UVA Constraint Therapy ~ Day 3

Day 3 started with packing and checking out of the hotel.  We decided to spend the morning at a park that several people recommended called McGuffey Park.  It was a pretty cool park with unique play equipment.  We packed a lunch and had something to eat before heading to the hospital for therapy at 1pm.  It's always amazing to see the impact of the UVA program.  As you can see from the picture of our picnic, Reagan kicks it into full gear doing as much as she can with her left hand.  With Doritos in her right hand of course she'd eat her sandwich with her left!  All I can say is YAY!

After hitting thick traffic the day before, we decided to head to the hospital a little earlier.  Yes, I said traffic.  Yes, we are in Charlottesville.  It took 20 minutes to go 1.9 miles!  Walking through the hallways I couldn't help but notice Reagan find the left railing and practice putting her left hand up on the railing as Sue had been practicing with her.  My heart took a deep breath and I was reminded that we are in the right place to make the right things happen.

Reagan had a very productive session with Sue and spent a lot of time refining her skills.  Our big focus was once again wrist extension.  She played a fun game called Zoobles.  Reagan had to pick up the balls and place them on their "house" to get them to "pop" open and transform into different animals.  Then she would pick them up again to squeeze them back into a ball.  Every move so deliberate.  Every session I feel like I learn something new about the human body, how it works…or how it should work.  I had never realized that Reagan doesn't isolate her arm from the elbow.  When I asked why, Sue said it's the same reason she isn't able to isolate her fingers. So we spent some time practicing bending and extending from the elbow and although awkward at first, she quickly became more comfortable with the movement.  It will definitely be an activity we will be repeating next week.

After a few hours of therapy we got into the car and headed home. And with that we finished week one!