We now have graduated from the gait trainer to a real walker. Ella’s had the walker (on loan from EI) for about a week. She does well with it although she can’t manage on her own with it. Her balance is not good enough and she would just topple over. Also, she doesn’t hold on with her left hand so we end up bending over her and keeping her left hand on the handle. She also leans into the left and at times ends up kind of on the outside of the walker. This makes it still a cumbersome ordeal and usually it’s easier to just bend over her, not worry about equipment and lead her with two hands. Either way, with or without the walker it’s a killer on the back. Still, when I think that 6 months ago she just learned to put one foot in front of the other, it is impressive and we are thrilled that she is as steady as she is.
We were at the orthopedist this past wednesday. There was good news: her scoliosis has gotten better. The curvature in her spine went from 15 degrees to 13 (I think 7-8 is considered in the normal range). The bad news was that the x-ray of her hip joints showed a worsening situation. Apparently her hip joints are not lining up right so she’ll have to sleep with a wedge between her legs to push them in. We ordered the wedge which should arrive to NOPCO in about 2 weeks. We also meet with physical therapists at the Children’s hospital equipment clinic. They helped us order a home walker for Ella which will be hers (as opposed to a loaned one). I really waivered there between a model with hip guides and one without. The one that had that option was a bit more clunky and it seems that we should try to keep the heavy machinery down to a minimum. The other reason I decided against that walker was that I’m not sure she’ll need the hip supports in 3-4 months which is probably how long it will take to get the thing approved by our insurance(s). Judging from the struggle to get the gait trainer, she’ll be riding a bike before the walker gets approved. We were able to get a gait trainer on loan from a friend long before we got the insurance approval and in the end I just told them to forget it. Hopefully, although I can’t imagine why, this will go faster.