It has been a bit of a challenge for Thomas to regain strength after the casts were removed a month ago.
He has been working daily to regain strength... and, we expected that like it is with a baby learning to walk... it just takes time, and then suddenly they are off and running!
Well, not so much with Thomas.
He has had difficulty getting his toes to figure out what to do. Because his body was not formed the same as most when he was born, his muscles don't really know how to respond to a "normal gait" or walk. ( as well as the fact that he has been in casts for over 12 weeks!) They are very weak and have little or no memory. Yes, our muscles actually have a so called memory. Can you believe how amazing our bodies are? We are created with such amazing detail.
We have spent the past two weeks in Physical Therapy doing exercises to both strengthen Thomas' weak muscles but to also train his muscles how to work in a way they have never been required to move before.
Most of our work has centered on balance. A lot of walking requires little muscles in the feet and ankle that balance the entire weight of our body... Thomas has currently adapted to walking on his heals, without using the rest of his foot, and pushing forward with his hips. Even before the surgery, he walked with his heal first and then rolled onto the tip of his toes on the outside of his foot. He rarely used the ball of his foot. He had the movement down very well and did it fast enough that most would not even notice he walked a bit different. The odd wear on the heal of his shoes told the story!
Over the past couple of weeks we have been daily working on stretching and strength of his entire foot, ankle and hip and have focused on working to wake up those toe muscles!
I can say that I see improvement. We are not to the point of "normal" but we are improving daily.
For the first time this week... we saw Thomas running (ever so gingerly) to his sister in the park. Speed equals strength! The faster he moves the more strength and balance he is developing. Our hard work is paying off... what a joy to see our son enjoying his life... in all circumstances.
Especially those that are fun!
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