Post Capsulodesis Update
Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2003 12:03 pm
Just wanted to report in about Maia's post surgical status and how things are going for her...
Maia had a biceps tendon lengthening and capsulodesis surgery on May 19th. She's out of her splint during the day (July 19th) and now we are one month later.. I was pretty upset when she unsplinted because of how it looks right after unsplinting..you know what I mean...you don't know what's real what's not, what's not working temporarily and what's not working permanently...scary times.
We just spent the week at Grandma's house in florida and it was a huge break for me. The thought that kept on going through my mind was "time is finally NOT of the essence!!" lol lol
I got the amazing chance to watch Maia from the "outside"... just watching her from afar to see how she functioned and what she was actually doing or not doing with her arm.
I can without a doubt say that Maia's function is SO improved - it is a DRASTIC improvement. There are many things that she NEVER did before that she can now do. I can see how not having a dislocated shoulder really changed how her arm moves and functions in every way. That along with the biceps tendon lengthening.... it's just huge. And although I'd be the first to say let's get up on that roof and do the bpi dance - I'm a bit tentative about that just because I'm still scared....but basically that's what I would like to do.
Her arm is so straight. Maia is just SO pleased with this. This has made her the happiest.
She was NEVER able to bring her arm out to her side and now she can do all the side movements. So she can run around with her butterfly costume and really flap her wings!
In the pool, I was doing some backstroke and then I stopped and looked at Maia and there she was doing it, too (with her floatie on).Although leftie did it differently - it actually did have some backward movement- I never thought her arm would be able to go behind her. My eyes POPPED out of my head when I saw her do this.
And I taught her how to do breast stroke and that motion was good, too.
She was able to eat with leftie - with a regular spoon! First time! We also did a lot of playdough activities and leftie just had a great time... leftie can move in circles now (roll dough against the table withe the palm of her hand down to make a ball).
She still has some elbow up stuff going on but who cares! hahahaha give it some more time right?
She IS wearing her David Brace. I got over my uneasiness about the brace because I had no choice. I did NOT want Maia in the pool unless she had the protection of the brace because I didn't want the water pressure pulling on her shoulder joint and her newly formed scar tissue which she needs to hold her bone in. We had two braces made - one for land and one for water. So once I explained the reason for the brace, Maia was ok with it and actually never once gave me a hard time about it. It takes a long time to put it on but it was well worth it - at least in my head! I felt that her shoulder joint was very safe in the water with the brace on. She is now wearing her "land" brace daily as well and that is giving me some comfort about her safety at school.
Soon we begin our strengthening program and NMES. I believe that until her shoulder muscles get stronger that the David brace will give her the support she needs in the meantime.
So that's the update. It's an extremely positive capsulodesis and biceps tendon lengthening ending!
We are so grateful for Dr. Nath and his wisdom and expertise!
Backstroke!! WOW!
kissies to all the babies,
francine
Maia had a biceps tendon lengthening and capsulodesis surgery on May 19th. She's out of her splint during the day (July 19th) and now we are one month later.. I was pretty upset when she unsplinted because of how it looks right after unsplinting..you know what I mean...you don't know what's real what's not, what's not working temporarily and what's not working permanently...scary times.
We just spent the week at Grandma's house in florida and it was a huge break for me. The thought that kept on going through my mind was "time is finally NOT of the essence!!" lol lol
I got the amazing chance to watch Maia from the "outside"... just watching her from afar to see how she functioned and what she was actually doing or not doing with her arm.
I can without a doubt say that Maia's function is SO improved - it is a DRASTIC improvement. There are many things that she NEVER did before that she can now do. I can see how not having a dislocated shoulder really changed how her arm moves and functions in every way. That along with the biceps tendon lengthening.... it's just huge. And although I'd be the first to say let's get up on that roof and do the bpi dance - I'm a bit tentative about that just because I'm still scared....but basically that's what I would like to do.
Her arm is so straight. Maia is just SO pleased with this. This has made her the happiest.
She was NEVER able to bring her arm out to her side and now she can do all the side movements. So she can run around with her butterfly costume and really flap her wings!
In the pool, I was doing some backstroke and then I stopped and looked at Maia and there she was doing it, too (with her floatie on).Although leftie did it differently - it actually did have some backward movement- I never thought her arm would be able to go behind her. My eyes POPPED out of my head when I saw her do this.
And I taught her how to do breast stroke and that motion was good, too.
She was able to eat with leftie - with a regular spoon! First time! We also did a lot of playdough activities and leftie just had a great time... leftie can move in circles now (roll dough against the table withe the palm of her hand down to make a ball).
She still has some elbow up stuff going on but who cares! hahahaha give it some more time right?
She IS wearing her David Brace. I got over my uneasiness about the brace because I had no choice. I did NOT want Maia in the pool unless she had the protection of the brace because I didn't want the water pressure pulling on her shoulder joint and her newly formed scar tissue which she needs to hold her bone in. We had two braces made - one for land and one for water. So once I explained the reason for the brace, Maia was ok with it and actually never once gave me a hard time about it. It takes a long time to put it on but it was well worth it - at least in my head! I felt that her shoulder joint was very safe in the water with the brace on. She is now wearing her "land" brace daily as well and that is giving me some comfort about her safety at school.
Soon we begin our strengthening program and NMES. I believe that until her shoulder muscles get stronger that the David brace will give her the support she needs in the meantime.
So that's the update. It's an extremely positive capsulodesis and biceps tendon lengthening ending!
We are so grateful for Dr. Nath and his wisdom and expertise!
Backstroke!! WOW!
kissies to all the babies,
francine