Child's play
It seems that every time I am gone for 24 hours I come back and there is some surprise. Today it was in occupational therapy. I learned last night that Linda had done something new, but when I asked her about it, she said it was too much to spell. We did it again today.
Linda asked to do a bit of rocking in the rocking chair, so we were in the gym already when the OT was ready for Linda's session. We moved Linda to one of the mats and Lindsay brought up a table. On it was a board with two blunt cones glued down on it (point up). There were a couple of stacks of identical cones sitting to the side.
I've been talking about Linda getting various small arm movements backs, but I have to think that you will be as surprised as I was to learn that the therapy was having Linda stack the cones up. The OT would set one cone to the side and position Linda's hand around it. Linda can grip, as I reported this morning, so she can hold the cone. With her elbow and wrist supported, Linda's job was to bring the cone to the center of the table, raise it 4-5 inches up and slip it on top of the cones already there.
With her right hand, Linda didn't even need to have her wrist supported. Just a little support at the elbow and she could do it. With her left hand she needed more help, particularly at the wrist. However she has a great left-hand skill as well. She can extend her fingers enough to drop the cone. She can't let go on the right yet.
That would have been enough to make me delighted for the day, but there's a bit more. When working with the left hand, Linda exhibited some really nice thumb movement after just a little bit of prodding. She can touch her thumb and index finger together. On a lark, the OT asked her if she could touch her thumb to her middle finger. She could do that too! And her ring finger! Now she couldn't get to her pinky, but really no one would have expected any of that. So she has a bit of homework to do touching her different fingers and working at getting to the pinky.
In physical therapy we practiced car transfers, i.e. getting in and out of the car from the wheelchair. It's pretty easy actually after you have a standing pivot, and we've been doing that for about a week. We took a turn around the parking lot and Linda didn't get dizzy, so the Dr. is going to sign an order saying we can leave and take a drive this weekend. It'll be Linda's first ride anywhere since Feb 7th that wasn't lying on a gurney.
For some home news:
Tonight I'm home with Ellie, who's growing so fast I can't believe it. She wanted to sit on the potty tonight and make farts. She is very concerned with how they smell, so we did it for about 20 minutes. After I got impatient, I told her we were going to get pajamas on and go to bed. She said she wanted to pee, but she hadn't yet so I said no. Well, since she didn't want to go to bed she ran off. I went to get her bed clothes and turn down the bed. The next thing I know she runs into the bathroom, steps up on her footstool and pees in the toilet. Who'd a thunk it. Miracles never cease I guess.
It seems that every time I am gone for 24 hours I come back and there is some surprise. Today it was in occupational therapy. I learned last night that Linda had done something new, but when I asked her about it, she said it was too much to spell. We did it again today.
Linda asked to do a bit of rocking in the rocking chair, so we were in the gym already when the OT was ready for Linda's session. We moved Linda to one of the mats and Lindsay brought up a table. On it was a board with two blunt cones glued down on it (point up). There were a couple of stacks of identical cones sitting to the side.
I've been talking about Linda getting various small arm movements backs, but I have to think that you will be as surprised as I was to learn that the therapy was having Linda stack the cones up. The OT would set one cone to the side and position Linda's hand around it. Linda can grip, as I reported this morning, so she can hold the cone. With her elbow and wrist supported, Linda's job was to bring the cone to the center of the table, raise it 4-5 inches up and slip it on top of the cones already there.
With her right hand, Linda didn't even need to have her wrist supported. Just a little support at the elbow and she could do it. With her left hand she needed more help, particularly at the wrist. However she has a great left-hand skill as well. She can extend her fingers enough to drop the cone. She can't let go on the right yet.
That would have been enough to make me delighted for the day, but there's a bit more. When working with the left hand, Linda exhibited some really nice thumb movement after just a little bit of prodding. She can touch her thumb and index finger together. On a lark, the OT asked her if she could touch her thumb to her middle finger. She could do that too! And her ring finger! Now she couldn't get to her pinky, but really no one would have expected any of that. So she has a bit of homework to do touching her different fingers and working at getting to the pinky.
In physical therapy we practiced car transfers, i.e. getting in and out of the car from the wheelchair. It's pretty easy actually after you have a standing pivot, and we've been doing that for about a week. We took a turn around the parking lot and Linda didn't get dizzy, so the Dr. is going to sign an order saying we can leave and take a drive this weekend. It'll be Linda's first ride anywhere since Feb 7th that wasn't lying on a gurney.
For some home news:
Tonight I'm home with Ellie, who's growing so fast I can't believe it. She wanted to sit on the potty tonight and make farts. She is very concerned with how they smell, so we did it for about 20 minutes. After I got impatient, I told her we were going to get pajamas on and go to bed. She said she wanted to pee, but she hadn't yet so I said no. Well, since she didn't want to go to bed she ran off. I went to get her bed clothes and turn down the bed. The next thing I know she runs into the bathroom, steps up on her footstool and pees in the toilet. Who'd a thunk it. Miracles never cease I guess.
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