Ben had a follow-up appointment today with the Neurologist who originally diagnosed his CP. We haven't seen him since that day just over 6 months ago now.
The appointment went well. He examined Ben, got him to play with some toys and asked us tons of questions about his development. He was quite pleased with his progress and told us that Ben's legs (hamstrings, calves, etc.) should not get any tighter now. He said that the tightness maxes out at about 18 months. I faintly remember hearing that before, but I had totally forgotten. To me, that was very good news.
He doesn't see any surgeries in Ben's near future. But he said we would revisit that topic in 6 months when he sees Ben again. He thought that eventually Ben may need heel-cord lengthening surgery and maybe even Dorsal Rhizotomy. But it was simply to early to tell.
So, all in all, it was a good appointment. No big news...which these days, I take as a good thing.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
wow. i never heard that about tightness maxing out at 18 months. Drake is definitely tighter than he was even a couple months ago. His therapists say it's because he's using his legs more, so the muscles get tighter --- like they tighten after you go running or use them more. They also told me that he is in a growth spurt and the muscles can tighten during growth as well, as the muscles grow after the bone. We are stretching him twice a day -- he hates it, but i know it will help in the long run.
ReplyDeleteKelly - I think he more likely meant "the underlying tightness" won't get any worse. I know that Ben does get tighter when he works really hard or during a growth spurt. But he's always "stretchable" and can get full range of motion when stretched. Does that make any sense?
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised to hear the neuro mention that tightness maxes out at 18 months. I've not heard such a thing. I have a four year old who is spastic quad cp and his tone is constantly changing with age. Weird.
ReplyDelete