June 15, 2012

Donuts with Dad

     This morning Amaya's school hosted Donuts with Dad, a chance for dads to eat with their children before school. Unfortunately our physical therapy was at 8 a.m. this morning (the same time as the breakfast). But we made up for it with donuts from the donut shop after our session. Amaya had another good night's rest and slept in until I woke her up to get ready (about six fifteen). It's been so nice having her pain manageable, her (and us) sleeping through the night, and sleeping in a bit.
    We made it to therapy and had Melissa again. We're scheduled to be working with her everyday for at least the next five weeks. It's nice working with the same person everyday. Amaya and Melissa have developed a nice working relationship. Melissa does an excellent job of challenging, comforting, and stimulating Amaya. Not to mention dealing with Lidie and her craziness. She's wonderful.
     Melissa put new tape on Amaya's knee then she measured Amaya's knee before we started, it was 42. Melissa said that was great, especially since she didn't have PT yesterday. And we didn't get to do our PT homework because she had to finish her school homework. Amaya started with bowling lunges then bowling on the bike. Then she went from standing to sitting with her knee bent while throwing balls. She did a few then complained of hip pain (her skin pulls). She called me over in a whiny voice. It's sad because their really isn't anything I can do to help with that. She had me rub her right leg instead. Melissa told her that unfortunately the pain might be a bit more intense today since she didn't stretch the skin yesterday. After that we started the bends/measurements for the day. Her knee was at 55 to start which wasn't bad. We reminded Amaya to stay focused and not let her hip or knee or right leg pain to distract her from her goal. And that the sooner she finished the sooner she would be done and her pain gone. I reminded her to use both hands to pull her body down instead of just one, then we began. She got to 60 very easily then to seventy. Then in a few strong pushes she was up to 80.  A few more then she was up to 89 then with one last push she got to 90. Today I could tell that it was easier for her than it has been in awhile. Wow, that is great news! Her concentration and using both hands helped her a lot. During her bends her right leg was shaking and I massaged it after we were done. When she was done I realized that she hadn't had any pain meds this morning. Melissa said, "you really are mighty girl." Then I gave her her dose. Amaya said that it was good to be back in the 90's. And it was.
    Josh just sent me a text that Amaya and her class walked over to his classroom to tell him that Amaya got up and played basketball with her friends. They were all so excited for her and wanted to tell her dad (what a sweet group of friends she has). Then she helped play hopscotch. She was in charge of throwing the bean bag. It's nice to see her up and playing at school. She had mentioned the other day that one of the lunch workers didn't want her up playing. I told Amaya that I didn't blame her, because Amaya is still a high risk for falls and the lady didn't want Amaya to fall. But, I'm glad it worked out today.
Here's Amaya waiting to start her session. I'm always amazed by how happy she is when we get there, even though she knows how tough it will be.
While Amaya cleaned the stickiness off of her knee I noticed that she's starting to get a tan on there. There's an "x" where the tape usually is. I told her she can pretend its for her middle name Xochitl (which means flower). 
Next Amaya did some lunges to reach for the basketball, that she would use to bowl with and knock down some pins.
I like this picture of Amaya and Melissa a lot. I love Amaya's smile and how her hand just gently sits on Melissa's shoulder. I love that Amaya is comfortable and enjoys her time at therapy. She's told me before that she likes her therapists, even though they make her do hard work. I couldn't imagine going to therapy everyday if Amaya didnt' like her therapists. We've been so fortunate to have such a great team to help Amaya.
Next was bowling with the bicycle. She's been doing so much better at riding the bike (even though the front tire has a flat).
Dad and Lidie played cars at therapy today. I overheard Lidie say, "come on. Let's go to children's hospital for some chili fries." 
As we drove to Amaya's school we all enjoyed our donuts. After a few minutes Amaya said, "here mom, here's my donut. I couldn't finish it. You and dad can share it." Haha. She's so funny. It was the tiniest piece, but I thanked her anyway and enjoyed the tiny piece. 

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