Lara's medication-UPDATE

Lara had her 6mo evaluation at the developmental pediatrician's office Monday morning. I didn't give any details about it simply because I don't want the blog to be swamped with all that boring stuff. However, I have since decided to share a couple more tidbits because we have some good news. First, Lara has started taking some medication. She does not need this medication. We were given the option to try it out or not and see what happens. Because this is unnecessary, if there are ANY unpleasant side effects, no matter how mild, we will discontinue the meds. The medication is basically a muscle relaxant, and Lara takes a VERY low dosage. We didn't see much happen the first day. But the second day, we started noticing a difference. Unfortunately, the medication is not specific, so it tends to loosen up all the muscles in the body. Lara is performing all her usual tasks just fine, but there seems to be a little sloppiness in her legs, like they are slightly weak. However, she has much better control of her legs and is using much less support than usual to stand up and walk. We are still at the beginning of this, so we'll see how things continue to progress, but so far, I am quite pleased. The main reason I think it's beneficial for Lara to take this medication is because it's important to keep her muscles loosened up. If her muscles get and stay too tight, this could lead to unpleasant problems down the road that will require surgery. SO, I am hoping this medication works out because it will be a huge prevention to that, along with daily exercises and therapy. It definitely has nothing to do with the desire for my child to start walking. I want a happy and healthy baby, walking or no.

Lara had a hip x-ray done. This is standard, because children with CP tend to have hip problems and it is necessary to catch any issues before they turn into hip dysplasia. So she will have periodic x-rays done. Her results showed that her hips are just fine so far. That's one of my biggest concerns, so I was relieved to hear the results.

Update: Well, I wrote too soon. Turns out the medication was giving Lara hives. They weren't too bad, and subsided very quickly, but we've stopped the medicine. We may try again in a few days.

Many people have been asking about Lara's braces, also. The more she wears them, the more you can see an improvement in her balance and walking. She has adjusted to them just fine, and even tries to put them on herself.