CIMT - Day 14

We saw our Occupational Therapist today.  She hasn't seen him since the day before we got Mr. Blue.  Like our PT, we've known her since Sis was a baby.  She has a special place in our hearts too!

She was super impressed with Mighty Man's skills.

His reaction time is much faster than it used to be.  If you placed an object in his hand, it used to take 10-15 seconds for him to actually wrap his fingers around it in a grasp.  It's much more immediate and instant now.

The tweezers and the 'bugs' were a challenging task, but he did all of the work, with just a little support from Ms. Amy.

She worked on getting him to turn his palm face up and extend his arm out to the front by handing him letters to spell words with the magnets.

He also got to hit a balloon with Mr. Blue while sitting in a position to bear weight on Lefty.  He thought it was lots of fun to get to purposefully hit something with the cast!

Ms. Amy encouraged us to keep going for another week, and Mighty Man agreed, so we will press on!

CIMT - Day 13

A few days before we started CIMT, I explained it to Mighty Man in the best way he could understand. Based on the recommendation of a medical professional we respect and trust, I had explained that we'd do this for 14 days.  The day before Mr. Blue was put on, another medical professional we respect and trust, our Occupational Therapist, suggested that we shoot for 21 days.  

So today, Mighty Man asked me what day it was for Mr. Blue.  When I replied that it was Day 13, he responded with a "Yay! Tomorrow we can get Mr. Blue off!"

Oops.

We missed making sure he was clear on the possibility of an extended timeline.

We visit the OT tomorrow, so we'll see what she thinks of his progress.  There does not seem to be a consistent approach across the board for how to administer CIMT.  Studies on the subject are fairly new so there are lots of opinions on the best practice.

He knows that Mr. Blue isn't coming off tomorrow, and I think he'll be okay with extending it one more week.  But I can't help but feel like I misled him.

I got to spend the evening way from home, so Dad seamlessly took over.  He's AMAZING, and I'm blessed that he's my partner in life's journey.

Dad & Mighty Man played a few rounds of UNO Moo! while I was gone.  A fun version of UNO that has great opportunities for fine motor skills!

Look! Pincer Grasp!!

He couldn't quite get the pieces oriented in the right direction to sit on the ledge, but he did get them on!!

Pulling the pieces out of the Barn was a good exercise too!

CIMT - Day 12

I did not take a single picture today.

We had a wonderful day as a family, and with friends at one of our most favorite places, New Life Ranch! I had too much fun playing to take pictures.

We sang songs, played fun games, swam, threw rocks in the creek with Lefty, bounced along on a ride in the Hay-bus, and will all sleep we'll tonight!

Mighty Man did A LOT of walking. I'm so proud of his ability to navigate rough terrain, and his desire to keep up with the other kids.

He amazes me!

CIMT - Day 11

I have been helping Mighty Man get food into his hand, and he's been mostly successful from there to his mouth.  He has not had a lot of success picking it up from a dish.

But, here he was today...

It ain't pretty.

BUT IT'S BEAUTIFUL.

And, even better than that:

I witnessed an AMAZINGLY PERFECT PINCER GRASP!!  And then it could not be repeated for the camera.  Oh well.  It happened.  All by himself. And I saw it.

And, at his request...

This is me, not posting it on Facebook..



10 days left!

CIMT - Day 10

We are halfway done!

And I learned today that I'm a lightweight when it comes to CIMT.

I posted a question in a Facebook Group run by CHASA (Children's Hemiplegia And Stroke Association) to see what duration of CIMT other folks have done.  Since we have conflicting professional opinions, I was curious for other experiences.

I got 6 replies, so far:

One said 14 days.

Two said 21 days.

One said 4 weeks

And, drumroll...

Two said 6 - 8 WEEKS!!

I thought they made a typo, or perhaps had done a removable constraint.  Nope.

One mom said that they started her kiddo with CIMT at 18 months old and did 6-8 weeks every 6 months until he was 5.

Wow.

We can do a measly 21 days, right?

Right.

There are a whole bunch of kids doing CIMT right now, all over the U.S.  It's nice to know we aren't alone.

On to share other activities of the day!

Mighty Man wanted to help me push the cart in the grocery store.

He was actually able to keep it moving after I got it started.

I snapped this picture right before he had a near miss with the beer display.

I decided the fuzzy picture would be better than risking another shot and a clean up on aisle 10!

He had a great session with our beloved Physical Therapist.  Thanks to Big Sis getting us accustomed to therapists and specialists first, we've known Ms. Monica for 9 years!  At the end of the hour of hard work, he climbed on her lap and snuggled up as we were talking!  So sweet.

He's holding his reward sucker in lefty, too!

In the midst of all the awesome things he did today, they figured out how to make his cape fly.

I think the Super Thomas Cape and the Super Power Arm Band are officially a success!  He actually asked for them this morning.  Score for Mom! Therapeutic aid disguised as a desirable toy.

10 days D-O-N-E.

CIMT - Day 9

I must admit, we were all kind of dragging along today.  I don't think Mighty Man is eating and drinking as much as usual because it's such an effort.  I suspect he could be a little sore too from all the new muscle use. And he's getting tired of me taking his picture.

Tomorrow we'll hit the mid point and start the downhill side of this 21 days.

Perhaps that will put wind in our sails!

We went swimming again today. The cast may be waterproof, but it takes a long time for the inside to dry out.  We drove to church with the windows rolled down to try to aid the drying. 

The kids thought the wind was awesome.

In the midst of the dragging feeling today,

we had a HUGE moment of excitement with a new thing...

look how high and straight that arm is raised!

He actually did it better, off camera, but I was pushing my luck even getting this picture.

Remember the arms-over-head pose on the FIRST DAY?  That was as much as he would stretch his arm independently.  And then, the picture of his arms stretched to his side just FOUR DAYS ago?

So incredible!

Thank you, Lord, for this encouragement today.

CIMT - Day 8

We took a little breather today.  Okay, we were flat-out lazy.

There was much cuddling and watching PBS Kids.

Mighty Man was not quite his active little self.  He's been working hard, I think he needed a break.

Of course, even on a lazy day, it is still hard work for Lefty to eat or complete other necessary life skills.  So it was not a lost day!

We played a family game of Trouble this evening.

It took a lot of strength to push the popper.

And the little pegs were impossible to pick up without knocking other pegs out of their spot.

I dug in my craft box to see if I could rig something up to make them easier to grasp.

Here's what I came up with:

Bigger pom-poms would have been better.

I wrapped the thread through the bead several times, pushed the bead into the underside of the peg and attached it, through the hole in the peg, to the pom.

It helped some, but it was still tricky to get the pegs where he wanted them to go.

I'm so proud of his hard work!  You can see his concentration and determination!