Multilevel surgery

myjakeys · August 2017

Hiya , my son is 12 years old and he had multilevel surgery on both his legs on the 21st of June . He could walk before his operation but still used his wheel chair . His knees were bent constantly and he was constantly in a crouched stance. I was given the option of this surgery June 2016 and they gave me three months to make a decision , it was a no brainer as I had to give him a chance. He had his surgery the 21st June 2017 and we are back in hospital now for his intense rehabilitation which has been brilliant ( it's our 2nd week and we go home tomorrow. My son can now walk brilliant with a walking frame and in a few weeks they say he'll be ready for tripod sticks. The physio mentioned today that she thinks he may be ready for school for Sept but I don't think he will be. She Said he could go to school in his wheelchair ( something he's never done ) and use his frame around the classroom. My son has autism as well as cerebral palsy and is a very anxious child and hes now worrying over going back to school in his wheelchair and walking frame. He said he wants to go back when he's walking ( independently ) . I m made up he's making brilliant progress but he's so so anxious anyway and the thought of him going back to school in his wheelchair and walking frame is gonna make him worse. Any advice anyone please ? xxx

wildlife · August 2017

@myjakeys I am no expert especially for CP but what is happening to your son is part of what I know is a problem with the NHS. Each illness/disability, even the same named condition but in different parts of the body, is treated separately without enough thought for how one affects the other. To apply this to your son his physio is only seeing this from a physical point of view. Many things need to be taken into consideration for the right decision to be made about when and with which aids he should return to school. He has been through a lot which would have been very difficult for a non disabled child never mind one with autism. This should be considered along with his wishes and maybe look at other options for the short term like home schooling to build his confidence and give him time to recover mentally as well as physically. His friend's could maybe visit to get him used to them seeing the wheelchair, just whatever is best for him. Or a short time in a different school where other children also have walking aid and wheelchairs. I brought up 2 disabled son's who are now in their 30's. They had a far from ideal journey through the normal state system and if I could turn back the clock and do things differently I would. Hope that helps..

myjakeys · August 2017

Thank you so much that really really does help as I can now put into words what I mean ( you have just said exactly what I'm thinking but I couldn't put it into words ,) thank you so much xxx

niceboots · August 2017

Hi I have cp,and had multilevel surgery at 13, I'm now 30. When I went back to school after my surgery I used a wheelchair and a walker, I started by just using my wheelchair for ease, then went to using my walker and just used my wheelchair when I got tired. I'm no expert with autism, but could a solution be that he use his wheelchair just to get to class then transfer to a normal school chair? I used how much I needed my wheelchair as a way to track my progress with my rehab, the less I was using my wheelchair the better I knew I was getting on. Good luck!

myjakeys · August 2017

Thank you so much for your reply and advice xxxxx

Multilevel surgery

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