When Amaya started her session she said she had no pain (a zero on the one to ten scale), but afterwards she said it was at a five. Jay said that was normal since she was working her legs so hard. She walked out to the car with her walker just fine and didn't want any pain medication. She did fine the rest of the day at school and didn't ask for any pain medication all day. I wondered how she would do at night, but she did fine. She didn't wake up in pain or need any medication. It's nice having her be able to work hard, without being in pain or needing pain medication. Jay was careful to push Amaya to a point where she could feel it but not too much. He said we should do the same at home.
Jay taught me this way to stretch Amaya's quad and hamstring muscles at the same time. While one leg is up its stretches the hamstring muscle and while the other is down we stretch the quads. Jay said its important to stretch both of Amaya's legs because they both need somethimg. Her left leg needs the muscles stretched so that her muscles can loosen up to make walking easier. Her right leg needs it as well because its been working overtime to support her weight. Both legs need to be worked on as we do homework at home.
As Amaya sat at the edge of the bed her knee naturally sat at almost 90 degrees. Here's Jay measuring Amaya's knee. She got 100 degrees. Then she did some squats and with more work she was able to get to 105 degrees. At that point she felt pain in her knee and couldn't bend any more. But, 105 degrees is really good!
Here's another look at her knee bending. I'm still amazed, and in awe of how easy it comes now. Jay massaged Amaya's thigh muscles and suggested that we do that at home as well. He said her muscles tighten up more in the cold weather.
While Jay was working with Amaya I overheard the woman behind her talking to her therapist about Amaya. She said that she was impressed with how well Amaya was doing at therapy. Her therapist agreed and told her that Amaya has been coming for awhile now and working hard. It made me very proud, because I know just how hard Amaya has had to work for so long.
Jay wanted to show Amaya other ways to stretch her quadricep muscles. He said most people can stand and pull their foot behind them to get a good stretch on the quads, but Amaya isn't able to support herself on one foot just yet. So he had her use her walker, and a stool to modify the exercise. He said we can use stuff around our house to modify the exercises as well.
Here's another way to stretch her quads without worrying about her falling. Jay had her get on all fours then lean her bottom back to try to sit on her feet. She was able to lean back a bit, but not very far.
Here's Amaya doing her physical therapy homework at home. I had her doing a different exercise during each commercial break. You can see Lidie in the background doing her own stretches. Amaya did a really great job of cooperating each time I asked her to do her physical therapy homework. I spread the exercises throughout the day since she had so many to work on. We did them in the morning, in between commercials, before bed, as she was getting ready for the day, after going potty, as she walked. Amaya did a lot of walking and each time we had her work on starting with her left leg, spending more time on the left leg, shifting her weight, stepping with her heel first, and keeping her foot straight.
It was a lot to work on, and on Saturday we had to squeeze it in amidst a busy day with family. But, I was happy with how cooperative Amaya was and how hard she worked.
Amaya was playing with her cousin and Lidie. She used her ace bandage (the one she had wrapped around her leg when her fixator came off) as a belt and light saber holder. She's used that for many things; when she plays doctor, to tie things, to wrap her dolls, etc. It's fun watching her be so creative with it.
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