6 Months Post Surgery

Today marks 6 months since Alex had his hip reconstruction/muscle lengthening surgery!

Here's what's been going on.

Alex returned to school one month after having surgery but was on full restrictions for the first two weeks. On March 8th, he gained clearance to begin physical therapy. At this time he could start bearing weight on his legs, riding his bike and resuming normal daily activities. He was supposed to return to Horseback riding at this time as well, but it seemed to soon, so Eric and I decided it would be best to wait another 8 weeks for the next session to begin.

He did about six weeks of Physical Therapy twice a week before one of his therapists suggested the Lokomat. The Lokomat is a European Machine used to help children and adults needing physical therapy. They are strapped and harnessed in and once the machine is turned on, they walk on a treadmill. Everything is controlled by the therapist (How much weight he bears and how fast he walks) There was a year long wait list, but because Alex had surgery so recently he was bumped to the top of the list. I had never even heard of such machine before, but both of his physical therapists thought he would like it and benefit from it so I said OK.

He started the machine on June 5th. At first, I think he was mesmerized by the machine and what it was making his body do. The first session was only an evaluation, but the second session he walked 27 minutes and 1.382 steps! He was pretty tired as expected. The goal was to get to 45 minutes each session with increased speed. His final walking session which was on Tuesday, he walked 45 min, 2,744     steps and a total of  32,652 steps throughout his 8 week session!!!! The most steps he walked in a session was 2,957!!

He never once complained. He would jam to music or watch a movie. Here are a few pictures from his workouts.

Today was his final evaluation day. I do not have the final report, but Anne, his PT will go over it with me when we return next month. He definitely made strides and is doing really well!

Brother being goofy

Miss Anne his PT for Lokomat.

We now have a month off from Therapy while we await his therapists return from a surgery she had to have. The break will be nice for the last month of summer.

Three months from today, he will go in and have the plate and screws removed in his leg/hip. It will just be an outpatient surgery, so nothing too invasive.

I am very happy with how all of this has gone for him. The whole team of people (and there have been a lot) from the Doctors to the Nurses to the PT's and his Teachers and our family and friends have been wonderful in his recovery!