Run, Alex, run!

Alex received Botox and phenol injections on Tuesday. Today, just two days later, we're already seeing such a huge difference in his muscle tone and flexibility--and Alex has noticed, too. He could tell that something was different! And once he figured that out, he wanted to do a lot of walking and standing with assistance. To fully appreciate the following video, it helps to have seen him try to walk before. When he tries to walk without having his legs strapped into a walker, they "scissor"--each leg gets drawn in front of the other by the tightness of the abductor muscles in his leg. Having his legs constantly want to cross at the ankles makes it very difficult to walk--he needs to keep pulling one foot out from behind the other.

But today, he spent almost 45 minutes voluntarily walking around, with minimal support for balancing purposes. He was thrilled; in the video, you will hear him say, "Run! Run!" While he isn't exactly "running" yet, this is a HUGE breakthrough:




And the best news of all is that this is just the beginning. The effects of the Botox and phenol should continue to increase for the next month or so, opening up a window for more effective physical therapy.

On another note, we are still collecting money to send to Alex's old orphanage in time for the Ukrainian Christmas. If you are interested, please contact us by Jan. 1.