Graduation!

At Sada's physical therapy review last Tuesday, the team decided she's progressed enough that her basic need now is endurance and strength training - both so easy to work on during the summer without having to go to the clinic! Sada was thrilled not to have Sergio stretching her weekly and promised him she will work on her exercises so when we go back every 4-6 weeks she can show off. He will continue to keep tabs on her to make sure she's not compensating for balance or vision in ways that could turn into future problems. Just one extra appointment each week that I don't have to plan around brings such a sweet smile to my face - and she's earned a break. She is more limber than I've EVER seen her before, she can walk and run farther than ever before, and the workouts have affected her whole body from her walk to her sitting posture to even the way she holds her pencil while writing. Sergio has really helped her with a miraculous gross motor and balance recovery and thrown in a bunch of extra bonuses to boot. Everyone should have their own personal trainer for a few months at least once in a lifetime to knock out the bad habits we don't realize we have. But truth be told, Sada is glad to get rid of hers finally!

Yellow Brick Road

Well, more like black asphalt path, really. During physical therapy last night they were testing her strength, balance and endurance so we went on a 25 minute jaunt down the Provo River Parkway (just across the parking lot from the clinic). Sada was outwalking all of them and having a great time until we came to an underpass that was about a foot under water from the run-off. So, we turned around and headed back the other way. That was about 10 minutes into the walk and just enough time to start getting her a little tired. When she does get tired, her muscle strength on her left side really starts dragging and it's a little harder to keep her leg facing forward - it starts angling out to the side. We went for 15 more minutes of running and jogging just to see how much stamina she could pull up from her gut. She did remarkably well. I got to be her left-side guide so she wouldn't step off the trail into the river... not a great way to impress three therapists looking for improvement. :-)

Ouch!

Sergio worked Sada HARD today - she's never been so limber. He made her lie down on her back and do a butterfly (legs pulled up with feet touching) so her knees were touching the floor by the time we went home. She's had really rigid muscles since December, so to say it hurt is an understatement. Then after doing that, about 50 squat-and-stands and climbing up and down a wall ladder for 5 minutes, her legs were jello and shaking until she finally went to bed. She had her feet taped again, too, which has made big changes in her gait and balance. She's decided pain is the price you pay for perfection and she's going to get therer sooner or later!

I'm tired and bored and I've kinks in my legs...

Following up on the Dr. Seuss theme, Mayzie really gives a perfect description of Sada after Tuesday's physical therapy workout. Poor girl could barely walk without holding onto something because her legs were shaking so bad!

She's so much stronger than she was that now she gets to push to see what she's really capable of - namely balancing in different positions, landing steady after squat jumps, crossing midline hopscotch games and more. Rubbing arnica cream into her sore muscles helped and she went to sleep faster than any of the other kids. I'm going to add "Do Your Exercises" to her vitamin list so she'll remember her mini-workout every day and not lose what she worked so hard for. She also got taped again on her hands (to help with detail work) and back (structural posture support). Last week her arms were covered in bright blue Kinesio tape, so she changed it up and went with neon pink this time. We're going to hide it from Paige and Jason so they don't get any new ideas and duct tape themseves to the bed, or worse, to each other.

Another evaluation at physical therapy to see how far Sada's progressed. The results: she's improved leaps and bounds from where she was a month ago and still has plenty to work on for next month, as well. Skipping, running then stopping to pick up a ball without tipping over, and standing still are all about up to acceptable. Without depth perception it's a lot harder to judge distances or height changes when walking on uneven ground, so we'll have a lot more work in the throwing/catching and kicking categories just to learn about determining distances. Balancing on one foot is still WAY off - if she focuses on a wall or window she can last for about 3 seconds... improvement by 3 whole seconds over last month when she couldn't even attempt it. Patience is a virtue here because progress isn't overnight. Then again, according to the original outlook, she's months ahead of where she should be. I love my bug!