This morning the Podiatrist, Dr. Shuman (love the name!), visits Ryan in our home. It’s just so wonderful that Dr. Shuman is willing to spare Ryan (and me, for that matter) the hassle of taking him to her office by her coming to him. This means a lot to us. It shows that Dr. Shuman is acting in the best interest of her patients and is motivated by providing the best care.
Ryan is getting measured for special athletic shoes and daytime ankle/foot braces (commonly called AFOs). The shoes offer the extra depth and stability to prevent the likelihood of rubbing, leading to skin breakdown. The braces will be cast specifically for Ryan’s anatomy and should (hopefully) help reverse his foot drop.
Both should go a long way in enhancing his daily therapies. Especially on the ActivCycle and RT-300 FES Cycle where repetition-of-motion puts him at risk of rubbing his skin raw. The two most worrisome areas are the toe knuckles and the achilles (just above the heel). Both areas continually give me problems and I watch them carefully. Beyond the cycling, I anticipate stretching him through his range-of-motion will benefit from the ability to keep his ankle in a neutral position. allowing me to focus more on the stretch.
Dr. Joanna Shuman
It’s going to be a crazy morning though. I had to reschedule his neuro-feedback (from tomorrow) because the IBRF technician is on vacation. This means that as Ryan is getting his foot/ankle measurements, I’ll be taking cranium measurements and attaching neuro-feedback wires to his head to prepare him for his session (10:00 AM). Hopefully the actual feedback won’t overlap with Dr. Shuman’s work, but it might.
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Update (9:20 AM): Dr. Shuman arrived early and took the measurements already! She will handle all the order paperwork and logistics, even just having the products mailed directly to our home. I like it when a doctor is on time, but LOVE it when things go even faster. She also told me she is now a faithful reader of ryansrally.org!
How about the doctor who has been(and still is I think) in charge of an area psychiatric facility for many years – Dr. Strange.
We have a Doctor who is an anesthesiologist at one of our local hospitals whose name is Dr. Sleeper.
My prayers continue for Ryan and his family.
Hilarious. Even better than Sue’s school librarian, Mrs. Book.
SHSP, NGA!
RKD, W<3U, YGT!
Ken ,One day Ryan will have that surgery and he’ll get through it with flying colors !!!
Ken, So glad one thing is taken care of and that Ryan will be more comfortable.Another great Dr. They all love Ryan (who wouldn’t?)Hope you get time to relax(haha) outside .. Give Ryan a hug from me Love Gail
Hello Ken,
I’m glad to know about Dr. Shuman, as there have been times I’ve wanted to find a good podiatrist. Thank you for sharing her info with us!! And yes, her willingness to come to your home in order to treat Ryan is a wonderful thing. Thank you, Dr. Shuman!!!
How is the neuro feedback going? How long does it take to reverse foot drop?
Well, I hope sometime today you guys can get outside for a bit. You deserve it after such a busy day — maybe tonight when it cools down.
Thinking of you, praying for continued healing for Ryan. From what I can see, he looks so good. I hope you will post more pictures soon 🙂
Love, hugs, ongoing prayers
Paula
We recently changed the configuration of the electrodes in neuro-fedback after 30 sessions. Ryan did seem to make improvements under the previous settings… but it’s just so slowly.
I’ve worked on Ryan’s foot drop for two years now. At first it was to slow the drop progression. This was a winless situation since Ryan was ALWAYS in spasm from neurological storming (the mind and body in life-threatening chaos) — like a board and in unnatural positions — with all his joints locked in hyperextension. It was so forceful that he was actually spraining his muscles. It was a terrible thing to witness once, let alone cycling in-and-out of it for eighteen hours a day for months. Then after this settled down I worked to stabilize it. Finally, about a year ago to reverse it. The gains can literally be measured in millimeters since that time. He has gravity working against him (I know you ladies can appreciate this!).
There is an operation that can cut, stretch, and rejoin the ligament/tendon, but it’s not worth the pain/expense unless Ryan comes back to us. I had his ankle joint x-rayed and know he maintains mobility (the bone hasn’t grown together), because we always did our best to keep it limber… well, as much as possible. Truth is, it might never return to neutral.
Thanks goes out to Dr. Shuman…….you are one of a kind 🙂 Bless you!!!!!
Who would believe — a podiatrist who makes house calls? 🙂 How great is this? !!
Will you please tell Dr. Shuman how much we appreciate all she does for Ryan (or we could send her a note)? Ryan is fortunate to have someone like this caring podiatrist.
Sounds like a very busy day. It was nice and cool outdoors when I was out about 5:45, but I don’t know about later. Patio would be nice after the rain of last night — everything looks so refreshed after the dry spell we have had.
Always thinking of you with love and praying always.