Off with the Old, On with the New

As you can see from the new pictures, we have our brand new pair of KAFOs! After leaving at 4:30 yesterday morning, we made it to Shriners for Reece's 8:00 appointment. They sawed his casts off, and he just sat there and watched them. I guess he's just gotten used to the whole process. He was an absolute angel while we were there. We were not there as long as we thought we'd be, so we were able to stop and have lunch before heading home. So, these "animal boots" as we like to call them due to the jungle print we picked out, are quite the little contraptions. We have about 5 straps we have to strap on and hinges at the knee that have to be locked into extension. The only time we can take them off is for therapy and bathing. Amazingly, they don't bother Reece that much. His legs are incredibly itchy, so he's constantly scratching, with the claw marks to prove it! Hopefully, after a lot of baths and lotions, we'll get that annoyance cured! He has learned how to take the velcro off of the most important piece, the strap that goes across the front of his knee. We have to distract him a lot to get him to forget about that fun little noise it makes!

We were astonished when we came home. I just stood him up just to see what he would do, and he stood by himself for like a second!! Then, he freaked out, panicked, and fell back into my arms. Still, it was a beautiful second for me and Nick. Our friends, The Chambers, were kind enough to let us borrow one of AnnaLea's old toys. It's a gym set that has two raised bars with a walking surface below. The object is for him to hold on to the bars and practice walking. We worked on it this morning for a little while, and he did really well. He knows what he's supposed to do, he's just trying to figure out how to pick those "animal boots" up. He'll get it!

In addition to getting the KAFOs, we also got a prescription for a gait trainer, which is sort of like a little walker. Dr. McCall had told us last time that we were a long way from one of those, but guess what, we saw the resident doctor who assisted Dr. McCall with the surgery, and he gave us a prescription. Sneaky, I know, but we want him to have a gait trainer sooner rather than later.

So, all is calm around here for a while. July and August will be very busy with doctors appointments, especially when we go to Shreveport and Atlanta during back to back weeks. We've become quite the travelers!

I'm going to update Reece's Events down below with all of the upcoming appointments pretty soon, so you can keep track of the Barhams!

Until then, I hope you have a great day!

With love,

Beth