Hi Everyone,
Today Corey had three 90 minute sessions. She repeated each of the exercises I detailed in yesterday’s post with a few additions.

Addition #1 – Deep breathing

Corey’s posture and years of sitting in her wheelchair has actually shifted her internal organs, including her diaphragm. The shift causes shallow breathing patterns. We practiced several times throughout the day working on her posture and teaching her to take a deep breath in through her nose for 2 seconds and exhale as if she’s blowing bubbles for a count of 4 seconds. This technique will help Corey with relaxation and anxiety…(this addition was added after Corrine stopped in several times to visit).
The best time to practice the new breathing exercise was during the viber-percussion session. We are beginning to notice an increased range of motion, ease in flexibility opening/closing her hand and increased speed in Corey’s eye/hand coordination. We ask Corey to lift her left arm straight out in front of her to grasp our hand. We then move our hand in a varied pattern asking her to find/reach and grasp her target. Her arm is lifting and dropping to a relaxed position with less of a ratcheted motion, her elbow is straight and her reach is extended faster to her left side. We are also noticing her left arm dropping as we walk (it is typically bent at the elbow with a tight fist). Her left leg seems to be looser as well. Tram explained that our balance is achieved as we walk with both arms to the side of our bodies and we swing with our normal gate.

Addition #2 – OBK vision;

Corey is now counting the passing lines out loud. The goal is for Tram to silently count down 10-1 as Corey counts out loud 1-10. Each line passes across the screen at one second intervals. This helps in 3 ways; 1. keeping Corey’s head centered as her eyes track the lines. 2. Counting out loud uses the left side of the brain. 3. This also increases general reflexes and increased motion response.

Addition #3 – rebuilder bath
At the end of each session, after the SPIN machine, Corey goes into the quiet room. It is dark and filled with recliners. We remove her shoes and socks. Tram places electrodes on each foot and then places her feet in warm water. I’m sure you all are thinking ‘this is electric shock therapy’ but its not…the electric stem targets the primitive brain and cranial nerves which were developed first. The water is not only soothing but takes her back to the comforted space in the womb. The rebuilder wakes up the sensory and vestibular section of the primal brain. The functional benefit will help Corey become aware of her feet and her foot placement as she walks.

Aside from therapy;

Over the last 3 days, we have met families from Canada, Montana, Boston, California, Arizona and Maine. Every story is different but each family has been affected by a traumatic brain injury. One young girl is 20, she received her concussions from ice hockey. She can no longer tolerate light and can no longer understand Science or Math (left brain injury…she was a science major interested in PT). The young man from California, 28, owned his own construction company and fell on the site of a job. He is trying to regain the use of his left leg. (Right brain injury). The young woman from Canada, 30, lost her vision, hearing, and use of her limbs as well as strength in her skeletal muscle tissue from multiple concussions. She has been coming to Carrick for a year. She arrived in a wheelchair, graduated to a walker and is currently walking independently. Her hearing is coming back in her right ear and she has 20/20 vision.

The mothers, fathers and spouses I’ve met and spoken to all agree…TBI not only changes the life of our loved one but changes each family member as well. This is the most difficult life experience any of us has ever faced. The accomplishments our loved ones have achieved are all significant and in many cases are miraculous. That being said, all of realize this is a day to day walk. There is no miracle cure. The Carrick Brain Center offers alternative methods of functional neurology which enhances all the ‘other’ therapies our loved ones tirelessly work on each day. The brain requires a myriad of stimuli, strategies and techniques to function.

Dr. Ross sat with me privately to discuss some of the coping techniques I utilize as a caregiver. The simple question broke down my defenses and I began to cry…I can be strong for my family but get me alone and the tears are quick to surface…definitely one of my ‘private’ techniques. The following conversation was not about Corey. We spoke about our healthy brains. “Where do thoughts of the past, present and future come from”? The answer; the frontal lobe. “Which thought causes the most pain for the caregiver”? The answer; the future…because it is the unknown. We have no idea what will happen for us, our families or for our loved one and that pain is greater than what we deal with each day and even deeper than what happened causing the injury.

