Full Time Work

Today I got to spend the whole day with Lauren. It started early, around 7:30 am the Phlebotomist (big word for "blood letter") took blood. They do that on a regular basis to monitor her drug levels. What a way to start your day, with a needle. Then the nurse's aid came in to do her vitals; blood pressure, temperature and heart rate. We were up early, but did not have OT until 10 am so she napped a little, I got dressed and ordered us some breakfast. At 9am she got motivated, got her self dressed in bed then got up and went to the bathroom with the cane. She was a little tipsy free-standing at the sink to brush her hair and teeth, but she got it done.

Her schedule for today was OT at 10, PT at 11, OT at 11:30, Lunch at 12, School at one, PT at two, and Group Session from 3-4. They switch these sessions up an hour of one, then a half an hour of the next, then a half an hour of the first, then and hour of the second. They switch which ones they start with, throw in music, art, psych, pool, field trips. They keep them busy and on their toes.

Starting the day in OT, Kimberley had her sitting on a large rubber ball. While I spotted her, she had to reach for objects that the therapist was holding. Up, down, right, left, forward, back. Definitely a difficult balancing act. Next she had to throw a Velcro ball at a Velcro target while sitting on the ball. A little easier, but it was interesting to see how they work on these skill sets.

You may notice I talk about how interesting things are. Sandra pointed out that it is interesting when you watch it on the Discovery Channel. When it is your child it goes beyond interesting. Sandra keeps me grounded.

Anyway, then we got into an competitive game of UNO. First the three of us, then me and Lauren, while we stood up and played (practicing standing and balance while not focusing on it). She beat me in two or three games, I took the last one with a double reverse to UNO then out. To reward her for beating me I made her wear an ICarley sticker.

After an hour of OT we went to PT to work with Natalie for a half an hour. She had Lauren stand in front of a mirrored wall, throw a rubber playground ball (remember kickball) at the wall, then catch it on the bounce. It seemed too easy, so she tried putting her on a 5" thick cushion to do it, but it was too soft and she couldn't do it. So she then put her on a firmer, thinner one. The object was to get her used to staying balanced without thinking about it. Lastly, Natalie put Lauren on an inclined board on rollers and made her push herself up with her bad leg. It was very strenuous and at times the Clonus would kick in. She did about 7 repetitions, rested, 5 more, rested, then 3, rested.

Kimberley then took her back to OT where we played the game Operation. Lauren and I competed, but after a while she just did it herself. Kimberley made her alternate with her right and left hands. Her right hand was better, but not much better than you would expect from her dominate hand. To finish off, Kimberley had her pedal the bike with her hands for 12 minutes. Dr. Kim came in at that time too and evaluated her. He seemed pleased.

We had a McDonald's lunch and napped for about 20 minutes, then she went off to school. She walked with the cane all the way from her room to the school room, which is about 140 feet. Pretty good. She said she worked on Environmental Science. A Neurologist came by during school to check her out. Apparently the Rehabilitation service was concerned about abnormal eye movements. He examined her and asked her about it. She said her vision was fine, but sometimes after she took her medicine her eyes would burn for a short while. He said her vision was perfect, the burning was a common side effect of the Dilantin and that it was not unusual.

After school she went back to PT where Jackie put 14 lbs. of weights over her shoulders and made her step up on a step between the parallel bars, then bring her other foot up, then step back down and bring her other foot down too. Over and over. The next exercise was sitting in the wheelchair, getting up, sitting, etc. And finally she had to side step her way along the parallel bars. All of these exercises were with the weights on. Next was the treadmill, she put her left foot on the unmoving side rail of the treadmill and walked slowly on the moving portion with her right foot. Jackie said it looked easy, but noted that it forced her to keep all her weight on her left leg. After about 10 minutes, she put both feet on the moving surface and walked for about 10 minutes more. The last exercise involved getting on her knees on a mat (a soft one that is harder to balance on), Jackie faced her, also on her knees, and holding each others shoulders, they "walked" forwards and backwards across the mat. Then Lauren had to crawl forwards and backwards across the mat by herself and to finish up, Jackie had her stay on her knees and reach to touch Jackie's hands with her opposite hand, high/low, right/left. She really got a workout.

The last activity for the day was Group Session, when all the kids get together and do social activities. Today they made pizza. I am enjoying it right now while Lauren and Sandra are outside on the play deck enjoying the sun. Then I'm going home, all this exercise has me exhausted.