Casting

Sky had the casting done today for her braces. It was fast and easy and Tony (who is the guy who will work with us and the Doc's till she is out of them) is so nice and made sky feel right at ease.


Here she is getting these big stockings put over her legs and picking out what colors and design she wants on her braces. (pink padding, red velcro and pastel hearts over the velcro so girly I love it)
Once the socks are on he socked the casting material in water and then wrapped it around her leg and foot

Then he had to push her foot all the way down so it would be at a 90' angel. It only took about 2 min for it to harden, then it was cut off (that's what the yellow thing is for, that's the protector so he wouldn't cut her)
She was a trooper and even when it started to hurt a bit she distracted herself by looking at all the color swatches again. It will take a week or 2 to get the braces back, and she finally has her first Physical therapy appointment (may 14th) so hopefully we will have the braces by then too and get started on our 6 month journey.

O by the way I got to see what the braces will look like. They will go pretty far up almost to her knee and all the way under her foot. They have hinges on the sides so her foot can go past a 90' angel but it has a stopper so she cant go on her toes. He said the bad thing about them is the plastic will click a little so he recommends she doesn't play hide and seek hehehe.

No molds just yet.

The place doing the braces is amazing. They are so nice and really want Skyla and Me happy. They checked her out today did some measuring, watched her walk, and showed her how they do the molds. She is so excited to have her legs put in play dough (that's what they told her it was hehe). She loves them and cant wait to go back.

They tried really hard to keep me happy too. They took all our info and said they are now going to call Skys orthopedic doc to see what exactly he wants for her and for how long. They are also getting a hold of our insurance and letting them know these are being deemed medically necessary (because she is weakening the muscles) and getting authorization for them so we dont have to pay a dime for them.

So we just wait now. They are supposed to call by next week to set up the apt for the molds. O and she might be able to get pink ones too (sky was very happy when she heard that)

Skyla's Blog

I created this blog so I could have a special place to record all the events that will take place as Sky goes through the process of learning to walk on flat feet. Hopefully someday when we are all done I can print this blog out and keep it in her baby book for her.

Sky is a toe walker!

Almost all kids walk on their toe's at one point or another, but grow out of it by the time they are 2 years of age. Skyla is almost 5. Also most kids who still walk on their toes after the age of 2 ether have Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, or are autistic. Sky has none of these. She is what they call a Idiopathic toe walker (no cause or reason for toe walking). We now know she does it because her heal cords are super tight (because she never walked flat), its a habit now, and she possibly has a short akeilies tendon and heal cords.

She went in for her kindergarten check up and I brought the toe walking up to her Doc again (this is something we have been watching since she was 2). The doc is now concerned because she should have out grown this and is now weakening her calf muscles. The doc sent us to a Pediatric orthopedic doc at the children's hospital. He was so nice and Sky loved him, which is good cause she is going to see allot of him hehehe.

He checked her all out and had her walk for about 20 minutes before he told me what he found with her. He then gave me our options, fist off we are going to try physical therapy with MAFO leg braces. Sky will go 2x's a week for 6 weeks for physical therapy and will have to wear her leg braces day and night for at least 6 weeks, after that she might just have to wear them during the day, but she will have them for about 6months.

Saying I'm not looking forward to this is a HUGE understatement. She is going to be stretched out in ways she has never been and all I can think of is the pain it will cause her. I know its for the best and has to be done but I cant help feeling bad. We are going to talk about what we can use to help the pain when we go for our first PT apt. The doc did suggest one thing we could try in a few weeks but me and Mick have turned it down for Sky's sake. Botox....... yep that's right botox shots in her legs. I looked it up on the Internet and NO WAY!! to many risk and she is to sensitive to things to even try it.

I have made a pretty cool goal prize for her though. Since she walks on her toes all her shoes curve up at the toe. Even her cute flat converse shoes curve up from her walking like that. It drives me crazy not to mention she wears out the toe and cracks the sole before the shoe is even old or worn. She loves shoes and has a pair in mind she really wants. Mick and I have told her no on these because they are a little pricey, but seeing the things she will have to go through I think we can splurge this one time.


Hence the name of the blog......Twinkle Toe shoes by skechers!

This is the pair she has picked out. Pretty cute huh?
I cant wait to buy these for her, because they are super cute, but most of all it will mean she is all done with the toe walking and in the clear.

Sky goes tomorrow (Thur) to have the molds of her legs done so they can make her braces. I'll make sure to post pics of that. I'm sure its going to be pretty interesting.