Hi Everyone,
We hope you all are celebrating the New Year with those closest to you!
It was a good day for Corey. I had the day off from work and the team scheduled me to sit in on all her therapy sessions. I had no idea how busy that gym is during the day! Corey is working harder than ever to respond to the exercises and the commands so the team can document her progress.
PT and OT saw responses 3 out of 5 times for eyes moving to midline, wiggling toes and the new highlight “Kick the ball”. At one point today, Corey was kicking her right leg and wouldn’t stop! The therapists then told her, “Corey, stop kicking!” We laughed and put words in Corey’s mouth…’first you want me to kick, now you don’t want me to kick…you people can’t make up your mind!’ Regardless of the indecisiveness, Corey is kicking her leg! That achievement is worth celebrating.
Corey has been clenching her teeth and hasn’t opened her mouth for anyone. I have often teased that who ever gets her to open her mouth will Win the Prize. Guess what? I Win the Prize. The speech therapist brought lemon water ice today for the cold spoon test. This is a type of exercise to stimulate facial responses, swallow reflex and control, and to get Corey to open her mouth. I held the spoon, offered Corey the water ice and asked her to open her mouth. For the very first time, she did! We even had a response to stick out your tongue. She didn’t blow raspberries at me but she did make the motion to stick her tongue through the teeth! Another achievement worth celebrating!
Corey Tonight is an ending; tonight is a beginning. The New Year has nothing but possibilities yet to be discovered. Our resolution is to focus on each day, most importantly the progress of each day. The present is all we have, here and now. The rest hasn’t happened yet. It doesn’t mean there is nothing to look forward to nor does it mean that we can’t dream, hope and look to the future. What we will do is celebrate each day, each step, each kick, and each new accomplishment. 2011 will be filled with many reasons to celebrate and be grateful, we promise! Happy dreams honey tomorrow is the first day of new beginnings, xoxo