More New Shoes

So we've been working through Eli's feet challenges for a month now. He's been wearing UFO 'boots' at night to help stretch his calves/Achilles, but we have only had one night where the shoes have actually stayed on all night. Most others, they are off by 9PM, only to have me put them back on as Eli sleeps. And that is done in vain because they end up getting kicked off/taken off again before midnight. It's gotten really bad in the last week and I think we may get one hour each night at most.

A few weeks back we went to the orthotist to get fitted for custom boots. The thought was that if we go custom, they'll fit and feel better, so they'll stay on better. This last Monday the boots finally arrived. While they felt 'fine' to Eli, they still ended up off by 9PM, so lehr and I put them back on, but once again, they were on the floor in the morning. Ugh - defeat.

Yesterday afternoon I took Eli to his weekly PT session. We do exercises and stretches every day at home, but he goes in once a week to work with the therapist. I brought the new boots to see if there was anything else she could suggest. She put them on, just as we had, and talked to him, just as we had, about the reality of casting should his feet not show progress soon. (We've all reminded him that the shoes are vital to his foot stretching and showing progress.)

Before bed, Lehr and I talked to him separately about really working hard to not take his shoes off during the night. I've reminded him that it will be uncomfortable for a few nights, but once he gets past that 'hard' spot, it will get easier. He called me back in just before 9PM because he felt the boots sticking together (heavy Velcro), so i helped rubber band his pant legs over them. He fell asleep and they were still on at 10:30 when Lehr and I went to bed (for the first time in a looooong time). And let me tell you it was like Christmas morning when we woke up this morning and he still had both boots on. He was SOO excited (as were we!) and soo proud of himself. We talked about a few things that bothered him through the night and how we can hopefully fix that tonight. Then we celebrated with a big pancake, egg and bacon breakfast before school. Big time.

I know he did not get quality sleep last night as he was surely in and out of consciousness several times, but he made it.... So hopeful this is the start of success.