On Wednesday, Gwendolyn had her initial Spinal Defects Clinic visit.
It's basically a one-stop shop of consultations with folks that will be assisting Gwen through her journey moving forward. We basically arrived and were shown to a room and then a parade of specialists and doctors began to come in and out to examine her. Once they finished, they individually spoke with us about where she is currently and what that might mean for the future.
It's basically a one-stop shop of consultations with folks that will be assisting Gwen through her journey moving forward. We basically arrived and were shown to a room and then a parade of specialists and doctors began to come in and out to examine her. Once they finished, they individually spoke with us about where she is currently and what that might mean for the future.
The list of folks we met with yesterday on our initial clinic visit was exhausting. Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Social Work, Rehabilitation, Spinal Defects, Urology, Neurology and on, and on, and on, it went. We were told at least that moving forward the visits will become a bit more streamlined because now there's been a baseline formed by these individuals in terms of Gwen's case.
There was a LOT to consume as you can imagine. And really, in the end, there isn't a whole lot for us to report. The long and short of it is that Gwendolyn is obviously only six months old and so she's not really using her leg muscles to their maximum potential just like any other infant. As a result, it will be some time before we really start to know what her future will hold. We were told that when she turns two we'll begin to discover her mobility range. Still, we won't know specifics about walking or anything else until probably age four or five.
And even then we were told that sometimes kids who begin walking end up in wheelchairs as their bodies mature because their upper half just becomes too heavy. The one thing we were reminded of is that while she'll never regain the muscle movement that she lost as a result of her circumstances, the focus will be on strengthening the muscles she has that are working. And again, we've got a lot of time between now and when she'll begin the process of trying to take those muscles and walk, be it with or without assistance.
Mom and Dad are going to continue to be positive and assist our beautiful girl in any way we can. Speaking of which, the P.T. suggested several new exercises for Gwen that we are going to be more diligent about incorporating into her every day routine... even though we know she won't be a big fan of it.
So all in all, it could be worse and we know that our little Gwenner is a fighter so we'll just have to be patient and let her continue down the path that God has set in place for her.
Thanks again to all those that continually offer their well-wishes to our family. You are our strength and help us continue to saunter on though all this uncertainty!
We hope you and yours enjoy a splendid Easter this weekend! (Rumor has it the girls are going to meet good ol' Peter Cottontail himself this weekend so I'm sure there will be a picture or two of that to share with you all!)
There was a LOT to consume as you can imagine. And really, in the end, there isn't a whole lot for us to report. The long and short of it is that Gwendolyn is obviously only six months old and so she's not really using her leg muscles to their maximum potential just like any other infant. As a result, it will be some time before we really start to know what her future will hold. We were told that when she turns two we'll begin to discover her mobility range. Still, we won't know specifics about walking or anything else until probably age four or five.
And even then we were told that sometimes kids who begin walking end up in wheelchairs as their bodies mature because their upper half just becomes too heavy. The one thing we were reminded of is that while she'll never regain the muscle movement that she lost as a result of her circumstances, the focus will be on strengthening the muscles she has that are working. And again, we've got a lot of time between now and when she'll begin the process of trying to take those muscles and walk, be it with or without assistance.
Mom and Dad are going to continue to be positive and assist our beautiful girl in any way we can. Speaking of which, the P.T. suggested several new exercises for Gwen that we are going to be more diligent about incorporating into her every day routine... even though we know she won't be a big fan of it.
So all in all, it could be worse and we know that our little Gwenner is a fighter so we'll just have to be patient and let her continue down the path that God has set in place for her.
Thanks again to all those that continually offer their well-wishes to our family. You are our strength and help us continue to saunter on though all this uncertainty!
We hope you and yours enjoy a splendid Easter this weekend! (Rumor has it the girls are going to meet good ol' Peter Cottontail himself this weekend so I'm sure there will be a picture or two of that to share with you all!)
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