wednesday evening

where to start? over the last two days gen has not only been standing and stepping to her wheelchair, but taking steps forward (i mean that literally!) you may remember that in pt we had gotten her to her feet (gait belt plus leg support from her therapist and josh and me.) we had her lean on a table while standing up, giving her arms support while she held herself up. today amy got the idea to have her use the table as a sort of "walker." i held her arms steady on the table, josh and amy helped her move her feet forward one at a time, and gen moved her legs and held herself upright. we went 6 steps forward, took a break (she sat in a regular chair for the first time in a long time) and then we did 6 steps forward again before stepping to her chair. her vocalizations today were fine-tuning the differences between vowels. she was asked to say two words that were very similar, and to make enough difference between them for katie to tell what she said. (ex: mall/mull, fail/fell). in ot we did e stim and worked on pronation, which is the movement gen needs to dip food from a bowl and then move the spoon to her mouth. the wrist turns down and then up. to work on this today, we played yahtzee, and gen held the cup and poured out the dice for each play. this was a big first, for her to turn her wrists enough to do that, especially her left one. she has been eating using her right one, but courtney always helps her get the food on her utensil. keep in mind that things gen can do with e stim take a little time to become something she can do without it. the e stim makes the muscles feel the need to move. when they move, her brain gets the message that this is what it is supposed to feel like and look like. since she is relearning so much, this just gives her brain a helping hand. her ot therapists had a special surprise for gen and josh today: a small replica of their wedding cake, complete with gummy worms, gummy bears and pez dispensers. what fun! we thank God for all His mercies toward us, for gifted and caring therapists here, for loving and thoughtful friends back home. we are blessed indeed.

susan
ps jenny: gen says "i'm sure jon voight misspells his name all the time. sometimes i spell jerry with a "g"...and an "i"!!!