Annie is Standing Again!

At Annie's last orthopedist appointment we got the green light for Annie to start standing again.  It has been a little over a year since she has been in her stander. Late last winter just over a year ago, Annie out-grew her AFOs (which she MUST wear in order to stand).  She was getting bad pressure sores because of her tight ankle, so she stopped standing.  Then we moved, and the first time we saw the new orthopedist it was confirmed that Annie DID desperately need her heel cord lengthened.  So we waited to have her healed from that surgery (which was only in December 2009 due to other surgeries and complications).  She also had knee surgery, so we've also had to wait for her knee to heal before she could start standing again.  But now she's back in it!

I obviously had to do lots of adjusting since she had grown so much taller in the last year--she's now 53".  I expected her to scream and yell and cry immediately, but she actually tolerated it extremely well!  I put her in, made all the adjustments and she was still doing fine after 15 minutes, so I grabbed the camera since I was so impressed!  I guess those last couple minutes it took me to snap the pictures was a little too long--she's not looking too happy in the pictures--but I'm so proud of her for being such a trooper in her stander today!  Annie has also been starting to stand every day at school and is already doing 25-30 minutes pretty consistently!  She's never done so well in her stander!  Maybe all the surgeries have helped somehow!  Way to go, Annie! 

You might be wondering why Annie needs to stand in a stander, especially when she will never be capable of walking or standing on her own.... Well, let me give you some reasons why non-ambulatory children can benefit from a standing program. 

• Strengthens trunk and lower extremities
• Allows for stretching and prevention of contractures
• Improves circulation
• Improves respiratory function--decreases risk of upper respiratory infections and pneumonia
• Improves bowel and bladder function
• Facilitates skeletal development--helps to keep joints strong
• Improves bone density--decreases risk for fractures
• Helps increase the depth of the acetabulum for hip joint development
• Normalizes postural tone
• Decreases risk of skin breakdown--allows for a different positional change
• Provides a new visual perspective of the environment
• Allows non-ambulatory children to interact with their peers on a more even level