On Monday, we took Weslie for her OT evaluation at Vanderbilt. We were excited to finally get in to see the OT there, as we know that Weslie needs just alittle bit more help than what she is receiving through her school. So we went to the appointment ready for them to talk about the different aspects of therapy that they would be introducing to help Wes.
We had no idea that they would actually be putting them in place THAT day!
Restrictive casting. That's what the kind of therapy that Weslie is doing right now is called. The therapist actually casts her dominate arm (her left arm) from the fingers (including the thumb) to above the elbow. Therefore, making Weslie HAVE to use the affected arm/hand.
At first, Weslie was unsure about what was going on.
The therapist tried to distract her by putting on a video of Strawberry Shortcake but Wes was too intent on watching what was going on with her arm.
The cast was put on and Wes immediately asked if she could take it off. She started crying asking to take it off.
We got home and Weslie has finally accepted that we are NOT going to take the cast off. She will wear the cast until Monday, then we will take it off here, give her a good bath, and return to OT on Tuesday where they will do a therapy session ending with putting a new cast on. We will continue that schedule at least until the end of the year.
As far as results, we are seeing that she is definitely using her right hand (she has to!). Things that she would've said no to just a week ago, she is now doing without even thinking about it. Finer movements are still a chore. Things like writing...she can hold the crayon if you put it in her hand, but her hand just isn't strong enough to press down so that the crayon makes a mark on the paper. Also, I handed her a bag of crayons...making sure that her fingers were around the bag, and she simply isn't strong enough to hold it. The bag fell straight to the ground once I let go.
But so far, we have seen progress! We can only hope that it will continue. And that once the cast is off of the left hand...that she hasn't lost too much movement and all from being immobile for so long.
Let the casting continue!
We had no idea that they would actually be putting them in place THAT day!
Restrictive casting. That's what the kind of therapy that Weslie is doing right now is called. The therapist actually casts her dominate arm (her left arm) from the fingers (including the thumb) to above the elbow. Therefore, making Weslie HAVE to use the affected arm/hand.
At first, Weslie was unsure about what was going on.
The therapist tried to distract her by putting on a video of Strawberry Shortcake but Wes was too intent on watching what was going on with her arm.
The cast was put on and Wes immediately asked if she could take it off. She started crying asking to take it off.
We got home and Weslie has finally accepted that we are NOT going to take the cast off. She will wear the cast until Monday, then we will take it off here, give her a good bath, and return to OT on Tuesday where they will do a therapy session ending with putting a new cast on. We will continue that schedule at least until the end of the year.
As far as results, we are seeing that she is definitely using her right hand (she has to!). Things that she would've said no to just a week ago, she is now doing without even thinking about it. Finer movements are still a chore. Things like writing...she can hold the crayon if you put it in her hand, but her hand just isn't strong enough to press down so that the crayon makes a mark on the paper. Also, I handed her a bag of crayons...making sure that her fingers were around the bag, and she simply isn't strong enough to hold it. The bag fell straight to the ground once I let go.
But so far, we have seen progress! We can only hope that it will continue. And that once the cast is off of the left hand...that she hasn't lost too much movement and all from being immobile for so long.
Let the casting continue!
1 comment:
That's awesome! Go Weslie!
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