Caleb's Start to 2018!
We recently finished our 6-week session of serial casting and Caleb killed it. It wasn’t easy for us as parents, but he adjusted like the strong-willed person that he is.The first set was given on 1/3 and he chose blue and orange. We spent our weeks at the Kasner household thinking about what colors Caleb should get the next Wednesday he goes in to get the next set of casts at Physical Therapy (PT).
Caleb’s PT recommended an Orthotist come to one of this PT sessions to evaluate his movement with and without his brace he had for his right foot.This resulted in additional observations and ultimately the recommendation to move forward with serial casting.It was believed that this would improve his gait, specifically the ability to get his feet in a neutral position and allow him to heel strike and get his knees to bend over his toes when walking. It was explained to me that a traditional gait is so important for complete body strength, which he currently didn’t have the opportunity to obtain with his current gait. I started to play defense and ask if we could accomplish this without the casting, but they explained that although an option, it would likely just lengthen the episode of care because the casting has a higher likelihood of working.
The appointments were long (from 1.5 – 2 hours) and they got easier each time. The first time I left in tears as Caleb stopped in his tracks after getting his casts and cried “it’s too hard to walk mommy, help.”They told me it typically takes the length of a football field for children to get used to it, but I saw no way this was ever going to work.Well turns out a football field was optimistic, but after 3 days, he had found strategies for how to get around.
He found his favorite ABC movie to watch while getting his casts and what I thought would become a struggle each appointment, became just a routine that he excelled at. He had quite the combination of colors each week and never let anyone sign them, despite our request each week.
On February 7th we got our last set of casts off and moved into braces on both legs that require 23-hour wear.Bracing has come with many aches and pains for both Caleb and us.What shoes will fit? What socks are best? What will work inside (our solution is a future blog post)? What will work outside? But what brings us a smile is the way he walks when he has them on.
We took a trip to REI a few weekends ago where we played in the tree house for quite some time.I was helping Caleb up the stairs when a girl said to me “you can’t be in here if you are taller than the bear” and then proceeded to say, “why does he have those and why do you have to help him.”Shame on me for shooting this little girl a dirty look and ignoring her questions.When I reflected on that moment, I started to realize it’s time for me to get help as a parent with special needs for how to appropriately respond to questions like that.And more importantly, how do I equip Caleb with the right information so that he can also appropriately respond.
Dan and I haven’t worried much about Caleb having friends.We are lucky to have 3 other boys right next to us in our neighborhood that are all the same age that are just good kids with great parents.I think these kids will have his back and love that they will know exactly how to respond to these kid’s questions, because they will just do what is natural.
We celebrated our serial casting with a trip to Florida where Caleb smiled from ear to ear while swimming under the sunshine for hours on end and playing with his cousins. It was a well-deserved break from a different start to 2018.
Thanks for your love and support. It takes a village and it would be so much harder without all of you! (2-23-18)