Physical Therapy Session

     In some ways today was dreaded in my mind. I thought that once we did physical therapy I would feel overwhelmed by all the things I'd be encouraged to do to help Leo develop his muscle tone. I also thought it would be confirmed and I'd simply get insight into how to help Leo feel comfortable as his muscles got tighter and tighter and his mobility left him.

    Well, today did not leave me feeling that way. Brad and I were very encouraged with how Leo is doing, hopeful for his future, and better equipped to help him. The therapist gave us great activities to do with Leo, explained hypertonia and muscle tone in the most understandable way that we've heard, and also had great things to say about where he is at. 

    The biggest things we are working on with Leo are his eye tracking and bringing his motions to the midline. To help his eyes, she told us to use something with very contrasting colors (she suggested black and white or primary colors), put it in his eye sight and move it slowly horizontally (we are working on tracking horizontally before vertically and in a circle). She set Leo in his lounger and showed us how to do it with a styrofoam plate with two eyes and a mouth sharpied on. To work with his muscles right now we are focusing on supporting his shoulders when he is sitting or lying down. Because of his low tone in the trunk, he needs some extra support behind his shoulders to help him bring his hands to the middle of his body (instead of just sprawled out). 

    Helping him bring his hands to his midline is our first step in helping him with some coordination issues that the brain damage will most likely affect. Let me see if I can explain what the therapist explained. So, hypertonia. Hypertonia (high muscle tone) is increased resistance to passive movement. Saying that he has high tone in his limbs does not mean that he won't be able to move them. What it means is that when you go to move his muscles, he may not be able to "turn them off," thus, the muscles will be very rigid, stiff and difficult to relax. Now, what we don't know is how hypertonic he will become. But, her explanation gave us more of an understanding and hope that we can work with him in this. What therapy helps with is strengthening weaker muscles, balancing out the tone in his body and helping him learn coordination and learn to relax muscles. Now, if he were to become spastic, then that would mean that his muscles would be "on all the time."

    I want to be clear that this is all very much in laymen's terms. And all of this does not mean that he will be totally fine. We very much understand that things could develop for Leo in a way that we don't want them to. At the initial MRI results meeting, the neurologist told us Leo could very likely be hypertonic and spastic. But the best we can do right now is help him, work with him, and enjoy where we are at. I am thankful for where he's at and what he can do right now. Right now, basically he has some high tone but he is still doing many things that he should be doing (or on his way to doing them).

   The therapist made some comments during the session that stuck with us. She said he is definitely tracking with his eyes! That was cool because I had been saying that Leo was looking at me and Brad was much more hesitant to believe it. And it's hard not to overanalyze things sometimes. But, she was very pleased to see him focus on something and be aware that it was moving. As far as his muscle tone, he is bringing his hands in when supported, starting to bring them toward his mouth, lifting his head up and turning it both ways on his stomach, kicking his legs, and reaching his hands towards his knees. 

    Some specific prayer requests on my heart:

- that he would not become spastic in his muscles, and that his muscle tone would not get worse. I really don't know the best way to word this request, but just that God's hand would be on his muscles. My desire is that Leo would be able to use his muscles like I use mine, but God knows.

- that he would continue to gain strength in his eyes, focus for longer, and track

- that he would SMILE (a big desire in Mommy and Daddy's hearts is that he would be responsive to us)

- that he would not develop seizures (this is random and out of the blue, but it pops into my brain every now and again. It is very possible that he will develop seizures sometime when he gets older and sometimes my heart doesn't know what to do with that.)

- that God would continue to sustain Brad and me and protect our marriage, and that we would grieve and process well (in our own ways)

    Some last notes. Our week has gone well. Leo is nursing and I'm pretty sure it's going well. Brad and I have been able to get some good time with friends and family. Leo and I are working on getting longer stretches at night and he is on his way to sleeping through the night. 

It's rainy here. I feel so peaceful. I hope you are at peace, as well. Thanks for caring for and about us and our little lion man.