Anxiety of Walking

Update on Daughter of Purpose January 31, 2014

DOP is doing well in rehab. Every day there is a marked difference in her motor skills and abilities. She is talking more, although not as much as pre-surgery. She’s getting more sarcastic with the nurses and therapists….DOP at her finest!

She is eating very well and asks for all kinds of stuff we wouldn’t normally allow her to eat….somehow I’ve become a pushover when she asks for candy at 11pm. Several Gatorade bottles are drunk each day.

Last night when she went to bed, she was facing the left side of the bed. When I checked on her about an hour later, she was lying on her back. When I woke up this morning, she was facing the right side of the bed. She can turn in the bed all by herself! That’s a big jump from just a few days ago when she would yell in agony when we adjusted her neck.

Her daily schedule has increased and is quite rigorous. There are now three sessions each day for a half hour each for both OT and PT. This comes to a total of three hours of hard work throughout the day. Both therapists communicate well with each other and with Brandy and I so everyone knows what everyone is doing.

Target practice on dad is apparently a fun therapy.

Target practice on dad is apparently a fun therapy.

DOP practiced her aim and arm strength by shooting balls her her brother.

DOP practiced her aim and arm strength by shooting balls her brother.

DOP can also now sit up in bed on her own and helps dress herself. She brushes her teeth in the morning and can use forks and spoons to feed herself fairly well.

Relaxing in bed.

Relaxing in bed.

Like I said….there is much improvement!

Anxiety From Walking

There is one thing that is kind of new and rather unexpected. She suddenly has this massive fear of walking and falling. Both therapists are working with her on standing up and walking with a walker and this is a major component of her rehabilitation. She is able to do it fairly well given the circumstances. However, for some reason, she is totally freaked out about it. When we ask her to stand up, her anxiety shoots through the roof. She begins to cry and yells out, “I don’t want to do this! I don’t want to do this!”

Honestly, I have not seen her have anxiety like this since her Gotcha Day when we took her from the orphanage five and a half years ago. When it started this morning, I was rather surprised. We talked with her to make sure she was not in any pain. She is not. She is simply scared of falling.

Now here’s the thing….anybody that knows DOP, knows this is really odd.

DOP falls all the time! She always has! And she never cries about it or is scared to fall again.

Until now…for some reason. She’s been through a lot. We certainly get that. But everything else has been fine with regards to her rehabilitation. This just kind of came from nowhere. And she hasn’t even fallen once yet!

We discussed it with the Rehab doctor and later in the day someone from Psych came to meet with us. Basically, we agreed we would wait another day or two to see if this subsided on its own before any sort of medication is discussed.

Please pray for this. Everyone has been very supportive and encouraging when it happens. We pray with her daily and in the midst of her anxiety, Brandy and I have each stopped the therapist to pray with her. Aside from this one hiccup, she is doing great! Please pray her fear of falling subsides and her anxiety disappears.

Child Life

The Child Life department at the hospital is amazing! Every day we get to do something new and exciting. From them delivering movies each day, to playing games and borrowing books, to having a volunteer play the violin for us, this department knows how to help kids have a good time and forget they’re in a hospital. Yesterday, Blue the dog, came to visit. Two days ago, we had someone come and do music therapy with both girls in the room at the same time. The girls played drums while the therapist played a guitar and sang worship songs. We all loved it.

Blue, the Sheep Dog, sitting on the bed with DOP and CTB.

Blue, the Sheep Dog, sitting on the bed with DOP and CTB.

A couple of days ago, we took the girls to one of the play rooms and met several other kids and volunteers. While we played cards, one of the volunteers played his violin. It was fun!

Playing card in Child Life with violinist in the background.

Playing cards in Child Life with violinist in the background.

A Big Room

Our roommate, Cloe the Brave, was able to go home today. Yeah for her and her family! While we celebrate that her friend gets to go home after nearly three weeks of being in the hospital, we are sad to have her leave us. Like us, her family has been through a difficult time and it was nice to be able to share our story together. But now, Cloe and her parents can sleep in their own beds, in their own comfortable home. Thanks for all the UNO games and good laughs!

Playing more cards with our roommate.

Playing more cards with our roommate.

For the moment….we have this massive room to ourselves.

One Week To Go

After meeting with the Rehab doctor yesterday, she suggested we had about a week left here in the hospital. The goal is to get DOP to a place that everybody feels comfortable with her leaving by next weekend. This would put her (and me) being here for a total of one month. Ugh. It feels like way more than that. Based on her performance, this may change by a day or two either direction. Certainly, the anxiety issue needs to be resolved first.

Pray we’re outa here soon!

Thanks for praying and for keeping DOP in your thoughts.

Nathan and Brandy