Trip to Boston

Kirt had an appointment at Mayo in Rochester, MN.   He saw Dr. Coffman and he ran him through some tests.  He diagnosed Kirt with mild dystonia and prescribed Baclofen.   "Dystonia is a movement disorder that causes the muscles to contract.  This can cause twisting motions or other movements that happen repeatedly and that aren't under the person's control."  (Mayo Clinic website) He also thought a neoprene postural support garment would help support his trunk movement.  Kirt has an appointment in Topeka to get fitted for the garment. 

In the afternoon, he met with the Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine Consultation and she reported hip abduction was weak and monitoring his skin very important as she suspects poor distal sensation which predisposes him to skin injury. 

The last appointment was with a physical therapist.  She ran him through some more stretches and strength exercises.  

Kirt kept his joyful spirit alive during all the appointments we had and did a great job listening to all the Dr.'s cues. 

Our second trip to Mayo, Kirt met with Sarah and Andrea for his gait analysis test.  Thei require him to do different movements to calculate his strengths and weaknesses. Also to assess his walking and balance.   Sarah then stuck wireless sensors all over his body in order to get a electromyography signature of his different movements.   This gives us a baseline on how Kirt moves.

The second test was a swallow test in which Kirt swallowed a barium mixture in a cup and in  between 2 oreo cookies.  We could see how the liquid passed through his mouth, throat, and esophagus.  He did great and everything was working just like it was supposed to.  We will take some good news!