CDD Up-date

We took Ainsley for her follow-up visit at the Center for Disabilities and Development today.  She was evaluated on April 10^th and they wanted to see her in one month to check her walking progress since she was a late walker (17 months).   

We met with her developmental doctor and physical therapy.  They said her upper body strength is strong—which is great news and she had gained weight since her last visit!  Both very positive!  This is Ainsley pointing to her Elmo bandaid this morning--she got her first skinned knee yesterday. 

Ainsley had a lot of fun exploring the PT room.  Her sweet physical therapist let her run all over!  This was the waiting area--lots of fun things to play with!

It was apparent to them that Ainsley still had a wide gait/stance when she walks and has low muscle tone in her hips, upper thighs and feet. They noticed that when she walks she bends her knees to compensate for her weak hips so she can keep moving forward. They thought her feet had actually gotten worse since they last saw her.  

Without shoes they noticed Ainsley’s feet turn in so much her anklebone almost touches the ground.

We didn’t get a clear answer on if she will grow out of this, or if she’ll be dealing with this for quite some time…guess we won't start worrying about that just yet.

The plan—inserts for her shoes that will be custom designed for Ainsley so she won’t walk on the insides of her feet and physical therapy once a week.  They said she was eager to explore, but always looked out for her safety and grabbed our hands when she wanted to try something new.

I was discouraged after hearing this news today because I feel horrible that Ainsley has been walking on the insides of her feet trying to compensate for her weak legs/hips and that it will take a good month to get the referral for the inserts and get them made.   The physical therapist was pointing out the large motor developmental things that other kids her age are doing and Ainsley wasn't doing many of them because she is just trying to battle walking.  She wasn't doing this to make us worry, but just to show us what we should be working toward....  

But then my calm and wise husband reminded me—we have so much to be thankful for…Ainsley is spunky, happy and full of life.  She is not in pain with this (from what we can tell) and she will tackle this new challenge like all of the other challenges she has had. 

After I had a diet coke and a milky way bar (this may have been a little bit of emotional eating—but I only ate half of the candy bar :)  I realized we are ready for this next challenge.  Watch out world, once Ainsley gets those shoe inserts she will probably be running like all of the other kids in her class and unstoppable!