United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Mandy, I LOVE to see thumb sucking babies, I think its adorable...and youre right, if she can get it up there, than GO GIRLLLLL!
I think that its great that you can do therapy at home(afterall, Sarah is still in therapy with you ,at home)and have the continued support of your therapist to use as a resource whenever neccessary,
Allowing the parent to become as responsible as possible for a childs therapy sets up wonderful patterns that reinforce recovery and responsibility in the parent which in turn is passed to the child.
It enhances bonding also,
congradulations Mandy, youre daughter is doing gREAT!

thanks mary.....i knew there had to be someone whod have encouraging words!! ~hugs~

Mandie

Mandie so glad to hear your little one is doing so well.

I'm a firm believer in the "Mommy therapist", especially in children with mild injuries. My daughter is 3 1/2 years old and over the years we have seen a therapist steadily but have also at times taken time away from the therapist to concentrate on "normalizing" our lives. I think frequent therapy visits have a negative psychological effect on kids and parents, or at least it has in my situation.

We are currently on a once a month eval appt with our OT, which by the way is less than our specialist would like us to do. (Who says the doctors are ALWAYS right?)

We did have therapy weekly for Lauren's first year but your little one seems to have much earlier return than Lauren did.

I would recommend going with what you feel is right. I think there is a lot to be gained from parents incorporating therapy into everyday life without the child actually knowing they're being "therapized" (I made up that word, haha). I think it's straining on the child and the parent to attend frequent therapy visit. You have to consider how much that takes away from your life and also consider the gains from it. If your dealing with a mild injury and feel comfortable doing the therapy at home, I'd strongly consider it!

But, do what you feel it right, it's hard for me to make a judgement on what someone else should do since every injury is different and every person's life situation is different also.

Congrats on all the thumb sucking!! I bet she's a content little thing!!! Peace and Blessings to you. Jess

I know that my original post may have been a bit negative so I want to balance it out with something positive....

This is what "I" get out of therapy - I am taught so many new ways to motivate Maia to exercise her arm in all different ways.... especially for the particular weaknesses she has.... so that I can work with her at home.

I have learned invaluable things from Maia's therapists. Our playtimes are very positive and lots of fun.

Our therapists have gotten me to blow through MY fears about Maia's injury - they help me emotionally in many ways. They empower me to do this work for Maia.

A lot of you may just know how to motivate your child in every possible way but even though I have experience at raising children and even though I am a massage therapist - I was completely clueless about the specifics concerning Maia's needs.

Our therapist at the hospital is an expert splint maker. The splints made for her were not prescribed by the specialists - they were made as she assessed different things occurring as they occurred. I believe Maia has been in 11 splints and outside of the supination splint they all worked wonders.

Sometimes children do for strangers what they won't do for their mom. Maia has surprised me a couple of hundred times.

I also believe that the difference in opinions could be based on whether or not a child has a severe injury. I am talking as a mother of a child with a severe injury. My daughter will be having professional therapy for a LONG time and we will continue the work at home as we have been for a long time as well.

-francine

Mandie,

Best of luck to you whatever course your path takes...

My own experience (eight years and many therapists as we moved around the country) has been that when we take a break from therapy Ian regresses. Even though our daily lives incorporate so much involving Ian's arm in ways that are now second nature and not obtrusive, when we have for whatever reason stopped therapy for a period of time we have, without exception, had to make up lost ground. It has been discouraging.

Like Mary, I am a strong believer in finding ways to make everyday a form of therapy lifestyle. However, in our case that is not enough. While I trust my ability as a mom and advocate, I am not a therapist, and I do not have the training and the insight to gauge my son's improvement or potential areas to keep watch over. I have been grateful to the therapists in our lives over the years who have kept us on track, and offered honest and realistic perceptions and insight.

Currently we rely upon our therapist to help us with the use of the dynasplint and measuring / monitoring Ian's elbow contracture. This is not something that I would be able to do on my own. I don't have the experience, training or the actual measurement tools required to give accurate data on his progress. Many times I have been surprised by measurements taken by the therapists, they consistently offer me a grounding viewpoint of my son's actual progress.

Another factor in my particular case that figures prominently in my mindset is what happened to me when we went through litigation. Every little block of time in my son's life that did not have continuing therapy (times like the two weeks we went on vacation to visit my mom, for example; and the time insurance wouldn't pay and we couldn't afford it for several months) was flung in my face, and I was made to feel that I was an irresponsible and incompetent mother for not making sure my son received continuing therapy...I guess their guilt trip worked on me, never again in my lifetime will anyone have the opportunity to say or imply that I did not do everything possible for my son, including continuing therapy visits! Besides, I have learned from experience that lack of formal therapy and progression reports from a professional have resulted in backsliding for my son. Ian has a mild/moderate injury with damage to c5, c6 and c7.

Bridget

Mandie I hope you are still reading these boards because I would LOVE to support you over the therapy issue.
I live in the United Kingdom, and over here our healthcare is provided free of charge.
This sounds great but in reality many services are rationed, including therapuetic services.
My child has a severe injury and to date has had 3 surgeries. Over here, even with a severe case like my child's the baby will probably only see a physiotherapist for about 20 minutes every two weeks (that would be considered Excellent support) and more often a baby would only see a therapist once a month or every six weeks.
The parents are instructed with a selection of exercises to perfom at each nappy change ( in young babies up to about 12 mths) with occasional support from the therapist.
You might think that this will result in children having really bad arms and recovery, but that's not the case, in our experience parents are much more diligent about performing the exercises than some therapist would be. Also we know our children best and we can tell when the arm gets tighter or loser or if theres a new problem, and we need to see the specialist.
We do lots of play activities ( my child is older now) and can incorporate therapy into swimming lessons, dance classes etc etc. My child's arm is great for such a severe injury.
I am quite new to the boards ( maybe about 6-8 months) but I do think that in the States, children SEEM to have more surgeries and procedures and certainly more therapy than children over here. Over here, once a child has had surgery, it doesn't automatically go on to have more, there certainly aren't "sets" of procedures that the children go through, as it seem in the states.
I am not saying that our system is better than yours,
at all, it's just different. But if you are prepared to do your daughters exercises at home, then that would be considered completey normal and usual over here, and as far as I can tell, it hasn't altered the outcome for my child.
Good Luck - I know you can do it !!!!!!!!