Maggie's left foot and leg have remained very sensitive since removing her cast. She holds her leg up in the air, careful to not allow it to touch anything. Washing it in the tub causes her great distress, and the worst part of her morning is putting her sock on. During both of those things, she cries claiming that it hurts. She will not attempt to walk without her AFO, although once it is on, she stomps around the house in it with fervor. I'm not sure if the brace is just reassuring and comforting to her. I think it is possible that it helps her feel more protected. Until tonight, she had never attempted walking without it. In fact, she had insisted that she could not.
However, it seems that she is highly motivated by the idea of wearing two flip flops. We suggested the idea to her, and she decided to give it a try.
She started by holding Tim's hands as she carefully took steps without a brace. Then she decided that she wanted to try it with her walker. She made a loop around the inside of our house and never once complained of pain!
She was so excited and proud of her TWO flip flops. She wants to wear them both to school tomorrow and show her teacher what she can do. We are excited about having her practice walking without her brace as much as we can, but we are also a little apprehensive about what her limitations will be until she gets stronger. We were explaining to her that she would still need to wear her AFO most of the time at school, but she really didn't want to hear any of that. She is ready to leave it behind and make a permanent switch to two flip flops. It will be interesting to see if she is still as protective of her leg.
Just this afternoon, I was wondering if maybe there was something else we needed to be doing to help her build strength in her leg. God heard me and put the desire in Maggie to do more. I'm not sure why I even used the word limitation--every time I think that she is going to have some, she proves me wrong. And I am so glad she does!
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