Up, Up, and Away!

Today was a very big day for us!  Madi finally got her stander, after a very long wait.  She had it custom made by Ron at Hanger, who is amazing!  He doesn't measure and ship things off to be made like most people, but instead he actually custom forms and makes each item himself.  He has worked with tons of children with spina bifida and was the best man for the job.  It took a long time due to some miscommuncations and the fact that they do not normally make standers/parapodiums for kids, so all the parts had to be custom ordered and it was hand created.  It was well worth the wait, though!  Madi loves Ron and did quite well during her long appointment.  We were intially told the stander would cost $2,800.  Later they told us that because they were contracted with our insurance company, it would be $1,800.  When we showed up today, though, it was just under $1,400.  All of this, of course, is applied to our deductible through insurance, which is $2,500.  Though the $1,400 was much more than we origionally planned on spending, we would have had to eventually pay that much in the form of our deductible anyway.  It is worth every penny to see Madi standing up and smiling!  Tami, Madi's Physical Therapist, will start working with Madi on how to "walk" with the stander.  Basically she will teach her how to sway her hips and scoot around.  There are no wheels on the bottom, but it is smooth and will slide along an even surface.  I cannot believe how big she looks when she is standing up!  She is no longer my little baby, but a little girl (Well, she'll always be my baby, no matter what.  I always tell Conner that when he is 50, he will still be my baby and there is just nothing he can do about that :))!  We had a busy day today and are looking forward to spending more time in the stander tomorrow.  Watch out world, here comes Madi!