Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Zadyn's Physical Therapy Update (as requested by Dad)

Zadyn went to physical therapy yesterday (Tuesday) and did GREAT. She is usually not really into doing much for the therapist, so it was a good day. She did repeated repetitions of bending her left arm to her mouth, right shoulder, nose, chin, etc. She holds a small baby in her right hand that "watches" what she does. The therapist would hold a puzzle piece up and Zadyn would reach up and get it and then put in on the puzzle board. She continued to do this for about half an hour! She has never had that many reps in a row without getting tired! But, she eventually did get bored/tired/annoyed and so we switched to something else.
The PT got out a bowl of dried beans and hid small blocks in it. Zadyn had to reach into the bowl with her left hand and FEEL for the block. She couldn't do it. She had to be able to see it before she could find it. She she would "dig" the beans out and around until she could see the block and then pull it out. We are to work with her on this to develop her fine feeling (real acute feeling in her left hand is pretty nonexistent).
After cleaning up the beans from the floor, we got out the plastic slide and a heavier baby doll. Zadyn has to use both hands to put the baby on the slide and push it down. Plus she has to use both hand to climb the slide and go down herself. After the slide, we hung the swing from the ceiling and let her swing on it. The PT hold the swing just right and makes Zadyn pull herself back while holding on the swings rope, this allowing the bicep to have mini-reps.
The PT also noticed that Zadyn's bicep is getting bigger. It was quite noticeable now as she was working. It is still not as big as the right arm, but a LOT bigger than it has ever been. (When she was about 8 months old, you couldn't feel a muscle at all, only bone-- so ya, it's good.) The weight bracelets are working great. We are going to increase the weight by 1/4 ounce every other day until it becomes too hard for her to use. At this point, we'll back off 1/4 ounce and keep that weight for a week or so.
Next week we will be in the pool again, which should be fun because every time we talk about filling up our little wading pool and letting the kids swim, Zadyn says, no swim Holly (the PT). So we'll see how next week goes and swimming with Holly.

3 comments:

Dad said...

That is too cool! She will definitely be roughing up the bros in short order.

Linda Clark said...

Sounds like some fun therapy! You'll have to watch her when a new brother or sister comes into the family...she may just climb up the slide with the baby and push him/her down the slide!

Paulene Davis said...

I love to hear the progress of Zadyn and really enjoyed reading this post. You are a very dedicated Mother and I am very impressed with your skills.