Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Crutches

Matthew went to school today. When I dropped him off, I noticed his p/t was there and had just finished up with someone. I chatted with her about Matthew and his cast and his trip. I asked about getting crutches. Her first response "any other kid, I would recommend crutches, Matthew is so fast and so adaptable, he can probably get away without them" But after some more conversation, she decided that he should get some for the exact same reason Sue said (thanks Sue, you were spot on!). She was worried that hobbling for 6 weeks could take its toll on his hips and toes. So off I went in search of pediatric crutches.

Turns out that is no easy feat. Let me re-phrase that, it is no easy feat for some one who was casted outside of the city. In order to get those crutches, I needed to have a letter from an orthopedic doctor from the hospital. She said I could go and see one of the doctors there and they would write up a letter for me. Had to laugh, with my luck I would see Matthew's surgeon who was not impressed with me taking Matthew to see Dr. Dobbs.

I went to plan B. Called all over the city. No one had pediatric crutches, except for one place. Yay! I picked them up and took them to the school so Matthew could try them out with the p/t there. No go. Even though they were rated for kids 4 feet and under (Matthew is 3 feet 9 inches) they were too small.

Back to the store I went. Turns out no one rents crutches that size, you buy them. So I went to trade them in for a bigger set. No go. The next size up was for 4 foot 6 inches and taller. They were way too big. Turns out the man at the store was another angel in disguise. He said he had an idea. He had a broken set of adult crutches in the back. He took off the leg extender from those and put them on Matthew's set. Perfect fit. No charge.

Gosh, this road we are on is hard, but we have found such wonderful helpful people along the way. We are so lucky.

As promised, here are some photos from the trip.

Matthew in the airport with the birds he bought, one for him, one for his brother.


No Mommy, I am to tired to get up.


In the exam room. Did I mention he got a stuffie EVERY time he went to a new area?


One last photo of his foot before casting.



New best friends waiting for a spot in the casting room.



New friends and new casts.


Resting at Haven House.



On the plane ride home with his new collection of stuffies thanks to the Shriner's.

6 comments:

Jennifer said...

Glad you encountering so many wonderful angels! Looks like Matthew was well taken care of. He also looks much older than the last time I saw him... wow!

FindingAnge said...

What a journey for something you would think easy! I love all the stuffies, that is so adorable.

Unknown said...

I didn't realize it would be so hard to find kids crutches either Joanne.

Matthew looks so happy with his new little friend.

Contributor said...

Wow!! It's amazing all the run-arounds you have to do, but you're driven, you've got a purpose, and I'm so glad it all worked out! There's always pediatric wheelchairs to consider too (not for school so much, but if you're going somewhere involving a lot of walking, etc.). And I'm not sure how things work in Canada, but in the US you could get a temporary handicap permit for your car to take advantage of the close parking spaces. :)

Now see, you got a great deal with that "shoe" on the cast -- we didn't have that with Grace, hence her problems with the cast starting to shred down there. So ignore all that I said -- Matthew will be fine! (and if Grace ever relapses again, I'll have to show our dr. this picture).

Seems like M. is adjusting VERY well so far -- maybe he too knows that this is all for his good and in the long-run he'll feel so much better. Stay strong!!

Sara said...

I love the picture of Mathew with his little friend and their casts. I'm glad they found each other.

Chikki said...

He looks pretty happy despite going on a long journey! And I love that he likes stuffed animals...I thought boys wouldn't be into them!