Monday, April 20, 2009

Sorry peeps, there are going to be no pictures this post. Donald had to take Keli'i to the airport and unfortunately missed a lot of the PT/OT this morning. Nonetheless, Christy had a very full day of rehab and even some fun, relaxing time towards the end of the day.

PT focused on two things today, stretching in general and work focusing on her shoulder. They spent a good portion of the time stretching Christy out in multiple positions. From what they are saying, Christy is getting pretty flexible. The second portion of PT was focused on her right shoulder. They have been working on increasing her range of motion and flexibility to improve overall blood flow to the area. They want her to start using her right arm more, so they have been focusing on it for the last couple of rehab sessions.

Once PT was done, Christy spent some time with the speech therapist Melea. Same as usual as they worked mostly on strengthening her tongue. It continues to favor the right side, but is hindering her speech less and less according to Keli'i.

Throughout the day, Christy was in OT. They worked on independent living types of things. For example, they let Christy dress her self for the most part. They are still aiding her, but she does most of the work getting ready. They also spent a good portion of OT working on her vision again. Mostly similar to the pictures that we posted last week Friday. OT was a little shorter today because Christy and Donald got a chance to have a good long conversation with Dr. Ripley, the "big Doc" working with Christy. He asked Donald and Chris what they thought about pushing the envelope a little with her drug treatments. Dr. Ripley wants to increase the amount of one drug that is supposed to strongly aid in Christy being able to control her movements a little more. The down side to the treatment would be that Christy may feel increased nausea. I think Christy was hesitant at first because of how sick she used to feel when her vision wasn't as good. But Christy being the good sport she is decided to agree and give it a shot. Let's all hope and pray that she does not feel the nausea.

Christy also got a chance to attend an art class that they have once a week. The Doc's call it Therapeutic recreation where they allow the patients to work on arts and crafts as art of their rehab. Pretty cool and Donald said that Christy is really enjoying that part of the rehab. Good to mix it up and get her working on something else besides the daily routine.

Finally, to end the rigorous day of work, Donald got Christy a half hour full body massage as a treat for working so hard. I can guarantee you that Christy was enjoying every second of that massage.

On a side note, Jodi Leong of KITV4 called Donald today asking if it would be alright with Christy and Donald if they arranged for a camera crew to come and film her rehab as an additional follow up story. Donald just has to check with the hospital tomorrow to see if they are OK with it. So, stay tuned and we will let you guys know when Christy may be on the news again.

Good night, gotta get up early. Keep it up Chris, we love you and are very proud of all of the work you are putting in. I think I speak for everyone when I say that you are truly an inspiration.