Orthotics

It's Monday again.....it's been three weeks since we went to see the "orthotics man". Today we went back to have the orthotics shaped and fit to Kyle's new shoes.

Can I just say that new shoes are such a process! First, because of the pressure on his spinal cord, Kyle's feet are extremely sensitive and when touched jerk violently, which causes pain, so he doesn't like to take his shoes off. Even pulling his socks off makes his feet jerk -- the medical term is spacicity. We needed a good shoe for the orthotic, so we went to the New Balance store. Got Kyle's shoes off, measured the feet, found a "motion control" shoe, some moisture wicking socks and $140 later he walked out wearing his new shoes.

Was there a difference? Amazingly -- YES! We could tell that his feet weren't rolling nearly as much. And the decisive moment was when he wanted to wear the shoes out of the store. The gal that helped us was awesome! Of course, we will be life-long customers because of her care and knowledge.

SOOOOOO -- today we went to get the orthotics. Got to the hospital -- which is where the clinic is located -- got into an exam room and the in-patient orthotics team came to measure Kyle for a halo vest, since the doctors don't know what they will find when they get into his neck, they have to be prepared for any eventuality. When they put the vest on over his shirt, he just closed his eyes, bowed his head and softly said, "MO!" It broke my heart. He clearly understood what this could mean. So when she left we talked about it.....Kyle was not nearly as resistant to the soft-collar which is what he will wear if he doesn't have a halo.

When she left, Brian fit the foot orthotics, then we went to have lunch with Daddy.

Kyle also learned a new phrase: "Know what? THAT'S what."