Three sets of ten

We had Amaya's first actual therapy session on Friday. The therapist had Amaya do some exercises and made some adjustments as she watched her. She stressed the importance of proper alignment when Amaya does her therapy exercises. Especially when she is doing her side legs lifts. She observed Amaya and pointed out that when she does them her leg is turning in to compensate for the pain and was muscles.  The bad thing is that when her leg turns in she's working muscles other than the ones she needs to be working on. So when she does the exercises at home we need to be with her to check for proper alignment and make any needed adjustments. The therapist upped Amaya's sets from 2 sets of 10 to 3 sets of 10 every day. She said what she was doing was a bit too easy for her. She said she'll continue to make adjustments as Amaya progresses to challenge her, but not hurt her. Its about finding the right amount for her and adjusting it as she increases strength.

Jennifer said she hadn't got ahold of Dr. Nelson yet to ask about Amaya's knee. She's hoping to hear from him this week. I am too, I've been concerned and worried about her knee. I'm hoping to get some answers soon. She also suggested that Amaya wear her knee brace at school during P.E.. She said ideally she should be wearing it anytime she's running, but to not stress over it. When we see Dr. Nelson I'll ask him how often he'd like her to wear it.

This was the girls enjoying the view outside while we waited for Amaya's appointment. 

Look at this cutie! This was a break in between exercises.

This was a new exercise the therapist had Amaya do. She had to squat and side step back and forth. Amaya said this was challenging and painful. 

Jennifer had Amaya step up and down on this 4" step. Its half the height of the 8" step she stepped up on during the evaluation. The strange thing was that this step was much harder for he than the 8" one. When Amaya stepped down her left leg was very unstable, and weak. As a result you could see Amaya's right leg lean in and try to stabilize and support it (like a crutch or scaffolding). Jennifer said it required more balance and this was tougher for Amaya to do. Jennifer realigned Amaya's leg and had her do it again. And, again. Jennifer said that Amaya needs to gain a lot of stabilization. She said the key thing sis to "Slow the motion" and "go slow." So that's what she did. The slower she went the tougher it was for Amaya. This caused Jennifer to add another exercise for PT homework.