new AFOs

Hello again – it’s been awhile since I’ve written – I managed to get sick then a relapse and then a month of regaining lost ground. I’m picking up speed now on the recovery so I’m finally able to get out of bed and sit at the computer again. I know some of you will remember the last time I got sick I said I’d never do that again but hey… you can’t always control which toddler is going to snot on you right?

For the past year I’ve had one metal AFO attached to my shoe on the right side and one plastic moulded AFO on my left side. The left one is so incredibly painful I just quit wearing them. The constant irritation of it touching my skin… plus my leg swelling beyond the capacity of the AFO – what a disaster that was and they are supposed to be the better ones. SO being the pushy “I want what I want” type of person when I’m sick – we bought a nice pair of Nike running shoes and had them put the METAL AFOs in them. I picked them up yesterday and I can walk without the cane.

Let me repeat that so you all get the big picture – I’ve been bedridden for a month – barely able to walk to my appt to get the AFOs – I put my new spiffy black and silver AFOs tennis shoes on and I walk – by myself – no cane – no help – not banging off walls – up and down the hallway. 😀

Just to be sure I put the old ones back on and promptly fell on the floor skinning up my knee which is a lovely shade of purple today. The old fashioned metal ones may seem more obvious but you cannot even see the metal braces unless I’m wearing shorts or a skirt. I think it’s a lot less obvious than hitting the dirt or wobbling and banging into walls. I like the metal ones better and I think I might even be able to drive in them. From a financial perspective they are a better investment as it’s unlikely I will outgrow them and when these shoes get too worn out they can transfer the metal ones to a new pair of shoes and I don’t have to re-buy the whole kit and kaboodle again. They are cheaper than the plastic ones too – not by much they still charge an arm leg for a few pieces of metal – but with decent care they should last me years and can be adjusted if I get better or worse. It’s a better investment in my opinion.

Just an FYI if any of you are struggling with AFOs. The Nike’s are 3/4 height (up to my ankles) – they have a solid heel and big treads for a solid base when planting my foot. You can use any shoe with a solid base and they had some catalogs in the Hangar office showing some really nice dress up shoes that can have AFOs in them. Who would have thought? And sandals too!

Hope everyone has been well – I have a lot of reading to catch up on I see and lots of new people! It’s good to be back among the vertical ya’ll…

Julie 🙂