Not sure how “magical” it is, but I think mom’s new brace will work well for her. We picked it up yesterday and she wore it for a couple of hours, mostly just sitting with it on but she did do a couple of transfers while wearing it. She didn’t complain of any soreness or of it being too tight. I know that initially it is tight so that the foam inside can mold to her foot/ankle.
She had her first therapy session with it today and did great. She was doing more side to side stepping and the therapist said that she was actually surprised at how well mom did. It can be a complicated move but she did great. She did some walking with it and the therapist did very little guiding for her. I think mom is feeling a little more confident and she is very optimistic that this brace is going to make a huge difference.
We had a new caregiver today who will be filling in temporarily once a week (long story). It started off a little shaky but she ended up being great. She watched mom during her PT session and was there with the wheelchair when mom needed a break. After the therapist left, I overheard the caregiver telling mom how great she did and that she knows she will be walking again. She may have to use the walker or cane, but it looks like there will be no problem in her being able to do that herself. It’s quite reassuring considering the caregiver’s aunt had a stroke and she started out with similar deficiencies as mom did. She went through the list and told us of all the things that had been affected. She went on to say that it took her three years, but she regained it all. She was a lot younger than mom when she had the stroke so I can’t say that mom will recover to the extent that this lady’s aunt did, but I do think she’ll get far enough that she will be able to move more independently. It was really nice to see someone who just met her be so positive and encouraging.
We’ll give this a few more days to see how she’s feeling with the brace but I am so happy that she finally has it! I can’t wait to see leaps in her progress now.