Madison had her botox assessment appointment at Grandview this morning. Her physio Kate also attended to help the doctor understand Madison’s work over the last few months.
They started with an assessment of her movement through activity. Kate led Madison through a serious of activities so the doctor could watch her movement. He then did a physical assessment where he moved her legs in different positions to see her tone and her range with muscles and joints. He then talked to us about botox and how it works. Botox® works by blocking the connection between nerves and muscles. This causes temporary decreases in muscle tone which can last for 3 to 6 months.
He explained that he looks at two factors when deciding if botox is the way to go. The first is body structure- so looking at Madison’s tone and seeing if it has an impact on the growth and formation of her bones and joints. The second is performance – so looking at Madison’s tone and seeing if it has an impact on her everyday movements/purposeful movements and the speed in which she executes the movements. He concluded that structure is not an issue at all but performance is. Botox can help her performance.
He described Madison as being a moving target, meaning she continues to change so rapidly both developmentally and with her growth. He was very pleased with her range in most joints and feels at this time we will hold off on the botox and see him again in 2 months so he can see the change she makes over time. He celebrated our success with all of her therapies, stretching and activities and attributes that to how well she is doing and not needing the botox right now. After the summer we’ve had it was nice to hear.
In 2 months time we will re-assess for botox. If she receives it at the end of November it will be shots in her calf muscles and hamstrings being 8 shots in total. We are also applying for coverage to see if any part of the shots can be covered as they are costly.
It was also exciting to hear about their view on her classification level. When she was first diagnosed we were told she was a level 3 and now they are saying she is a level 2. It was a positive appointment and it was so nice to hear how well they think she is doing and to continue exactly what we are doing with all her therapies.
Thank you to everyone who has helped us and been involved with Madison’s therapy. Today’s appointment was a win because of everyone on Madison’s team.
Madison then spent her afternoon at March of Dimes continuing on with her therapy and kicking butt!
Madi Moves 