DMO Suit...like a wet suit or spanks

Another trip in the car.  This time downtown to National Rehab Hospital (right behind Children's DC) to try out Brayden's new DMO suit.

But first before the DMO suit, I have to tell you about what happened before we even made it to the doors of the NRH...Yes, once again the traffic was TERRIBLE.  Over 2.5 hours to get downtown.  Every road we were on had some sort of issue.  About halfway through the trip, we started to smell something...Brayden was working on a diaper.  Oh boy.  The car was smelling, I am pretty sure you could see the waves of fumes coming from him.  But do we pull off the road in rush hour traffic to change a diaper?  NO way, we are not crazy.  Meanwhile I call the office to let me know that we will be late.  I was given the "if you are more than 15 minutes late then you will have to reschedule your appointment" lecture.  I politely replied with "we have been on the road for more than 2 hours trying to get there, we will still have the appointment."  We finally arrived and pulled Brayden out of the car...realizing it might have been a good idea to pull over in traffic because it was a diaper blowout; up the back and all over the car seat.  As if we were not late enough, he needed a full wipe bath, change of clothes and cleaning of the car seat.  We did the best we could and dashed into the hospital (pretty sure Brayden still had some residual smell).

They did not cancel the appointment.  In fact they were very kind and understanding, knowing the we had to travel a bit to get to this appointment.  Although, I was ready to cry/fight to keep the appointment no matter what time we showed up.

What is a DMO suit?  Like a wet suit or supped up spanks with more support.
The DMOs are fabric orthoses made from Lycra based fabrics.  They are designed to provide client specific, orthoses to assist in neurological and functional dysfunction often seen as aiding mobility and posture...The orthosis may improve the client...by reducing excessive muscle tone and improving stability...additional benefits, increased awareness of body position, increased confidence in movement or adaptation to movement.

Zippers and snaps to put it on (add many more minutes to the getting him ready in the morning and going to bed at night).  A hole/flap on the stomach for the g-tube and his j-tube.  Yes his diaper is hanging out and the legs have zippers and snaps for diaper changes (can you imagine a diaper blowout in this thing?  I did make sure it is washable).

It also came with a hard shell for his abdomen, something that can be used for extra support and/or therapy.

The DMO suit (not the shell) is to be worn every day, all day and taken off at bedtime.  But first, Brayden has to build up to that; starting with one hour the first day, 2 hours the next, etc.

Brayden did have the suit on for over 20 minutes and seemed quite happy in it.  He does really well with pressure/support/deep sensory input; it has always seemed to give his a better sense of his body and comfort being in his own skin.

The DMO suit still needs some to be adjustments to fit his arms better and accommodate both the g-tube and his j-tube.  I will drive back downtown in about 2 weeks to pick it up.

To make the trip even more worth while and a reward for myself because I needed a little boost of energy we had to make a stop...