Strong support system

Today we had physical therapy. We haven't seen Jennifer in a week, and won't see her again until next week. I updated her on our appointment with Dr. Nelson. She said she had heard from his office as well. They let her know what was "normal" for Amaya's knee. I let her know that Dr. Nelson said we didn't need to extend physical therapy, and I asked her what she thought about that. She agreed and said that, Amaya does real well with her homework and "she's got a strong support system." She said because of that she's confident Amaya will do fine. It made me feel SO good to hear her say that about Amaya and us. I'm proud to be apart of Amaya's "strong support system." It's sometimes tiring, often emotionally draining and painful, somethings are frustrating (insurance), but its always rewarding. Thank you all for reading along, you are also a part of our support system and we appreciate it!

Jennifer said that the focus now will be twofold. One part is on building a homework program that we can use at home (and ways to add to it) and second is on building up Amaya's strength. 

                                       

Amaya did 3 sets of 12 with a 1lb weight on her ankle. Jennifer asked, "These are easier for you huh?" Amaya said, "Yeah"    It's great to see her improving. You can see how high she can lift her leg with the weight on. We're going to be adding a 1 lb weight to our therapy homework and working up to a 2 lb weight. 

Jennifer asked Amaya if she thought her knee was getting better. She said yes because she felt her knee was better, "more stable." 
"How can you tell" -Jennifer
"When I walk I feel a difference."-Amaya

Jennifer added a wall exercise for Amaya. We'll be adding this to our daily routine (2 sets of 10). 

Next she stepped down in front. Jennifer noticed Amaya was pretty wobbly. Jennifer reminded Amaya that control is key! Go slow-that's the key! Amaya kept losing her balance. Amaya said her leg was tired (seems to be when she's falling more) and she was in pain (pain level 4). But toward the end of the video you can see she's doing better.  When she switched to the side block work Amaya still has the tendency to go fast. So again Jennifer reminded her that, "control is key! Go slow-that's the key! 

Here she had Amaya switch weight over to left leg while doing leg lifts (onto tippy toes). Jennifer noticed Amaya's ankle is waving side to side, so said to "let's try to control it."
"Control the motion" is what Amaya needs to work on the most. Once she increases her strength this will come easier.