Madi's New RGOs

(Posting from my phone so please excuse the errors)

Madi has always had HKFOs (leg braces that go up above her hips) but she needed more stability and durability so we decided to go try RGOs (reciprocating gate orthotics).   They are bigger and bulkier, but wouldn't buckle or strain as she continues to grow.  We thought it may take her a while to adjust to them, but boy were we wrong!!  As soon as she got in them, she proudly took off.  She is so crazy strong and adaptable, not to mention determined.  We were all pretty thrilled!  She is getting some red marks so we are headed back to Hangar for adjustments, but overall we think it will be a great change for her.  Here are some photos and videos of her new RGOs.  

How Deena creatively passes the time...

And of course, chocolate for everyone helps too (It ended up being an almost 3 hour appointment!  The kiddos did great but oh man it wasn't fun)...

Take That Spina Bifida.... Updated Videos of Madi Walking in her HKFOs

Here are some updated videos of Madi walking in her HKFOs.  She has such a huge drive and determination, she amazes me every day!!  She is so strong and beautiful, inside and out, and is truly such a blessing.

Madi has a higher lesion of spina bifida, about an L2, and the doctors said she would never walk.  She is working really hard on proving them wrong! 

Madi has been expressing a desire to walk "all by herself" so Tami, her physical therapist, brought her this walker because it has a seat.  The seat prevents her from falling if she slips or loses balance.  For a while she wanted nothing to do with it, but the other day, she wanted in it and just took off.... literally!  She is a rock star!

 

New Videos of Madi Walking

I just realized I never updated any videos, nor had I started including Ramya's walking videos.  I will start posting those below this post.  Look for the posts at the bottom in red :)

I just thought I'd share a few new videos of Madi walking.  She got her new HKFOs not too long ago, and she's adjusting quite well.  She has less stability in them, but also more movement.  She is able to kick her legs out a lot better now.  She got her first pair of HKFOs at about 22 months, but outgrew those pretty quickly!

This video was taken last week.  You can tell when she started getting tired because she started jumping.  Jumping in her HKFOs is one of her favorite things to do, though! 



This video is from today.  You can tell she has a lot more energy.  Towards the end she starts getting bored of her walker and tired, so we switched her to her shopping cart (which is the last video), which she had fun with.  The goal is to keep her up standing and practicing, but not to the point she gets frustrated and doesn't want to be up.  We change up her activities pretty often to keep her happy and engaged.



... and with her cart...



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Here's a video of Madi walking at 6 years old, using HKFOs and arm cruches....

http://www.aworthyjourney.com/2015/04/an-updated-video-of-madi-walking-in-her.html


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Ramya walking with her HKFOs and walker at 8 years old...

http://www.aworthyjourney.com/2015/04/a-video-of-ramya-walking.html