Olivia got fitted for some orthotic ankle braces yesterday. They are called SMO's, for those of you in-the-know, ha. Of course, I actually couldn't tell you what SMO stands for, so don't ask me. :o) I am sure the O is probably for Orthotic, but that's all I got. I can tell you they will come up to slightly above her ankle. She has been having a few problems with her walking. One problem is balance, also called ataxia I believe. We aren't sure what the cause is, since she has several potential causes. Her condition itself, her medications, the after-effects of the big seizures, or even ongoing seizure activity (which we don't know that she has--but Dravet kids can have this) are some of the potential causes for the balance issues. Additionally, she has a problem with her ankles rolling. I believe this is what they call over-pronating. (I sure hope I am getting all my facts correct--if anyone sees that I am not, please correct me in the comment section or message me! Or, if you ever have more to share on a subject I am discussing, please share!) So, the ankle rolling obviously adds to the balance issue as well as causes her to fall. All of this makes her unsteady at times, but surprisingly, has not caused her to regress to crawling at all. So, that is a big praise!
She is adapting to her situation by holding onto things to steady herself or reaching for my hand, but she doesn't often ask to be picked up--another big praise. She still very much wants to walk and be independent. Yay for that strong will! It has a purpose. She is more unsteady first thing in the morning and when she gets tired. The rest of the time, it just seems random. I can't seem to figure out a pattern or trigger to it. Enter orthotics. The hope is the ankle braces will support the ankle enough to stop the rolling and to afford her more confidence (the confidence that her legs won't be randomly giving out underneath her), yet that they won't be so restrictive to keep her from moving and playing as she is pretty much used to. This is the plan, anyway. We hope to have them in about a week, so I'm excited!
For those of you who have asked about gifts or were wondering about it.....I have started a Wishlist for Olivia on Amazon.com. Here is the link to it: http://amzn.com/w/109EOV0T8KJNA If that doesn't work, you can search for it by the email address hray75@yahoo.com. I am just going to keep the list going and updated. That way, in the future for birthday, etc., it will be here. It is also listed in the profile section here on Blogger. This is just such a convenient thing--loving Amazon.
Well, for those of you that are also on Facebook with me, you might have noticed my little bear was very busy last night creating some extra work for me to do this morning (for those of you not on Facebook, she completely unloaded the bottom 2 drawers of her dresser out onto the floor of her bedroom floor--it was a huge pile of clothes. And, she did it fast!! haha). So, I better get off the computer and get back to the chores of the day! Or......maybe we will just go for a walk. Somehow I think she might like that better than chores, what do you think?? :o)
No comments:
Post a Comment