April 23 2003 Update
Marla (and Mary and Leo) have had an eventful several weeks since Marla graduated from the Craig inpatient program, with therapy, outings, swimming, and more! Be sure to drop by and see the updated Photo Gallery to see pictures!
Marla has been swimming in the Craig therapy pool twice, each of the last two Fridays. It has proved to be a tremendously positive experience for her. Before her first swimming session, she was very apprehensive and nervous. She even seemed somewhat sad. Leo asked Marla if she really didn’t want to swim, and she indicated that she didn’t want to try. Mary and Leo believe that she remembered having been able to swim so well before the accident, and worried about not being able to meet her expectations.
However, once Marla was in the water, she warmed right up. She did some upper body exercises with water weights, some kicking, and finally some strokes of freestyle and backstroke, using her left arm and kick for power while supporting her injured right arm with a float. She did several laps! Afterward, she smiled broadly with pride at her effort and accomplishment. Peggy and Jean, her OT and PT therapists, were amazed at Marla’s strength and ability in the water. Lisa, Marla’s rec therapist that works with her in the pool, complimented Marla’s perfect stroke techniques, and said that she is checked out and safe to go swimming at any facility with Mary and Leo, whenever she wants to go.
Marla has also spent time working in the therapy gym on each of her full days of therapy at Craig, on Tuesday through Thursday. With 6 hours of therapy each day, her schedule is booked! Marla, Mary, and Leo are all exhausted upon returning home after these intensive therapy days at Craig. But the hard work is paying off! She has been able to climb a ladder to improve her hand-eye and hand-foot coordination. After her climb, she looked at the ladder and asked “How?”, amazed that she had been able to get to the top rung.
Last week, she displayed a very exciting advance. Towards the end of one of her therapy sessions, Peggy told Mary and Leo that Marla had something to show them. Marla smiled, and showed Mom and Dad how she could wiggle the fingers of her right hand slightly, and also could raise her right arm by itself, from the shoulder. This is very exciting progress, because with the severe damage to the right arm in the accident, it was not known if nerve function and motor control would return. This development indicates that some recovery of these nerves and associated motor control is taking place. Her frozen shoulder has also greatly improved in flexibility and range-of-motion. The physical therapist that Mary has been seeing has been extremely helpful in working with Marla to improve her right arm’s flexibility, and Mary and Leo have been diligent in working daily with Marla on range-of-motion on her right shoulder, wrist, and fingers.
Marla has started to wear an eye patch over her injured right eye, to continue to promote the healing process, and also to help improve function in her left eye (which does not move properly due to nerve damage), by forcing her to exercise utilization of that weaker eye.
Marla continues to work hard on her speech therapy, and speech continues to prove to be her greatest challenge. Her ability to process auditory information is still limited. She has frequently has difficulty understanding the context and meaning of what is said to her. However, when accompanied by visual cues, she is usually able to understand. Often, understanding takes several tries. Her apraxia also makes it difficult for her to speak and communicate messages to others. Most of her speech comes from automatic, conditioned responses, such as Hello!, Good-night, etc. When Marla tries to express a complex idea, there is a disconnect between the initiation of the idea and the ability to speak the words. She is working on bridging the gap by using other means–including drawing pictures. Mary and Leo are working to reinforce word associations by using flash-cards for many common household objects used in Marla’s daily routine. In addition, her speech therapist has installed several speech programs on Marla’s computer, that are helping her to continue to re-develop her communication. She also is incorporating music into her communication skills, as she loves to sing along with familiar music. On Monday of this week (4/21/2003), she and Peggy and Jean spent one of her therapy sessions outside, singing and skipping! Marla can perfectly reproduce the musical scale and tones.
Also on Monday, 4/21, Marla saw her neurologist, Dr. Yarnell, who has been treating her ever since her time at St. Anthony’s hospital in December. He was thrilled at her progress, and was very excited to see her. Dr. Yarnell called up the SICU at St. Anthony’s (where Marla was treated in the weeks immediately following her accident), and arranged a visit with Fergie and Laura, and some of the other incredible nurses that provided devoted care while Marla was there. The nurses were all amazed and thrilled at Marla’s progress in recovery, and Marla was excited to meet these wonderful medical professionals that helped her take her first steps along the recovery pathway.
Wrapping up her Monday, Marla went to visit the Rock-Bottom Brewery on the 16th street mall in downtown Denver, with several of her friends from Glacier Peak. They enjoyed lunch together there on the patio in the sun. On Tuesday, Marla was able to draw a picture of the event to communicate to her therapists about what she had done over the weekend.
Mary and Leo continue to work very hard, coordinating all of Marla’s medical and re-habilitation needs, both in and out of the hospital, as well as her administrative and financial details. The days are very full, with travel to and from Craig, therapy while at the hospital, and food preparation, medications, and on-going PT exercises at home. It makes for a very busy schedule. We are very thankful for the visitors who stop by and share their love and smiles with Marla and her family–the support continues to help us immeasurably, and we are ever grateful and affirmed. Our hope and joy in Marla’s recovery continues to grow day by day.