Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Things have been a little nutty. Joan is in the middle of her first round of consraint therapy now - one week to go. It means spending every single morning at the children's hospital, which has been greulling for everyone.
Constraint therapy is when the good hand is bound up, so the affected one is forced to do...stuff. So far, it's going well. We haven't seen too much bleed over into normal life, though. She does it while she's there, but not at home. We think it's a psychological thing - she knows it's what's expected, and she has the mitt on. Here, it's just business as usual. But she actually really enjoys it, strangely. She likes the assistant doing the therapy a lot, and she has a student observing who Joan likes, too. She's such a goofball when she sees them!
Until this is over, all other therapy has been put on hold. Then after that, they've signed her up for a one-month strength and balance workshop with other kids. Her physio is excited about that - she thinks we'll see some good results from that.
They sliced her AFO ad put in a hinge, so now her ankle can bend. She was a lot more wobbly at first, but is getting stronger every day. The day we had it done, the orthotist warned me she'd be tippy - and sure enough, she went splat right on a concrete floor in the parkade. She was a little hurt, but OK. But now, she's so much more mobile! She can go so fast now, and bend in ways she never could before. It's great. Her gait is a lot more natural as well. Still limpy, but getting better every day. If only the top half was making such awesome progress.
I had a parent teacher interview for John. It was entertaining. His teacher adores him of course. She says he's very smart. I think her exact words were "he's scary smart". With him, they're working on the social end. Speaking out of turn, forgetting to use his words when he's upset. That kind of thing. The same things we see him do here. He interrupts us all the time - he just gets so excited about stuff he can't wait. And apparetly, when he's upset with a classmate, he just screams gibberish. He does that here with Joan. She doesn't have words yet, so fights between them are usually just a barbaric monosylabbic grunting and screaming match. Actually, she has one word for fights..."BAD!!!" So now it's often a back and forth that goes something like this: Joan: "Bad!" John: "I'm not bad. You're bad!" Joan: "BAD!!!" John: "YOU"RE BAD!!!!" Joan: "BAAAAAAD!!!!!!!" John: "BAAAAAAAAAD!" All together now: "BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD BAAAAAAD BAD BAD BAD BAAAAAAAAAAD!!!!!!!!"
Good times.
Anyway, I'd better get moving for real. I've been up half the night courtesy of another never-ending teething session with Dave. How long can it take for a freaking tooth to pop! It feels like I've been watching those swollen bright red gums for weeks. Weeks of sleepless night. More good times.
So on the bright side, I get to see a rare sight - the sunrise. I hear it happens daily, or so the legend goes. I usually sleep through it. Mike gets up early, but only wakes me up a little bit before he heads out, because he knows I'm up in the night a lot. Today, the tables have turned! I'll be back soon - probably in a week, once this crazy schedule ends.
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4 comments:
OOOOH....sunrise over the....ok, what the heck is east of Calgary? Flat stuff. (Don't you wish the sun rose over the mountains?)
John is SO Mike - at least teachers appreciate that fierce, craze independence now instead of insisting on mass conformity.
Thanks for the update on Joan - she's a trooper of the finest kind.
David needs to see Dryden. Honest
Paw in Law
Maybe it's not actually giberish, maybe it's the language he spoke in his previous life
Thanx for the update hon. I'm thinking of visiting now that you have a grandma bed. I'm volunteering at the eye van mid June & after that any time is good for me. I'm hoping to be able to fly WestJet with Mac. I've put a lot of thought into driving but the negatives outweigh the possitives. I'm assuming Joan's training will continue & not stop for the summer. She's come a long way since xmas. Always thinking of you - Gram
hey Gram - yes, therapy will continue all summer. It's going to be stepped up, in fact. Constraint therapy is going so well, the OT is thinking of asking the orthopedic surgeon for pernmission to do something semipermenant - a cast that stays on all day, but can come off during sleep. Or, they might just do another little burst of what she's doing now. We'll see. Botox is still on the table, though we're getting awesome results with some of the less invasive therapies he wanted her to try first. A visit is always welcome, from anyone. But check with us before you book - we plan to spend time in Dryden, and are hoping to get out to camp in Hotel Vanagon a few times this sumer, too.
Megan
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