Well, today was the big day for us to begin removing Nicole's post-op (Capsulodesis) splint. My husband met me at the therapy pool. I removed the splint and Troy put a warm wet towel around Nicole's arm and shoulder while maintaining her arm in the splinted position. After a few minutes, I took the towel off, maintained her arm in position and walked her into the pool. When we were in the pool, I asked her if it was okay for me to let go of her arm and she said yeah, so I did so slowly. Nervously, I did. She did so well! She really amazes me everyday!! She mostly let the water just support her arm. Her therapist was there watching too. We didn't start pool therapy again, but I went at a time when I knew the Aqua PT would be near the end of her shift. That worked out very well and she took time out of her own schedule "off the clock" and stayed to see how Nicole was doing. Nicole mostly held her arm in neutral (thumb up). It was a little tough for her to get it into pronation (which is what she was stuck in before the surgery). She managed to get it there to hold onto the railing against the wall of the pool, but it took a little maneuvering. She was able to clap in a position that looked more natural than she ever has before (still no noise, but one step at a time). She was also able to touch her nose and her mouth with her left hand (something she'd only recently started doing before the surgery, but we didn't think she'd be able to it yet due to not moving her arm for 8 weeks). She LOVED being in the water again!! It was soo great to see her "pool smile" again! She has gotten a little taller and can walk on her tippy toes now in the water and was loving that too! I took her for a ride on the pool pony at her request and while we were riding she was bending and straightening her arm repeatedly and telling me that she was doing her exercises. I actually had to tell her that was enough b/c I know how sore you can get the next day after exercising the first day in a long time. I couldn't believe that I had to tell her not to do too much. She is so amazing to me and works so hard to get her arm moving! I never would've imagined that a 2 y.o. would be such a participant in therapy! When she does things like that, it really gives me affirmation that for HER we are doing the right thing by having the surgeries and doing all the therapy. I realize that isn't the right decision for everyone, but for Nicole it is. It's just a good feeling when as a parent you get any kind of signs of affirmation that the decisions you're making for your child are what they would want since we just have to use our judgment and hope it's best for our children. I had wondered if Nicole would lose some ability in shoulder flexion, but even after being splinted for 8 weeks, it does not look like she lost any range. In fact, her therapist noticed that it looked like she achieved the range without compensating as much.
Nicole enjoyed a nice long shower after the pool. I asked her if she wanted her splint back on and she said no. On the way home, I saw that glazed post-therapy look in her eyes again (
( )and knew naptime was fast approaching. I was going to put the splint on before her nap but Nicole didn't want it on, so it's still off right now. I will put it on after her nap though b/c I don't want her to overdo it, esp. since she has Kindermusik tonight.
She didn't complain of any pain in her arm/shoulder. I gave her Advil shortly before we went to the pool and Tylenol before her nap, just to be on the safe side. She did complain of pain on her hand though and it looks like it's prob. due to awkward positioning in the splint. So, I told her I'd try a smaller splint on her hand (her hand/thumb splint). She's so smart b/c she said, "oh the blue one?" She'd remembered it from before. Anyway, that seemed to help her hand.
I think she's so happy to get that splint off that I might have trouble getting it back on her. It sure does feel good to be able to embrace her again without a big plastic thing between us! Well, we will see how tomorrow goes. I'll bring her to the pool again and will give her pain meds again. I'm thinking that tomorrow might be a bit tougher b/c she might have overdone it today. I didn't want to give her a bunch of restrictions though and really wanted to let her go at her own pace as much as possible. I think that's the only way she'll be able to learn her limits (IMO).
BTW, when we were home this afternoon before her nap, she was walking around with her arm down further than it had been just a couple hours prior. I think she was distracted and wasn't really thinking about her arm being down. It's not totally down by her side yet and I didn't ask her to bring it down there either, but it was definitely down lower than 90o.
Oh well, just wanted to share our good news, esp. for those who are planning to have the Caps done soon. The whole process went better than I expected (although I'm not too surprised b/c Nicole responded as she has in the past when faced with challenges as such). I hope the process is going well for Maia and others at this stage. I also hope that this post is encouragement to any who are not having a smooth transition process yet -- it will get better! I would also like to say thank you to all who have emailed and who had us in their thoughts today!! It's nice to have so much support and understanding!
-Tina
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