Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Botox


With lips like that who needs Botox? Or maybe that's collagen - do people use Botox for wrinkles? Shows what I know I guess but this is coming from a woman who has never worn make-up in her life. My biggest beauty investment is a tube of Blistex.

Anyway, regardless of what people use Botox for it turns out that Bennett doesn't need it. We had an assessment done today. Botox has been used for a number of years to treat people with cerebral palsy. From my research, it appears to be a mixed bag as far as results go. Some people have reported tremendous success while others have found it to be of no help at all.

Using Botox to treat cerebral palsy, especially when it's your child, is a big decision. After all it is a poison and can be dangerous and not without side effects. Recently there have been more concerns brought up in both Canada and the United States. Apparently there have been a number of deaths linked with Botox as a treatment for CP - especially in children. Granted the numbers are small, but death is a serious side effect. You can read more about the investigation in Canada here and the investigation in the U.S. here.

If the doctor had recommended Bennett have Botox treatment, Jim and I would have considered it and probably would have tried it. As it turns out we were lucky in that the doctor doesn't think he needs it at all at this point. They will re-evaluate in 6 months. Other than that our appointment was unremarkable although the doctor was extremely intrigued by Bennett's gait. He says he has never seen anything like it before and it's definitely not typical of kids with hemiplegia. So, what does that mean? I have absolutely no idea but I'm not going to worry about it right now.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you are not going to worry about the physician's comment. Surely he could have made himself more clear.

He is quite handsome! Thanks for the pic!
(the other) Barbara

Popcorn House said...

I agree he should of been more clear! I mean what does that mean? I would assume it was meant to be a compliment! I think you should take it as a compliment.

That is great news you don't have to worry about botox. Such a big decision. Once our PT brought it up to our doctor and he said the same thing, that Sammy didn't need it, and didn't expect him too. So I was relieved to hear that.....cause I have super mixed feelings regarding it. I have read the same reviews really mixed all around. But good that we both won't have to worry about that for some time anyways. Hopefully. :o)

I just made a post about Sammy's appointment, I was pretty LONG winded so good luck!

SO GLAD YOU ARE HOME BLOGGING AGAIN! I missed you.

Dawn said...

We've done the botox a few times and it's a day of misery at the hospital so I'm glad Bennett doesn't need it. As said it's kind of a mixed bag, I guess Aus was so tight and it did loosen him up so he could get some function. I guess we'll just take this as another success for Bennett! Yee Haw!

Kara said...

I'm glad Bennett didn't need the Botox too!

About the gait comment: knowing the doctor, I'm sure he meant it in a good way. I don't think he would've said it otherwise.

Amy said...

Hi there, I found your blog through Ellen's (To the Max). My daughter Maddy is two and also has right sided hemiplegia. We've also dodged the Botox bullet a few times and I hope that we can continue to do so.

Thanks for your blog. I'm always excited to read about other parents who are going through the same thing.

Unknown said...

Great news - no botox for now. Re doc's comments - if he/she was concerned re Bennett's gait, he would say so. Sounds to me like he/she is happy with Bennett's unique progress. Looking forward to seeign you all on Sat.
Love,
Auntie Bonnie

Kiera said...

Glad to hear that the appointment went well. I am with you on the Botox. It has been mentioned for Little Dude in the past and I am not sure what I feel. If they were to tell us it was the best thing, we probably would do it, but it has been nice not to have to make the decision

Kiera said...

By the way, Bennett is looking so big! I love seeing photos of him!

Amanda said...

Glad to hear the appointment went well. I agree, he should have made himself more clear!

We are with you on the botox. It was actually never brought up with Leah, until I asked. Turns out, it was never brought up because it's not an option for her right now, because she is not tight.

Bennett is too cute!! Love the picture!

Popcorn House said...

Hey, just wanted to comment back about the UCB insert. It really just inserts right into the shoe. The only problem we have had is that because it doesn't wrap around his foot (like a AFO or SMO)his foot slips out of the shoes. We hear "uh oh shoe!" a lot. But no extra problems with shoes. Thank goodness, because the shoe thing is driving me crazy! Good luck! Keep us posted.

momtoablessing said...

I am glad bennett dodged the botox bullet. Audrianna had Botox just once and it takes 7 days for the results to kick in on Day seven Audrianna looked like she had a stroke she couldnt move or lift her head. We were admitted to the hospital where we spent two weeks of hell. She was even being watched for respeatory failure. The FDA got involved. Audrianna was one of the cases u were talking about thankfully she did not die from it. She did get botulism poisoning the botox ended up right in her blood stream. We will never do it again and the drs wont even mention botox to us.

* ~ *Jessica* ~ * said...

He is so handsome!!!!!!!!!!!!
Botox is one thing we've not done. We were told the same thing- Logen doesn't need it, or atleast they wouldn't recommend him having it.
Glad your back on par with blogger :)

shelby0818 said...

my nearly 5 year old son has right sided hemiplegia and docs keep on suggesting botox for his arm, i do not want do the botox and want to continue with splints and physio, but i am worried thatas he gets older his arm will tighten up and need surgery because i did not do the botox