The importance of therapy homework

The girls doing nightly therapy homework. Amaya does a great job of doing therapy homework without gripping or complaining. Lidie is sweet and sometimes joins Amaya for exercises. Therapy homework has been so important in helping Amaya lengthen, heal and recover quickly and so well. The other day a woman with PFFD mentioned to me the importance of therapy during a lengthening. She said that when she did her lengthening she didn't keep up with her therapy exercises and her muscles didn't grow as much as her bone did. She said she had a hard time walking for about two years after her lengthening and needed a cane to help her. I'm so glad that Amaya has done such a great job of doing her therapy at her sessions and at home. It has made such a difference. For anyone getting ready to start a lengthening I would stress how important therapy is to the lengthening process. Both at physical therapy and at home.

I love this picture of the girls cuddling in the lobby before therapy on Friday. 

Amaya started by doing high knees, trying to kick her butt, then kicking the soccer ball against the wall. Melissa mentioned that she could tell how well Amaya's balance was when she was kicking the soccer ball. 

While standing on her left leg Amaya moved the cones form one stack to another. She was steady and not wobbly.

More balance and cone work.

Stool races in the hall. Amaya went forward and backward alternating legs. Melissa said that going forward and backward using different muscles.

Then they did some running work in the hall. Melissa was happy with her running and saw some improvement.

Amaya needed some help doing backward lifts. 

Amaya did her backward leg lifts with weights on. See how high her leg got!

Then Melissa had her do a new exercise. She tied a band to her foot and had her pull her foot forward. We'll try adding this to our nightly therapy routine.

Then Amaya started her knee bends. She made 142 her goal for the day. She started at 120 degrees then jumped to 127, then 133. As she got close to 140 degrees she asked if she could just go to 140 degrees instead of 142. I could tell she was in pain. But she pressed on and made sure to get to 140 degrees. When she was done she said her pain was at a "five." But didn't need any pain medication. 

On Saturday we went to the Cabrillo Aquarium in San Pedro for a bit. We were there almost a year ago. We went the weekend before Amaya had her fixator put on to distract the girls. Its hard to believe its been almost a full year. Wow.