PT and my back doc had never heard of it.
She looks fantastic though, regardless of what the docs say!
find a new pt.
we have seen no less than 4 docs who dont have a clue. why would a pt have a clue? Bens feet had fused bones but guess what? they are doing GREAT after serial casting AND he is 6. AND he had prior surgeries and scar tissue. seriously if your PT cant understand your child's needs, look for a new one. and anyways it isnt really her job to have an opinion is it? she is supposed to do what the doctor orders isnt she? am I wrong? our doctor said serial casting so we went to pt and she serial casted and wahlah better feet for walking. good luck mama. hang in there. Just being able to MOVE as she pleases is doing wonders for her. nothing like a loving family and sibs to motivate a kid. Remember Ben was completely incapable of doing ANYTHING for himself. dressing undressing toileting feeding washing even getting up when he fell down. now he does all of that on his own. and he rarely falls down.
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