Ben's Fourth Physical Therapy Appointment...

We have been going to see an amazing Physical Therapist named Lisa for 3 months now. I love that every time I ask Ben if he wants to go and see Lisa he says "Mmm hmm...pizza!". Cracks me up! We are lucky enough that Lisa helped design the Thera-Tog brace that Ben has been using to treat his "in-toeing" caused by his Blounts Disease. It is a really unique brace that is fairly easy to use once you get the hang of it. I was really nervous at first though. We are using the Thera-Tog to "train his muscles, to train the bones"... So far it is working.

I'm gonna start from the beginning now~

In January 2010; we really started to notice that there was something unusual about Ben's legs. We knew they were bowed; but something else was off. I even thought for a short period of time that perhaps Ben was a 'Little Person'; and even asked my pediatrician. Every time I asked our doctor's about Ben's legs; they always said that he would grow out of it. Luckily, my mommy instinct told me something else was going on.

      X-Ray of Ben's Left Leg



By July 2010; I really was to the point where I wanted a second opinion. Ben's legs were drastically changing and I didn't want to wait until our next pediatric appointment. So I looked in the phone book under orthopedic specialists and started calling around. One doctor came highly recommended; so I made an appointment for the next available date which wasn't until OCTOBER!! Then I decided to call a different doctor; a Foot and Ankle doctor, and we got an appointment for the next week. We went to the appointment; they took x-rays; and it was obvious that Ben's left leg was much more "bowed" than his right. So after a few more appointments they fitted us for a "Wheaton" brace for his left leg; which was only to be used while he was sleeping. We did this every night for almost 3 months.



A picture of the entire Wheaton Brace









In the fall; I got a phone call to remind me of our appointment with the orthopedic specialist. I almost cancelled it. In my mind; we went to a doctor and we had a treatment... so what was the point? I am SO SO very glad that we went anyway!!! The best decision I made all year!!



This is the X-Ray taken at the Ortho Appt.
You can see the difference in his legs,
the left is much worse



Within a few hours, we saw the doctor, got x-rays, had a new diagnosis, and were set up for physical therapy. I was scared to death; but so relieved that there was actually something wrong... something we could fix. But I had no idea how long, and slow moving the process would be. Blounts Disease... so rare; so hard to find any information, and so sad that my little boy, not even 2 years old would have to face the next few years with different braces, and maybe even surgery..

This is a video of our 2nd P.T. appointment.... I am learning how to put on Ben's new Thera-Tog Brace





The first few days at home with the Thera-Tog Brace were a little difficult. Ben was amazing and patient; thank goodness. Every time I put on the brace I had to watch the video we took to make sure I was doing it right. Because Ben is still in diapers; we decided to wait until after his morning poop to put on the brace. So he wore it from about 9a.m.-12p.m.; then we took it off for nap time; and again after nap until right before bed. I have to say the first month was pretty easy. I was motivated and Ben didn't seem to mind the brace as much as he does now. Of course now he is 26 months old and he can say.."Help you, Brace Off?"... Breaks my heart every time.



Today at P.T. Lisa was really happy about Ben's progress. He has gone from literally tripping over his feet when walking to walking with his toes almost completely straight forward; with the brace on of course. Even without the brace though, his gate is really improving; he no longer swings his leg way out to get it in front of him while walking. We go and see the Orthopedic Specialist next Friday. We will find out then what the next step is. So far we have it narrowed down to either a KFO, or an AFO brace to be used in conjunction with the Thera-Tog. I'm really anxious to see the new x-rays... and very apprehensive on how Ben will deal with larger, clunkier braces.