United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Rosalynn has really been fighting therapy. She does fien witht the therapist, but when we try to do our daily stuff she wants nothing to do with it. Her biggest problem is the Estim. She will pull at the electrodes, pull them off, unplug them, unplug the cord from the pack and so on. She will cry and scream and say they are hurting her even if they are unplugged. I have tried giving her a break then easing back into the routine, but she is still fighting it. The she will go get the Estim for the PT and ask her to put it on her. Same setting, same machine, everything as when we try to do it and she acts like we are trying to kill her. Any suggestions? She is 29mos old and will say stuff like "I no do therapy", or "Fred (her affected arm) is tired". She is also become insitant that her other arm have a turn to wear the brace/Estim.

Cara,
you can try the reward system. My daughter (now 7 years old) still fights therapy from time to time, but her therapist came up with a chart for us to keep track of her home therapy and if she does all that she is suppose to do, she gets a "reward" from her therapist the next time we go in. Emma has become much more excited about getting her home therapy done now that she gets a "surprise" when we bring the completed chart in.

Good luck!

Peggy

My son fought therapy @ about 18 months. We stopped for a while. He was strong and they always gave him the littlest PT or OT they had and I was afraid he was going to hurt them. When we went back he was okay for a while. Now he is 4 1/2 and does not get formal OT and PT.....he has mommy and daddy therapy and even though he gets mad, we get things done. Go with the flow !

Hi, another option is a "therapy break". We've taken several over the years - my son is also 7. We had times where it just seemed he was SICK OF IT, so we'd take a therapy break of a month or so, and it really helped a LOT. It's okay to do this. It'll give you a break too, which I can imagine you wouldn't mind, eh? You can still work in un-therapy like therapy here and there - just be creative...She might even want to restart it herself....Good luck Cara!!

Ugh! We are going through this right now too! Juliana is 3.5 years old and has really started to note the differences in her arms. She has been giving the pt and ot a hard time. The pt especially gets it!! She will just stand in the pt room-COMPLETELY SILENT. It is so annoying. She does better with the ot. She has always been tough on pts.
We have always asked her to "take your cookie with your left hand" and now she will tell us that she doesn't want a cookie if she has to take it with her left hand (what?? not want a cookie??)
We have taken breaks, and it does help. Ultimately, the therapy is a non-negotiable. So I just try to keep my cool and calmly talk her through it. It takes all of my effort, I can tell you. My inclination is to just tell her to deal. And I HAVE done that. But I realize that it isn't effective.
We often take breaks during the school breaks. We tell the therapists that we are going away, so Juliana hears that we are taking time off. However, sometimes the issue is continuity--so a break is counter-productive.
Gee, I'm not helping am I?? Okay, so try to figure out WHAT it is. Sometimes it is age-appropriate. Juliana is bucking us on a lot of stuff right now. So, I realize that it is part of being 3.5....and it gives me perspective. I would say, let your hubby do it, but if your hubby is not inclined...don't sweat it! My hubby does not want to do therapy either. About as far as he can go is to ask for the cookie with the left hand...I don't begrudge him this: he deals with the insurance company! So, it is age appropriate to push the limits. Put all the toys on a higher shelf...get the bath paint and paint the windows or the storm door...play-doh makes me gag, but go to town with it.
So, estim the other arm for a few seconds. It will not be a problem. Put the machine down to nil.
We get the "I can't pick up the toys because lefty is tired." I just LOVE that one.
We are with you. We know it stinks. And it is fine to feel that you just want to chuck it all. I feel that way at least once a week!
Good luck
claudia

We also have used different stratigies over the years to get the therapy across to my daughter. Therapy breaks help (us and our daughter) but our general attitude is that it is a non-negoiatable issue. We do negotiate about lead placement and power settings but not time and we only allow her to refuse EMS entirely in exchange for some other therapy such as an extended strengthening exercise session or more stretching. It has taken time and persistance to get our daughter to cooperate but it has been worthwhile to encourage her to help design her own routine.

She's seven and she must brush her teeth, pick up her dishes, put her clothes away and do something theraputic for her arm every day. (Except for the exceptions:-)

Joshua

we use a slo Pulse Nerve stimulator, for 6 hours when our little one is asleep ,15 min on 45 mins off 7 days a weeks ever single DAY,
My husband works 3rd shift I wake up and start it and when he gets home from work He finishes the Treatment
at first he would wake up crying so we started it at a very low setting then little by little go to the setting the doctor advise us to set it at , we have been doing this for over one and a half years He sleeps thought the whole process! when we first rec'd the stimulator we would go on with are normal day like playing out side, and I would have the stimulator in a transparent back pack with my timer set and turn it on and off when needed that worked as well, the Electrodes Never came off ,you just have to always keep your eyes on the child ,
we also did this when he use to have to use the tens unit, we no longer use the Tens, Just the slo Pulse Nerve stimultor, Now we all have it down to the Science ,