EquipmentWhy is it that it is something that I pushed so hard for, have been asking our therapists for since September, and now that the day is almost here I have this funny feeling. A heaviness in my chest. A little part of me wishes that we were not here yet.
Of course the bigger part of me is thumping that little part down with logic and excitement. This will help my baby stand! So that heaviness is overshadowed by excitement that yes, we are taking this step.
So what equipment is causing me all of these feelings? We are getting our AFO's (ankle foot orthodics) and a standing frame.
YAY!
One thing that I was surprised about (and I don't know why) but to make this piece of plastic more personalized - considering it is going to be with us for a long time - we get to pick a design!
So after looking through all of the different designs (they had so many cute butterfly ones - I think Kyle would object) the only one that really stood out for me is the Toronto Maple Leafs - for those International readers, this is our hockey team and we are die-hard fans.
So once our design was picked, the real fun began. Fitting! Nickolas was a champ (of course) but what he really wanted to do was help. Oooh look at this blue stuff, can I touch?!Pretty much it is the same as when they put on a cast. I guess it is that exact same as when they put on a cast! They are casting his foot and leg so that they know that the braces they are making are for this foot!
First they put on this sock, and then the blue wrappy stuff (that is the technical name). That sets and then it's just cut off. The orthodics guy who did the casting I'm sure thought I was weird when I asked if I could take pictures. He didn't say anything, but it is pretty simple.
This is the end result, one casting of a foot.
I guess we really ended up with 2 castings.
The next thing we did was measurements for the standing frame.
It is personalized for him as well, so we needed measurements of his chest, hips, knees and ankles. I am still not that clear on the size of this standing frame. When I've asked I've been shown them followed by "but yours will be smaller". So we'll see what we get.
Nickolas breezed through the appointment with his milk and his cheerios (which we ended up spreading throughout the room).
And in 3 weeks we should have our first pieces of equipment. They didn't come cheap either. Boy was I surprised to see the invoice of $4000! Half for the stander and half for the AFO's. Really happy that government (75%) and insurance (25%) pay for these steps to verticality!
... yes I made up that word.
