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Sleep was blessed, restful, and in fairly contiguous bouts last night. Thank you Jesus! We have been in a fairly relaxed mode in the mornings, working hard in therapies in the afternoons, visiting with people in the early evening and trying for lights out by 9:00pm. I see Angela's stamina growing daily. She is really able to frequently "use her words (or gestures)" to let us know what is up with her instead of just whining.
We had a funny conversation about the importance of facial expressions....and how they convey a lot of information without using any words. She can mimic "surprise" and "angry" and can sometimes make up her own rendition of "funny".
Our OT (Occupational Therapist), the guy who works on waist up activities (dressing, personal care, arms, balance, and some cognitive) reminded us to be extra patient regarding the use of her left arm. He shared with us that when the fingers map on the brain, many parts of the brain have to connect and fire together to make the fingers do all they are capable of doing. More research on the this subject is fascinating. I admit I took a lot of the daily movements for granted but when you break it down, each finger moving independently and then together in all their multiple motions is quite extensive. As Josh noted, we see daily improvement. We do get to the have exposed pins in her wrist looked at on October 1st so maybe we will hear good news and have them out. I know Angela's pain will subside when that one event occurs.
One of the ST (Speech Therapy) tasks is concentration, focus, and reducing the impulsive actions (good luck) to a controllable level. When we first started working with Angela on Sept. 14, she could sort about 10 cards from a deck of cards into black/red piles. Tonight (just 10 days later) she did the entire 52 cards. This demonstrates an amazing enhancement to her level of concentration, ability to remain focused on a task without distraction, and willingness to engage in a "mindless" task because she was asked to.
We were asked to create a notebook for Angela for therapy purposes so when you come, ask to sign the guest book. Know you can also read it as we continue to fill it out. I know some of you see her today and wonder WOW she has a long way to go... we see her and wonder WOW, look how far she has come. Thanks for being on this journey with us so we can share our perspectives with each other.
Angela's PT session (waist down - strong focus on legs and standing) took place on the seated stairmaster machine....I am certain all you gym nuts know what this means... but for seven minutes she pushed with alternate feet and used her right arm on the arm lever to build those leg muscles while controlling the tension and speed to help reinforce keeping the impulsiveness under control.
Standing is becoming an ongoing practice item during the day as a trip to the bathroom involves bed to chair, chair to toilet, toilet to chair, chair to bed.... whew.... There is a routine and a number of steps we are to sequence with her each and every time she is involved in this process so please know we aren't keeping you away from the "fun", we are just following the therapy process....ask for training if you want to participate in moving her. It will reduce my anxiety and increase both Angela's and your safety. Thanks so much.
Reading is going well. Angela appears to drift off but can talk about some of the things that were read to her in those quiet nighttime moments. It is also a fantastic time for Josh and me to catch a snooze so don't be offended if we relax and drift off. We are still on alert if a bathroom cry goes out from Ang.
You are all amazing!
Teresa