Broken Promises

Chapter 14 - Florida, Part 2

February 19, 2001, Day Fifteen - One HBO and PT

Your treatments went well today. You were definitely more alert than usual. We took you to your first visit to a physical therapist who was recommended to us due to his high success rate. The therapist was a little out of the mainstream. He did not like splints or the use of drugs, such as Baclofen, to treat spasticity. He also was against traditional range-of-motion exercises. His view was that instead of using force to treat spasticity (over tight muscles), you should use the patient's own body to relax these muscles. According to him, the spasticity was caused by some muscles being too stimulated while the opposite muscle was inadequately excited leading to imbalance. He used a combination of ice and vibration. For the hands, he used ice to stimulate the muscles that would normally open the hand all the way up to the fingernail beds. Then he stimulated the same muscles with a massager. I could definitely tell you were receiving stimulation to the muscles. It worked really well. I could feel the quick decrease in muscle tension. After relaxing the muscles, he would then perform gentle range-of-motion exercises. He also used it to relax your knees and ankles. He used a myofascial technique to relax your tight muscles in your neck, back, and other parts of your body. You were definitely very calm for the rest of the day. I think the techniques he used could be very useful combined with the occupational and physical therapy you received back at home.

The physical therapy session was over two hours and caused us to miss your afternoon hyperbaric session. We decided to take you to the physical therapist daily (Monday-Friday) until we leave. It was a bit of a drive, but the results were undeniable.

February 20, 2001, Day Sixteen - Two HBO and PT

I took you to your morning appointment. You slept through the entire thing. Then it was off to your physical therapy session. The therapist seemed to be doing you a lot of good. He worked on your neck and the curvature in you back. You loosened up a lot. After the session, we got caught in construction, and we were thirty-five minutes late to your afternoon hyperbaric treatment. Fortunately, they still let you go into the chamber.

February 21, 2001, Day Seventeen - Two HBO

We did not go to your physical therapist today. I was able to take you to your second appointment. Since the maximum treatment time for most is thirty days, a lot of people have finished their therapy and gone back home. We are now the experts speaking to the newcomers as they come in with questions and hope.

February 20, 2001, Day Eighteen - One HBO and PT

I got all the way to the center today and got very nauseated. I came back to the hotel, and we ended up missing the morning treatment. We were all starting to get very worn out with the busy schedule. We called to check on the van today. We were told that it would be at least another week and a half before it was fixed. They had to order some parts. We are hoping that we can get back before your second birthday on March 9th.

We took you to the physical therapist at 12:30 pm. You have definitely been much looser since you have been seeing this guy. He used sensory training that included slowly spinning you in a chair. The goal is to trigger your vestibular (inner ear) balance system. Today he spun you around eight times. It was neat to see your eyes react to the sudden stop at the end. After the treatment, you seemed to enjoy it. Fortunately, the construction was done, and we were able to make good time back.

Things were very hectic here, but we felt this was worth trying. The results have been subjectively great. It has been draining on everyone, but, in my opinion, you have shown a lot of improvements. Your breathing is much easier. You are more relaxed. You got your knee reflex. You seem to be much more alert. You are moving your toes individually a lot more than usual. Your spasticity has improved. You also seem to be more "awake," much more than you have ever been. It is a bunch of little, but critical things, that have been improved. Issues which can be a definite quality of life improvement.