Physical Therapy

Well, we just got back from physical therapy! Kayden did good considering his appointment time was RIGHT at the same time he was supposed to eat. Luckily, the first visit the PT just went over some things to do at home with him and how to position him when he is doing his normal routine. So while she was going over all that we fed him. Then, she started doing things with him and he was NOT a fan. Unfortunately, he's just going to have to get over it. The PT was GREAT with him though so I wasn't as stressed and anxious as I thought I would be. And she looks a lot like me so I think that helped with him being comfortable with her.

She showed us some stretches to do at home with him and she did just a normal developmental assessment. He looks great considering his neck, which she even said that it's not as bad as "normal" torticolous patients. He apparently just leans his head to the side rather than leaning and dropping (or something like that... she started to confuse me when she was talking about this). She was impressed with how well he is already holding his head up and that he would turn his head to the opposite side of the torticolous and keep it there with some guidance. We told her some things we were already doing (thanks to a friend who is an occupational therapist) and said we were on the right track. We have already noticed improvement with just doing the things that our friend told us to do so now putting in the stretches should help even more.

We pretty much have to have him do tummy time any time he is awake for as long as he will tolerate it. We also have to prop his head up anytime he is sitting in his carseat, swing, bouncy seat, etc. Doing all of this will help him stretch the muscle that is affected and strengthens it. We will be going back weekly until she sees enough improvement to where he will just need some follow up appointments to make sure he is still on the right track.

One of my major concerns about having to take him to PT was the cost. With Nick working at Starbucks we weren't sure how well our insurance would be with covering something like physical therapy. Luckily, we got good news today though. This reminded me that GOD will ALWAYS provide. He knew that Kayden would need physical therapy, and while we would obviously find a way to pay for it no matter what, we found out that our insurance is GREAT (in the words of the PT). Apparently, most insurances cover 20 visits for physical therapy, 20 visits for speech therapy, and 20 visits for occupational therapy. However, our insurance covers unlimited visits until the age of 7. We have a $300 deductible which she said we would meet pretty quickly but she said since we have unlimited visits we won't have to worry about getting the most out of each visit, we can just take our time and go as many times as we would like and she doesn't have to feel rushed with trying to make sure he is "back to normal" within so many visits. I should have known God was in control of all this before Kayden was even born!

If you need any recommendations for physical or occupational therapy... I definitely recommend this place. It's just for pediatric patients, and the staff there is wonderful! Everyone was very nice and helpful and LOVED Kayden. Even the other children there were so sweet! This one little boy while we were in the waiting room kept coming up to Kayden and patting him on the stomach and kept giving a book to Kayden. He was such a sweet little boy and was so easy with him. While I was nervous about the germ aspect, I realized sometimes i'm just going to have to let go. I can't keep him in a bubble, and the mom later told us that her children love babies.. so I feel like we made this little boys day by letting him interact with Kayden. I'm looking forward to getting to know the staff and other patients better while they take care of our baby. On the Move pediatric therapy is where we are going.. and like I said they are great! I am so thankful that we finally know somewhat of the direction we are going and that we do not have to stress over the financial part. We can just focus on getting our baby boy to where he needs to be!

I'm looking forward to our next appointment next Thursday where she will do more stretches and exercises with him. Today was more of an evaluative appointment where she saw where he was so she could figure out what she needs to do next. Next appointment should be more of her doing different things with him to help stretch out his muscles. In the meantime, we will try out the stretches she gave us.

It's also amazing to see how God puts people in our lives (This is such a random blog post... but I just felt the need to add this). We have just recently been hanging out with a guy Nick knew from work and his wife who is an occupational therapist. She did an internship in a place where she only worked with infants which is how she knew about torticolous. She has graciously offered to come over to our house to do the stretches with Kayden if I have a hard time getting him to do them. She also gave us a lot of things to do before we went to physical therapy that has already helped. I just feel more comfortable knowing that if I don't think that I am doing something right or if I am having a hard time getting him to do the stretches that I have someone to call on to help me. I am so thankful for God's perfect timing, and his provisions!