So how do we cope with that pain? We stay in the present.
What can we do to stay in the present moment?
…This will be tomorrow’s lesson, xoxo

Hi Everyone,

We are so lucky to be here! This team is amazing!! Caitlin and I have learned so much and we are already seeing a few small changes in Corey’s posture and her left arm/hand beginning to loosen some of its tone/contracture.

Tram is the personal therapist assigned to Corey as well as trainer to Caitlin and I. The following 4 exercises were completed during the morning and afternoon sessions.

Exercise session #1 – Viber Percussion

This machine reminds me of an electric shoe polisher/buffer…for those of you who don’t remember shoe buffers; it’s a large round bristle brush. Tram ‘buffed’ Corey’s left upper arm, elbow and forearm. The spinning bristles stimulate nerve endings which send a message to the brain that helps the arm move. (Technically called igniting neuro-plasticity)

After the percusser, Tram taught Caitlin and I how to execute complex movements for Corey’s left side. I held Corey’s left foot and Caitlin held Corey’s left arm. Together, we move Corey’s foot and arm in the shape of the infinity sign. As Corey loosens up with the swing of the movement, Caitlin (keeping Corey’s elbow straight) rotates Corey’s wrist, palm up and palm down, with the motion of the design. We do this 3x for 30 seconds, wait 20 seconds and begin again. This exercise will help Corey kick her leg straight as she takes steps forward instead of her current pattern. Currently when she takes a step her leg swings out away from her body as she moves the leg forward.

Exercise #2 – SPINNING!

The Carrick Brain Center has a large machine that looks like a NASA simulator. Corey could not step up into the spin machine so we used the hoyer lift attached to a ceiling trac. Wrapped in a sling (or her papoose as Caitlin called it) the hoyer lifted her out of her chair, across the room and down into the spin chair. Dr. Ross began with a slow, horizontal spin. Corey stairs at a stationary dot as the chair spun to her left. Spinning in this chair, shifts the vestibular pressure from her right side to her left side. When Corey stands, her posture is crocked. Her right hip sticks out to the right and her shoulders tilt left. Her head tilts left as well. Once the vestibular pressure is stabilized and balanced, Corey’s head and spine will align.

(we received permission to video all Corey’s exercises and the spinning machine. We will try to post a clip tomorrow)

Exercise session #3…No No’s

Tram sits directly across from Corey. Posture is key to this exercise. Corey looks at the bridge of Tram’s nose and does not move her eyes. Tram puts her thumbs on Corey’s cheeks just in front of her ears, her four fingers wrapped to the back of Corey’s neck. As Corey fixates on her target, Tram moves Corey’s head in slow movements as if she’s shaking her head side to side saying NO NO…hence the name. This exercise was followed with an OBK app on Dr. Ross’s phone. It is similar to the blue screen/yellow line exercise from yesterday. When they work with this exercise, it is retraining and strengthening the eye muscles.

Exercise session #4…Electric Stim

Using an instrument that looked a little like a cattle prod, Tram placed the stim on Corey’s tongue and her left temple. Dr. Ross explained the 12 Nerves within the brain stem. The cranial nerve 3, 4 & 6 affect the eyes and nerve 12 affects the tongue. Electric Stim (properly placed for this area) targets the lower Brain stem. It will stimulate the neurons to “talk to each other” again. Dr. Ross shared a wonderful video about neuro-plasticity, demonstrating how neurons rebuild and reconnect.

The team will also be looking at Corey’s medications. Dr. Brock is the metabolic specialist. Tomorrow Corey will have blood drawn to check her levels. She gave a urine sample to see which/how her body is absorbing her medications and she had her cheek swabbed to test what medications work with/against her DNA. The results will be back by Friday. If Dr. Brock makes any changes, it will be determined by these results.

At the end of the day Corey wanted to do something “FUN”…so we found a mall. The Galleria in Dallas is HUGE! 3 stories of shops plus the food court is on the lower level overlooking an indoor ice rink…guess this is how Texans beat the heat? Best news, we only got lost twice on the way back to the hotel. We are navigating the old fashioned way, real maps (primarily because the cell phone GPS eats up too much data!) In two days, we are becoming quite the explorers…amazing how a wrong turn teaches us new short cuts!

Day 2 is completed, xoxo