Still debating!

It's so tough!

I'm sorry for not updating you earlier! My mind keeps going from one option to the other:

- It's safer to brace for an extra year, then I wouldn't have to worry about a thing! But that's selfish isn't it? I NEED to make our decision in JONAS'S BEST INTEREST, not mine.

- Bracing can be so tough with the boots and bar for ex. and I really wouldn't want any child bracing longer than necessary for them. Jonas has easily accepted the Cunningham brace, within 2 minutes of having it on, he seemed to already have forgotten it was there. However, does it make it right to keep bracing after being told that he doesn't need to anymore?

I decided to ask around what other people's opinions were:

- friends and family are not necessarily well-versed in the subject, but seeing me worry about it, most seemed to "agree" that an extra brace would be/feel safer.

- the physio we see privately, Claire, is mostly interested in finding ways to strengthen Jonas's leg and she feels that maybe we would see even better results if Jonas didn't have his brace anymore as the strap running just above his knee has left a thinner imprint on his thigh. She won't comment on whether or not we should keep bracing, but does agree that his foot flexibility and mobility are both excellent.

Running laps in the kitchen!

- following one of Claire's suggestion, I met with a local orthotist. He'd never seen our brace and initially thought it was just a removable cast. I explained to him how it works and showed it to him on Jonas. He then watched Jonas walk and run with his shoes on, then barefoot and was really impressed at the way he seems to use both his CF and his non-CF equally, actually preferring to use his clubfoot when climbing stairs up. He then had a good feel of his bone alignment and checked his flexibility intently. I got a shock when he concluded:

"There's absolutely no sign of talipes left in his foot, his flexibility is close to his non-CF's and that's really amazing for a CF. The shape of his foot is also very similar to his non-CF. I can't help with the decision of bracing or not. However, I wouldn't have any worry whatsoever about him relapsing. If you did want an extra brace, I don't see the point of getting an over-the-knee one again, you could get a short one focussed on stretching the Achilles tendon, but as I say, I wouldn't think it's necessary."

- I booked an appointment with an osteopath next week for yet another opinion and will have a Skype appointment with Jerald soon to (hopefully) come to a final decision.

The face that makes it all worthwhile