Physical Therapy Evaluation

Anxiously waiting for therapy! He is always smiling...

Jason and I took Declan to Scottish Rite in Atlanta today for his physical therapy evaluation. We were right...mild to moderate torticollis was the diagnosis. We spent almost 2 hours with a physical therapist answering questions as she began physical therapy on Declan, followed by training us on how to do his stretches. Declan was an absolute angel and LOVED therapy. The stretches hurt him a bit, but he loved the attention and thought he was big stuff getting to "play" with all of the toys.

The physical therapist could not come out and say it, but it was evident that she was concerned that the doctor did not diagnose Declan earlier. Most children with toricollis are diagnosed between 2 and 3 months of age. A little frustrating for us, but I will have to make the decision on rather to switch pediatricians later. Our main focus now is Declan and "stretching" the nerves and muscles in his neck and getting him "better." We will have to take him to physical therapy once a week for an hour and do exercises with him 3-4 times daily (which means my sister will have to help too). It was also recommended that we take Declan to see a pediatric optometrist He is having difficulty tracking with his left eye and that is also why it is drooping. I will be contacting them this week and hopefully they will be able to get him in to see someone soon.

The good news is...ALL of this is treatable and fixable with physical therapy... not so sure with the eye...maybe a patch for our little pirate? :-) We will see! No pun intended :-) We have no idea how long he will have to have therapy either. That will be based on the progress he is making.

When leaving our appointment today, we passed a beautiful little girl (who obviously has been going through chemo) walking out of the hospital deli on crutches with her mom. All Jason and I could do was hug each other and Declan, count our blessings, and thank God for our perfectly healthy little boy. A little PT is nothing compared to what so many other parents have to deal with and go through with their children. God only gives you what you can handle and He knows we can handle this.

Thank you for all of your kind words, thoughts, prayers and support. We are lucky to have such a wonderful family and friends.