Wendy Valdez Does Home Therapy For Son Born With Spina Bifida During Quarantine

Parents of kids with special needs play an essential role in supporting their kids’ development, making sure therapy sessions don’t get neglected during enhanced community quarantine.

Former Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) housemate Wendy Valdez's son Seth was born with Spina bifida. Since they can’t go out for her son’s regular therapy at the University of Sto. Tomas (UST), she’s facilitating his treatment at home.

“Seth goes to UST three times a week for therapy. Now that we can’t get out, we practice his standing and walking at home,” Wendy shared on Instagram.

While medical travel is an exemption, Seth cannot go out because he has “a very weak immune system,” Wendy shared.

What home therapy is like for Wendy’s son who was born with Spina bifida

At-home therapy for Seth means Wendy helps him practice standing and walking with the help of his HKAFO brace. HKAFO stands for hip-knee-ankle-foot-orthosis. It’s a device or a brace used to control instabilities from the hip and pelvic section down to the knee and lower limbs by maintaining proper alignment and controlling motion.

Seth also uses a four-wheeled walker, specifically designed for individuals who wear leg braces and make walking or practicing how to walk less tiresome. It helps them move about while consuming less energy.

Using his brace and walker and Wendy supporting his waist, Seth takes one step after the other, occasionally stopping to reach down and pick up his toys on the floor. In the video, you can hear him so eager to move and get to the next toy and pick it up.

Wendy shares that Seth started walking the aid of someone pushing his left leg forward “because he could only move his right leg” with his HKAFO brace. “Now he is able to move both,” the mom proudly shares.

“Seth still needs assistance, because he can’t balance on his own yet,” she added. A balance exercise Wendy does with Seth is having him hold onto surfaces with two hands. Then, she asks him to let one hand go and maintain his balance as he reaches up or gives her mom a high five.

In a separate post, the former reality star appealed for everyone to stay home not just for their own protection but also for everybody’s health and safety. “Mas mabilis na maco-contain ang C19 virus, means mas mabilis po na matatapos ang quarantine,” she wrote. “Kaya magtulungan po tayo,” she stressed.

Spina bifida is a neural tube defect wherein the baby’s spinal column did not fully close when it was still forming in the mother’s womb. A child born with Spina bifida may have several health issues. He will need help from specialists, such as neurosurgeons, urologists, orthopedists, physical and occupational therapists, and psychologists. But many kids born with Spina bifida continue to live full lives without surgery.

Last year, Wendy shared that Seth would not undergo surgery, and she’s taking pride in the little triumphs her son achieves. The former PBB housemate lifts up her worries to God. “We put our trust not on our supplies, sanitizers, bank account, houses, cleaning materials, and our health, but to Him who holds all things together,” Wendy wrote.

“We do not know for sure if we will be spared from death, or the virus, but we can be joyful in the hope that the best is yet to come,” Wendy said.

Experts say having enough folic acid helps lessens the chances of a child developing Spina bifida. Read more about it here.