Walking is a Gift

Ok so lets start from the beginning...Around Thanksgiving I noticed that Nathaniel was limping pretty significantly when he was barefooted (in the morning and in the evening after bath) and he complained of his left foot hurting. The pain and limp got better when I put his daytime braces on but I could still see a difference in his gate. This lasted for 4 or 5 days then he was all better. Normal (for him) in and out of braces. So while I was initially concerned I figured he had twisted his ankle or had a fall that just bruised the foot. His range of motion during stretching didn't change and he could only tell me the bottom of his foot hurt. I decided to give him a break from the nighttime braces since I noticed the issue was worse first thing in the morning. A few weeks later right after Christmas he woke up "lame" again. Same thing left foot really hurt and he had a hard time walking barefoot. However, once the daytime braces were on he said the foot felt better and the limp was still there but much less noticeable. I decided at this point it must not be a nighttime brace issue since he hadn't been wearing them the last month but the issue presented itself again. It lasted for another 4 or 5 days then got better again. I was puzzled but because he didn't loose any range of motion when stretching and it once again disappeared after a few days. I decided to work him back into the nighttime braces and see if it happened again. Well he woke up Saturday morning in a fair amount of pain saying the left foot hurt again and he needed me to put on his daytime braces so he could walk. I watched him limp and struggle over the weekend and contacted our orthopedic doc on Monday morning by email. She called me and we discussed what was happening. She seemed puzzled and wanted to see him but said it didn't sound like anything was broken so we could wait until next week. On Wednesday morning Nathaniel got out of bed and was unable to walk down our hallway. He was in tears crying saying that both feet really hurt and he couldn't walk at all. He asked that we get his daytime braces on so the pain would go away. I quickly got him dressed and he said it was much better. He could walk in the braces but with an obvious limp and he said the pain was much less. I emailed our orthopedic doc and she called me to move our appointment up. We headed to Baltimore yesterday afternoon.

Good News: There are no broken bones
Bad News: The doctors (a whole team of them looked at Nathaniel) don't really know what is going on. The 2 most likely things are muscle spasms (common with Cerebral Palsy) and/or muscle/ligament tightness in the feet that hurt during growth spurts. We have to continue to document the "episodes" and go back in 3 months for another evaluation.

Nathaniel was able to walk better when he got out of bed this morning but still was quick to ask for his braces and shoes which means he is hurting. Going through the last few months with Nathaniel has been difficult as I watch him struggle to walk. This reminds me that walking truly is a gift not to be taken for granted. I can only hope and pray that the pain goes away soon for our little boy and maybe with some time, more information and lots of prayers we will be able to figure out what exactly is going on. Extra prayers for our sweet boy from our family and friends are greatly appreciated.