A Blessing in Disguise

Last month at Aulton's orthotics appointment, we learned that Aulton's current orthotics (SMOs) were no longer "working." He walks on his toes all the time. In the beginning, the toe walking was actually a good thing: he was giving input to his calf muscles to make them work. However, he liked that input so much he decided he would become "my little ballerina" and tip toe 1oo% of the time, even in his shoes and orthotics. His heel cords are so tight his PT cannot stretch them without hurting her arm. So, the orthotist gave me several options; continue what we were doing, which would likely result in casting and surgery, get night splints and use the SMOs during the day, or get night splints and new, taller orthotics (AFOs). We opted for option three because it made the most sense and will be the most beneficial in the long run. The AFOs and night splints make it virtually impossible for him to toe walk, thus improving his pelvic, core and anterior tibia muscles.

I was pretty devastated, though. I knew the adjustment would not be easy and would likely be painful for him. Plus, a lot of other stuff was going on with him in school and therapy. I just felt completly overwhelmed. However, Aulton was blessed with an amazing personality. He is very easy going and the orthotist presented a plan that was quite conservative. We started slowly, we had Aulton wear the night splints only for a hour on the first day. Every night we increase the duration, which increases the stretch. Last night we were able to get nearly 3 hours out of him before the crying started and broke my heart.

We will see the orthotist next week to determine whether the night splints have created a great enough stretch to make wearing the AFOs during the day beneficial.

While all of this has been challenging, something very good (besides the longterm benefits) has happened. Aulton has gone back to sleeping through the night. It is a struggle to get him to fall asleep when he is so uncomfortable, but once the splints are off, he is out and out for good. This morning and one other morning this week, he woke in the 4 o'clock hour. In previous days, he would have stayed up until Mike or I went to get him around 6 a.m. This morning, however, he went right back to sleep and slept until 6:20. It's practically a miracle. His OT at school even commented on how much better Aulton did in his session. I told her it was because he was getting an additional 2 to 4 hours of sleep than he used to. Obviously, he is more alert than he would have been operating on 6 or 7 hours of sleep. As you may recall from a previous post, he has been waking up between the hours of 1 and 3 a.m. as if it was time to start the day.

Hopefully, he will continue to sleep well and he will continue to adjust to his new orthotics.