Wednesday
Linda had her first bread today, some sourdough from the coffee shop. She had about 5 bites of the soft middle. She really enjoyed it but decided that chewing was still too tiring, so we put it away. We can try again next week. She also had a few corn flakes. Same kind of experience. She didn't really have trouble, it's just too hard still.
She was a bit down today again. She worries that her ankles will have to be cast. If you can't get your feet flat on the ground, there is a regimen of casting that you can do to get the calves stretched out again. Basically you stretch them as far as they can go, cast them for a few days. Then you get a break and repeat it for a couple of weeks, slowly making progress. No one has said she'll have to do that, but they haven't said she won't. At least she knows they aren't intending to break her ankles (which she originally thought was part of the deal).
Her shoulder is still bothering her. They still feel that it is from the shoulders pushing forward, although she doesn't seem to have that much spasticity in the muscle that would be responsible for it. I discovered this morning that the pain is less if you give her some traction on the shoulder (i.e. you pull on her arm some). Apparently that indicates an impingement, which isn't something I'm familiar with, but they said it has something to do with tight muscles I believe. In any event, she was tired this morning anyway so her morning PT session was stretching and massage on her shoulder and calves.
ironically my shoulders are beginning to hurt as well. I think it is primarily from picking up Linda so many times doing wheelchair transfers, although lifting Ellie and holding the steering wheel during the commute probably contribute. I told Linda she has some kind of obscure shoulder disease which she infected me with. I guess I'll try to stretch every muscle I can find that attaches near my shoulder and then take some ibuprofin before bed. We'll see.
Linda's speech therapy was about the same. I admit even I am getting impatient for her to be able to make more consonants well. I think a big part of it is the muscle in the back of your throat that lifts your uvula (the hangy-down thing back there). That muscle separates air from your mouth and nose and is what lets you build suction and pressure in your mouth. It lets you use a straw, and it also helps you get volume by making air go through your mouth when you talk. You need it to build pressure to form consonants like T and B, which otherwise come out as N and M. Apparently it is hard to exercise it; in fact you probably didn't even realize you were using a muscle for that. So we'll probably just have to be patient while it improves.
OT is going very well. Linda's arms have lots of (weak) strength in lots of directions. She has surprisingly good coordination, by which I mean it is surprising that she has any coordination at all. Her posture is improving and her sitting balance gets better and better. Probably her OT sessions are her strongest showings right now.
Linda had her first bread today, some sourdough from the coffee shop. She had about 5 bites of the soft middle. She really enjoyed it but decided that chewing was still too tiring, so we put it away. We can try again next week. She also had a few corn flakes. Same kind of experience. She didn't really have trouble, it's just too hard still.
She was a bit down today again. She worries that her ankles will have to be cast. If you can't get your feet flat on the ground, there is a regimen of casting that you can do to get the calves stretched out again. Basically you stretch them as far as they can go, cast them for a few days. Then you get a break and repeat it for a couple of weeks, slowly making progress. No one has said she'll have to do that, but they haven't said she won't. At least she knows they aren't intending to break her ankles (which she originally thought was part of the deal).
Her shoulder is still bothering her. They still feel that it is from the shoulders pushing forward, although she doesn't seem to have that much spasticity in the muscle that would be responsible for it. I discovered this morning that the pain is less if you give her some traction on the shoulder (i.e. you pull on her arm some). Apparently that indicates an impingement, which isn't something I'm familiar with, but they said it has something to do with tight muscles I believe. In any event, she was tired this morning anyway so her morning PT session was stretching and massage on her shoulder and calves.
ironically my shoulders are beginning to hurt as well. I think it is primarily from picking up Linda so many times doing wheelchair transfers, although lifting Ellie and holding the steering wheel during the commute probably contribute. I told Linda she has some kind of obscure shoulder disease which she infected me with. I guess I'll try to stretch every muscle I can find that attaches near my shoulder and then take some ibuprofin before bed. We'll see.
Linda's speech therapy was about the same. I admit even I am getting impatient for her to be able to make more consonants well. I think a big part of it is the muscle in the back of your throat that lifts your uvula (the hangy-down thing back there). That muscle separates air from your mouth and nose and is what lets you build suction and pressure in your mouth. It lets you use a straw, and it also helps you get volume by making air go through your mouth when you talk. You need it to build pressure to form consonants like T and B, which otherwise come out as N and M. Apparently it is hard to exercise it; in fact you probably didn't even realize you were using a muscle for that. So we'll probably just have to be patient while it improves.
OT is going very well. Linda's arms have lots of (weak) strength in lots of directions. She has surprisingly good coordination, by which I mean it is surprising that she has any coordination at all. Her posture is improving and her sitting balance gets better and better. Probably her OT sessions are her strongest showings right now.
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