Claire resumed her rehab schedule today following yesterday’s recovery break. We were told to expect the phenol injections to take two to three days before effects would take hold and the Botox three to five. I noticed substantial differences this morning when Claire woke up for her first diaper change. Claire’s therapists were equally excited when they started working with her: there is a noticeable improvement already in Claire’s muscle rigidity. We are looking forward to seeing how improved she is after the treatment has taken full effect.
The improvement allowed Claire to complete her sessions in a much more relaxed state. Lori, Claire’s occupational therapist, still had to battle with Claire’s surly attitude in the early morning (an early morning for Claire is anything before 11:00 AM). Despite the fact that Claire is not a morning person, Lori was able to flex Claire’s wrists and arms farther than before and with relative ease. Mary, Claire’s physical therapist, drew the long straw and got to work with Claire while she was alert and calm. Claire was our new stretchy, Gumby toy today and we enjoyed seeing just how much further she could bend. She did a great a job.
Claire’s final session today was with Susan, the neuropsychologist. I got to administer Claire’s Rappaport test today and she scored a 1.0. We will continue to give her the test after discharge to track her progress and help inform her therapy efforts. Claire did not cooperate for the vision portion today, refusing to open her eyes. For some reason she didn’t like the idea of lights being shined in her eyes. Go figure.
The rest of the day was quiet. We continued to make plans for going home and spent time together where we could. Tiffany and I started making our way through a six part series on the history of comedy in America. Claire joined us for one of the episodes. She seemed to like it.
Thank you for your support and enjoy the end of your work week!
Our Claire Journal 