6 1/2 weeks later

Just an update on his running.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpiIINujwFM 

5 weeks later

Just a progress report below. His dad is taking him for a follow-up visit next week. He was supposed to have one last week, but through no fault of his doctor, the people who schedule appointments at the annex near our house overbooked as usual and so we couldn’t get in to see the doctor.

I have every expectation he’ll be as good as new at some point. The time frame we were originally given was to expect it to be another 16-18 weeks after the cast came off before he was 100% back to normal.

We’re at a little over 5 weeks right now. Here’s a quick video I shot this evening of him running toward me. As you can see, his “run” is more like a “gallop” which is due to the stiffness in his leg still.

http://www.youtube.com/v/y97wrx7fDE0

3 week post cast-off

I have been videotaping him each week on Monday so this is a little outdated, but at 3 weeks after his cast came off, he is trying to run.

http://www.youtube.com/v/_evzMCoy5Fs

full day

I didn’t get a call to pick up a 4-year old all day long. The phone rang several times, mostly when I couldn’t readily answer it so I was sure each time it was pre-school calling to say he’d had enough for one day.

But they didn’t. I picked him up after I wrapped up a call for work this afternoon and when I got there, he was walking around on the playground, just like he’s done so many times. If I didn’t know better, it might have even been a typical, ordinary day.

He colored. He played with blocks. He ate lunch and took a nap and hugged all of his friends. But none of it happened in our house; it was down the street where I couldn’t see or hear him, but knew he was safe in someone else’s hands.

Can I stop holding my breath yet?

http://www.youtube.com/v/fNARrhU1hpI

1 week later

I’m multi-tasking (and if anyone wants to help me catch up on work, just let me know). One week after the cast came off, I think a video tells the story best as to his progress.

http://www.youtube.com/v/HPZg4Bj6XrU

He can stand upright for a few moments. He occasionally will take a few steps but prefers to crab crawl; not a problem as the walking is obviously going to happen at some point.

I do have a concern with his toes pointing out to the right when he does walk, so I called his doctor to get a referral for physical therapy (TCH has an annex with physical therapy 5 minutes from our house). They generally give the patients 2 weeks to work things out so it may be another week before I can get the orders written for physical therapy but we’ll wait and see how it goes.

Here’s my lesson of the week. Be patient. Learn to manage expectations (for the adults as well as children).

walking 1 handed

http://www.youtube.com/v/H36ZtIHwloI

who’s the boss?

http://www.youtube.com/v/ltGWNekV5XM

2 doctors

http://www.youtube.com/v/8eHreBaO_NE

waiting 4 Monday

http://www.youtube.com/v/7JinxldNyYw

yelling

We’ve taken to sitting on the front steps each morning until Connie arrives to take care of him. Some days this is only 5 minutes or so; other days it might be 20-30 minutes depending on how early he wakes.

After almost 7 weeks in the cast, there aren’t enough toys to really interest him that long, and since it’s beautiful weather this time of year in Houston it’s a good excuse to stay outside as long as possible.

We’ve been talking about really important stuff each day. I caught a bit of this morning’s talk on video and uploaded it.

http://www.youtube.com/v/eKnazMdIpkY

Ignore the empty pots behind him; that’s a story for another time