Well, Little Miss Grace has had two weeks of physical therapy under her belt now, and we're thrilled to report that there's been significant improvement so far! I'm taking the therapist's word on that, however -- I don't see much a change with my naked eye, but they seem to know what they're doing, and saying. On Tuesdays and Fridays at 10:00 a.m., we head over to the hospital for "exercises," as Grace refers to her sessions, and today was the first good day that we've had.
Grace had been a fairly difficult patient -- at least for me as I watched her inattention, lack of focus, jumping instead of sitting, running after a toy instead of climbing the ladder. I found myself repeatedly apologizing to the therapists, but they brushed it off, apparently quite used to this kind of behavior. It just killed me to watch her at times, wondering why she wouldn't listen, why she wouldn't focus, why she wouldn't do what she was told. It's costs a tremendous amount of money, and it's for her own good! Yeah ... like a 3 year old cares about that.
We see two therapists, and I prefer the woman we have on Friday (could it be because her name is Sue?). Her approach is very different than the other therapist -- she's calm, laid-back, soft-spoken. Grace seems to respond well to her. And today I was blown away at how well she did, only a few times displaying her inattentiveness, jetting off suddenly to grab a ball rather than squish her foot in soap. Only a few times today; progress!
Today Grace was strategically strapped with Kinesio tape -- what Kerri Walsh wore on her shoulder during the summer Olympics. It's very cool -- somehow, this stretchy strip of band-aid type material works with the muscles, either relaxing them or stimulating/manipulating them where necessary. Now, Grace has three finger-like strips on the bottom of her foot, relaxing those muscles which naturally want to constrict and curl like a claw. Then a thick, long strip runs down the entire length of her lower leg, bending below the ankle, in an attempt to interact with those muscles to pull the foot up and out, counteracting its tendency to allow the foot to curve inward. Very cool stuff. I just hope Grace tolerates this for the next 3 days, and then further taping after that.
So yes, progress is being made! Although "Miss Sue" told me today that she should probably stay away from ballet (she's not built like a ballerina anyway, so that won't be a problem) and she won't be able to wear high-heeled shoes. Now THAT will be a problem, for Grace is a girly-girl through and through. She loves shoes. Well, who knows ... if Kristi Yamaguchi can wear stilettos while competing on Dancing with the Stars, then I'm sure Grace will be OK ...
Off to lunch now, and then to put one worked-out little girl to bed. And hopefully Mommy too.
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