It was a challenging day. Claire was not overly agitated but was inconsolable almost all day. She seemed fed up with the situation and no amount of yelling and crying helped. Claire had brief breaks. They were few, however, and short lived.
I stayed home with Claire all of today while Tiffany helped tie up some loose ends for before school starts tomorrow. I stayed home in large part due to the same reason I didn’t post last night. We had a late night soccer game yesterday, our last of the season. We were short sided which meant there were no substitutes and I got to run the entire game. While it was good for my cardiovascular health, the full kick to my right ankle did not bode well for my body. When I got home we couldn’t see my ankle it was so swollen. It is a bright red today and showing shades of black and blue. While I don’t type with my ankle when I write posts, the night’s activity kept me away from the computer. It also made me a homebody today. So Tiffany ran errands and I stayed home with Claire.
Though Claire’s day was rough, we did notice some improvements. Claire’s range of motion continues to improve particularly in her arms. We have been focusing most of our effort on Claire’s legs which seem to cause her the most discomfort. We had planned to intensify her arm rehab this week. We are finding it may not be necessary. Despite that attention lack, Claire’s arms have become more flexible. Her left arm has always been tight, and now it is much easier to maneuver and manipulate. We are pleasantly surprised.
We hope her legs follow suit soon. While we are seeing improvement in Claire’s calves and Achilles, her quadriceps and hamstrings are getting more sensitive and sore. Her feet are more flexible but they seem to maintain their flexion rather than fall to a natural position. We continue to use aggressive therapy like the percussion massager, the stander, deep tissue massages and stretches; however, we haven’t gotten to the point where all the tension is worked out of her legs. It’s been a game of inches. We hope bigger strides happen soon.
Heidi came into the kitchen today while I was making dinner. She was in a reflective mood. School is finally upon her and she was thinking about this, her last summer. Her opening line was “I hope Claire can walk and talk by next summer.” It was an appropriate summary for our summer of 2010: the story behind it is tragic, and we remain hopeful for things to come.
Thank you for you support through this summer. We wish you and your family a prosperous school year. Thank you for keeping Claire in your prayers and hopes. Goodnight.
Our Claire Journal 