Now that I’ve seen the surgeon and the second round of Botox was roughly a month ago it was time to revisit the PM&R. Mind you I did see him since the Botox but that wasn’t a follow up visit so it doesn’t really count.
I had some questions for him. Such as:
Do you think we’ll do Botox again?
What are your thoughts on the AFO and night splinting?
Who exactly is in the driver’s seat now?
How much butt do I have to build before I can cut down on the squats?
I really wanted to know the answer to the last question. I wanted the answer to be, “You have a great butt, now you only have to squat if you want to,” or something to that effect yet slightly more eloquent.
The other answers are important too, but I’m not a fan of the butt workout.
Do you want to know the two most common undesired side effects from an SDR?
1. Lordosis
2. Glute weakness
I have both (because I’ve had an SDR, of the Peacock lineage).
The Lordosis is improving. It’s the least it’s ever been. I’ve even gotten taller. It was a focus for so long but now it’s time to move onto the butt. For the record I’m counting the days until we can move onto something else. But both areas are still in the “area to watch” category, so no cutting down on squats, for now.
As of right now there will be a Round 3 of Botox. Again I was hoping to talk him out of it but he made a convincing case so as long as my insurance comes though things will go forward
As far as the AFO and night splint go he agrees with the surgeon, at least for right now. I’m going to send him a picture of my off the shelf model so he can try and figure out what type or splint it is. If he doesn’t think it works well enough we’ll look into a custom (which is exactly what the surgeon said).
From the sounds of my appointment today the PM&R will be the head guy, for now. We touched a little bit on future surgical intervention and as of right now there’s only one thing he could see that may be worth fixing, but even then it’s not like he’s rushing me back to the surgeon. Further decline in function would have to occur but it’s not considering I’m feeling better, and functioning better than I have in years.
The most important question I asked?
How often will I be seeing you because I’m considering getting a membership to MoS and I want to get my money’s worth.
(Not kidding)
The answer?
Actually I didn’t ask him this question because I went to MoS before the appointment. I went for the membership. At this point I don’t think I could not go for it.
Any other questions?
Small world!! Did Peacock actually do your SDR?! He did mine.
Love the way you shared the information on strengthening the gluts! My follow-up questions: Has anyone ever mentioned the shortening of iliopsoas muscle due to prolonged sitting? I agree that working the glutes is a worthy counteraction to shortening of hip flexors but stretching into full extension and extension is important, too. Getting to full hip extension without increased lordosis may require some joint mobilizations by a specialist PT.
The work of staying limber and strong is a lifestyle issue for everyone – but more work for those who live with spasticity. I admire your commitment and blogging about it.
Do you know my blog-friend Bethany? For completely different reasons she is having botox injections right now, too. Her blog is http://www.andgodlaughs.blogspot.com/