Hi Everyone,
It was a good day but a LONG day! We had a 9:30 appt with the orthopedic doctor. In order to get ready for that appt, our day starts at 5:30. You all must be wondering what in the world takes so long? Well, Corey needs to be changed, given a bed bath, dressed, all four limbs need to be ranged, medications given, backpack prepared (like the old baby bags) she’s transferred to the wheelchair, then as we like to say; “Lock and Loaded” in the van. We then travel 40 minutes to the Doctors office. Learning how to time our road trips is getting easier but it’s still new and takes longer than you think.
We arrived at the doctor’s office without incident; Corey did well with the ride. Our doctor hasn’t seen Corey in a year (my calendar was off). It was almost a year to the day; November 5th. The Doctor and the X-ray technicians could not believe the progress Corey has made. First of all she was in a wheelchair, smiling and waving to everyone. Last year she arrived on a stretcher with the EMT’s and couldn’t communicate. Today she “said” Hi to everyone and asked the Doctor “how are you”? He responded and said, “You probably don’t remember me”. Corey interrupted and said, “I don’t”. He told her that he was the surgeon that put the rod in her right femur. As she turned her hand palm side up, she asked “How”? He was surprised and then described the surgery! When he finished the description, Corey said, “Good” and then kicked her right leg to show him it worked. The interaction between the two was comical.
Corey had to transfer to the X-ray table (which was not cushioned, height adjustable or comfortable) but she did an amazing job holding still and keeping in position. Her left and right shoulder, her pelvis and her right femur have healed perfectly. Her shoulder range of motion will take time to fully extend but he truly believes that her left side will come back with more motion (hopefully to the same level as her right). He was not comfortable recommending a plan of care for the braces; however, he gave me the name of four doctors I can call to interview.
We took a side trip to the Delaware Candy store to see Sue and then headed back for afternoon therapy.
PT was so excited at yesterday’s progress she decided to challenge Corey again today. She sat Corey on the edge of the matte, placed her hands about 6-8” away from Corey’s shoulders. She asked to lean right to touch her hand, center herself then lean left. This was not a challenge for Corey. This exercise is used to develop the hip and side trunk muscles. The therapist continued by asking Corey to resist her pushes; don’t let the therapist try to knock her over. For example, PT would push her right shoulder and Corey would push back to stay center. This was a fun game for Corey. Finally Corey was challenged not only to stretch her right arm but to lean and make a full stretch to touch a target, relying on her hips for balance, and then retracts her arm and return to center all without falling over! She nailed it!!
OT arrived right after PT and continued Corey’s workout. They practiced several exercises to document “functional improvement” such as dressing, rolling from side to side, reaching, lifting and trying to grasp objects with both her hands. That’s right folks…we are still documenting to keep insurance coverage! My favorite part of the session is watching Corey watch her left hand. Alice closed the session with this prompt; “Ok Corey, now you get to do whatever movement you want with your left hand. Show me whatcha’ got”. Corey stared at her hand, we were silently watching. Alice expected her to move her hand side to side with a wrist movement. Corey lifted her thumb and extended her four fingers! If you heard a faint scream at around 5:30pm EST; it was me!
Corey the pride, excitement and pure satisfaction of successfully executing what you intended to do was radiating from your face. Watching you concentrate, seeing your smile, hearing your soft voice give that little gasp that surprises even you is a moment I will never forget. It makes me smile every time I think about it. What a good day!
Happy dreams honey, xoxo