Hi Everyone,
The commute to Bryn Mawr in addition to 3 hours of therapy is very difficult on Corey. We are pushing her to build her stamina and some days it’s a miserable fail! The coaches make every effort to accommodate Corey’s abilities and limitations with great compassion.
Our day is very long due to the team building in rest periods between sessions. This week we are trying a new start time; 10:30 instead of 10am. Some of the rest periods are a bit shorter and the day ends a bit later, but we are experimenting to see if a delayed start time will help make her morning routine easier. They have also provided a twin bed in a private therapy room to use during her rest periods.
Corey’s morning began at 5am. The ride up to Bryn Mawr was uneventful but by the time we arrived she was beginning to get tired before we started her first session (this is a red flag for me). She was quickly fading as we met with our substitute Coach, Sue, for PT. Corey doesn’t know her and refused to work with her. We instantly improvised and told Sue that Corey is my personal trainer. She is very good at teaching me how to do her exercises so I can finally get into shape! Corey agreed to work with me in order to show Sue “my” progress walking and exercising with her as my trainer. We literally did a lap around the gym…approximately 110 feet. We got through session #1.
Instead of heading to the cafeteria for our lunch hour, Corey took an hours nap. By 1:00 she was well rested and more cooperative with Coach Kate, ST. The ladies worked half the session and the other half shared lunch. Unfortunately, Corey is having issues adjusting to new faces. OT’s afternoon session didn’t go as well…I’m officially the Assistant Coach stepping in to run our sessions.
Our day closed working with Dr. Janet. She is a Psychologist that works with the Out Patient Program. Corey enjoyed meeting her. We spent the last 45 minutes of our day talking with her. When Corey and Dr. Janet met, Corey announced she was 16. The ladies spoke about Corey’s interests, family and school as well as her hopes and dreams. They discussed the accident, recovery and Corey’s frustrations. Dr. Janet was amazed at Corey’s communication skills but also very pleased to see that Corey was able to express some of her emotions with such detail and depth. By the time the session was coming to a close, Dr. Janet asked Corey how old she was and Corey replied, “I’ll be turning 20 in October” ~ She was very present! We are looking forward to working with Dr. Janet to help us through this awakening stage.
I thought I would close by sharing a humorous moment.
We arrived at Bryn Mawr a little early only to find all the handicapped parking spots taken. We had to park at the back of the parking lot. Because we were early, Corey and I sat in the van listening to the radio, singing and chatting about multiple subjects. Just as it was time to go inside, I noticed some of the Handicapped parking spots were now free. I asked Corey, “What do you think? Should we move the car”? She thought for a moment and unemotionally stated, “You’re pushing me so I don’t care. If I had to walk then I’d care”. I must tell you I laughed out loud for several minutes! Little bugger…she’s such a teenager, xoxo
PS – Happy National Hot Dog day…Uncle Tom unfortunately is away on business and we couldn’t call him personally but hope he celebrated.