After reading a fellow mommy blog earlier today, I was reminded of what shoe shopping used to look like for us a few years back. Due to Ryan's disease, he wore AFO's or (Ankle Foot Orthotics) on his feet from the time he was 2 years old. The purpose of these for Ryan was to try and keep his foot in the correct position. Since Ryan will never stand or walk, the disease will turn his feet inward. It's a natural progression of his disease. We tried several different clinics over the years and we never could get AFO's to fit him properly without leaving red marks on his feet or causing a great amount of discomfort. In the end, about 5 years ago we decided to give up the AFO's for good. Ryan is now at an age where he wants to pick out his own shoes and not special orthotic shoes to go over his AFO's! In the above photo, we had just purchased him a new pair of special shoes. I can't even remember what they were called now. But, it was about that same time that we finally gave up on his AFO's. When you have a child who does not walk, shoe shopping takes on whole new meaning. I'm not looking for shoes that my child can jump in or feel most comfortable in for a certain sport or activity. I just want to be able to get the shoe onto his foot without causing him pain! And Ryan wants whatever shoe looks coolest to him at the moment. Currently, he is pretty fond of his Lebron James shoes! But, we always buy shoes at least 2 sizes too big. This is because he has absolutely no control over the muscles in his feet or toes. So, when we put a shoe on him, his toes bend up underneath him. He cries out in pain nearly every morning that we go to put his shoes on him as usually the toes on his left foot get bent up and I have to reach in through the shoe laces, find his big toe and straighten it out. Not an easy task, believe me!! I always feel a bit of sadness when he has outgrown a particular shoe and I look at it and it still looks brand new. Shoes that never made it to the ground. But only rested on the footrest of Ryan's wheelchair.
 |
| Ryan has teeny tiny feet. Here we are comparing his feet to little sisters (Ryan age 10 and Jorie age 4) |
Hey Lora, just reading this now. Casey still wears his AFOs (he loves his!) Several years ago our orthotist made Casey some inserts for his sneakers that just held down his toes so that we could slip them on without worrying about bending his toes back or underneath. Maybe Ryan would be okay with something like that? It could even go over the sock so it wouldn't have to touch his skin. It was kind of like a flat insert with soft material and velcro over the toes.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sue! Definitely something to look into. However, Ryan has gone so long now without anything other than shoes....that I have a feeling he will not like the idea too well. But, maybe if he understands that it will actually help him, he will be more open to it?
ReplyDelete