4 Weeks Post Op...

I know it has been a few weeks since we've given an update, but things have been still hectic. Last week Andrew came down with Strep throat and had to be home from school. You would have never known he was sick if he didn't have the fever. It took him a while to get back into the routine of going back to preschool/daycare, but things seem to be going smoother. He has a new 1:1 aide now and a new OT. He has also been placed in another classroom with all new students and teachers, so it has been quite the transition back to school. We were not anticipating all of the changes and only found out about them when he returned. Although he truly misses his aide Megan, he seems to be adjusting nicely to his "girlfriend" as he calls her. We are finally able to start getting him to wear his shoe inserts to help his collapsing arch in his feet, so hopefully this will help with his feet turning in and prevent further surgery in the future.

He has been doing amazing with his walking and his PT commented how he is starting to use a nice heel strike when prompted. He seems to have most of his strength back and seems to have better balance while standing still. Before he would teeter totter to keep his balance by forward and back stepping to keep from falling. Now he can stand with both feet planted in one place! He does still need reminders to stand tall. He seems to forget that he can easily straighten his knees while standing and tends to do the same when walking. We're trying to teach him how to use his full leg extension while walking along with trying to remind him to walk heel to toe. He tends to be walking toe to heel but with reminders you can see him concentrate on placing his heel first with his toes raised. Sometimes he will over exagerate his step and concentrate so hard on doing it right that he will trip, but he is trying so hard. To the average person all of this comes naturally and now it has to be taught to him.

Otherwise he is doing GREAT. We feel that we made the right decision and that we have lost nothing from the surgery and have only gained some ground. Our biggest fear was that he would lose the ability to walk because of losing the high tone that he previously used to walk. But he seems to be adjusting well and we can only go forward from here. It is with much relief to see him doing so well and Matthew only adds to the joy with how helpful he is with motivating Andrew and helping him when he needs it.

Also, we are wondering if it is a coincidence that his language has picked up since the surgery?!? He seems so much more confident and sure of himself especially when speaking to you in conversation. He is using more "grown up" terms and phrases that he never used to. It is so enjoyable to talk about his day. He seems much less frustrated when talking to you and is even more able to pay attention and process what you are saying to him also. He seems to be much more calm than before and recovers more easily from his frustrations. Hopefully this continues, but in some ways it's not so good since he is much better at pleading his case to us... the lawyer/salesman/politician (no offense to anyone) kicks in and he starts to manipulate us into going "HIS way" in a more convincing way than before.... Makes it harder to make him see things OUR way.

So that is it for now... We've uploaded another more recent video and I will try to post it after this. Hopefully I can get some more up by the end of the week.

Enjoy!