Saturday, September 27, 2008

Rehab Goings On

http://www.hemifoundation.org

Jessie goes to rehab 9 times a week. (3 Physical Therapy, 3 Occupational Therapy, and 3 Speech Therapy. Here is some video of some of her PT with Luke in Weatherford, at Parker County PhysiCare. Remember, that the left side of her body is controlled by the right side of her brain...which isn't there anymore! With each day that passes, the left side of her brain learns more and more of what the right-side used to take care of. This is fascinating!


The stair steps has to be my favorite one. Look at the concentration on her face. By the way, her shoes are simple Wal-Mart shoes, with the sole taken out of the left side. There are a whole lot of very expensive shoe options out there for AFOs, but we are finding Wal-Mart to be as good as any. You just have to take the sole out of the AFO shoe. Also, it may be hard to put on the first week or so.

I like this video too, because Luke is playing with Jessie and making her chase him. She is having fun and doesn't even realize it is therapy.

She should actually be able to play a game of Kick Ball in a few months.

This is a good video of Jessie using her left arm, but don't let it fool you. She will not use that Left Arm without some encouragement. I think that sometimes she simple wishes that arm wasn't there. The idea is to get her to finally realize that she can use that arm and hand as a tool even if it is sub-functional. Then, it is like a domino effect...the more she uses it, the more functional it gets. Right now, though, she doesn't even want it on her body.

Praises to God for how far Jessie has come so far. She is now 3 1/2 months post surgery!

Cris

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Keep up the good work. You look awesome!! We have a hard time getting Sydney to use her right arm/hand and have to keep reminding her it is there to help out. She is also making great progress in her therapy. Sydney has been home for over a month and has a little over 3 weeks left in the day rehab program. Our lives are returning to a more "normal" pace and Syd's website isn't getting as many updates. We can relate to your post from a week or so ago regarding updates. Everyone keep up the wonderful job you are doing. Hi to everyone!

Wendy, Tony, Kendal & Sydney

Anonymous said...

Jesse:
You go girl! I am so proud of the hard work you are doing- I know it must keep you and your parents very busy going to therapy 9 times a week- but the efforts are paying off. Your beautiful smile is the best part. You seem so determined for a girl of six. I wish you well in the coming months as you keep regaining lost skills. God bless you sweet angel.

Anonymous said...

What an awesome job you are doing, Jessie!! Keep up the great work. I love to see your progress.
The AZ Jones's

Kelly said...

3 years out, and Abby still wishes that left arm would disappear - then she wouldn't have therapy. Lately however, she is starting to treat it as something that does tricks - don't really care as long as she uses it. She will hold it, and every now and then I catch her using it without thinking. I'm hopeful that time will increase her abilities too - even this far out.

Anonymous said...

Hi there!!! Tammy here from NE Maryland - you are doing sooooooo well! Keep up the good work chica and I do believe that you will be playing kickball very, VERY soon!

HUGS!

Anonymous said...

Wow... I just finished reading your entire blog from the last entry until today's date. I am so impressed with your little girl, Jessie. She has so much strength and will to live. God has blessed her in so many ways. Not only helping you find the right path to an incredible doctor, but also in getting your family (her especially) through the surgery, and back to a normal life. Who thought she would be walking and riding a bike ever again?? There is always hope but none so other than seeing results. Long months you endured as you watched your baby go through the fight of her life and I commend you for being so strong for her. You may have felt like a complete loony bird on the inside, but you were able to be composed on the outside for Jessie's sake. You also organized a wonderful organization to help other children with Jessie's condition. I'm sure you will touch more lives in that project than you ever imagined. Now, my story:
My husband is in the hospital getting ready to face a huge brain operation and I am scared, nervous, excited, and ready to go home. We are at the University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville, VA. He has a rare giant aneurysm along with another rare genetic diease that causes the blood vessels in his head to be deformed. He will go through an IC EC Bypass open craniotomy in the coming days. Along with that, he had a stroke to boot because of it. The stroke caused the doctors to decide on surgery after 7 years of "just dealing with it". See, he had headaches and seizures as a result which are now controlled so the doctors decided 7 years ago that he had a greater risk of damage from surgery. My husband's surgery is somewhat similar to Jessie's in that the doctors have to open his skull and operate on the brain. The stroke already caused weakness on his right side, he has a sort of crooked smile (comes and goes), and his speech doesn't come out as it should. Plus, my husband being a very intelligent man, now has aphasia which affects the ability to think of words you want to say. I created a blog a couple weeks ago which describes my husband's condition and his progress from having a stroke just 3 weeks ago. Please read it when you get time and keep my husband in your prayers. Surgery is scheduled for Thursday of this week and I get more and more scared for him. Frankly, I'm scared for myself too. I don't even like to think about my own feelings because it's supposed to be about my husband. I can't help to see the bad things along with the good. Of course in every surgery there is risk of death but most of the time, good things outweigh bad things. I think, what would my life be like without him, or how would I start over, or would I sell the house he built with his own hands and move...etc. He's my life you know. If you have any words of encouragement, I'd be happy to hear them. I am positive most of the time but, and that big but always seems to nag at me. The web address for my blog is http://www.xanga.com/updatesonjason. The page is set up differently than yours because you have to go to the bottom and hit view older entries to get to the beginning. Again, I commend you and your family for everything you've had to go through. God is great and I have faith that he will get us through our struggles. Thank you for reading and God bless <3

LeeAnn said...

Jessie: You are amazing! I love to watch your videos and see the progress you've made. Keep working hard. :o)
LeeAnn
Richardson, TX

Holly said...

its very inspirational to watch her videos, i want to show them to my mother in law

Anonymous said...

Last weekend I was headed to the check out lane at the local Wal-Mart when I passed you guys. Kristi was leading the pack. The boys, decked out in ball uniforms, were hanging off the cart, under the cart and pushing the cart in typical boy fashion. And sweet Miss Jessie was determined to keep up and doing a fantasic job! Keeping a protective eye and bringing up the rear was Cris. And the thought hit me...how great is that life has returned to normal? The therapies and medications will continue for awhile but in the grand scheme...life is good. How wonderful it is to return to the simple things...even running to Wal-Mart with the whole family to pick up a few items. You are blessed in so many ways and have inspired not only a community but people around the world! Best wishes for continued success.