Omaha Update - Leah and Rachel's Status - 2-28-08
I wanted to post a quick little update on Leah and Rachel's continuing recovery. Both of them are continuing to make great strides towards a complete recovery, and are in very good spirits. Their hard work and stubborn will to get back to normal is shown in the latest results!
At the end of January, Leah met with the orthopedic doc, and was told that she no longer requires formal physical therapy, as her shoulder has made almost a complete recovery. Her clavicle had formed bone and was meshing completely, which means that the clavicle should heal without requiring surgery. Leah has returned to work full time, and no longer has to go into physical therapy 2 times a week.
Rachel continues to improve, with her skin grafts looking very healthy, and continued gains in flexibility in her right ankle, right hand and right shoulder. She had surgery on her right shoulder in January to clean out scar tissue and resolve a "frozen" shoulder. Prior to the surgery she was unable to move the shoulder more then a few degrees, and no further gains were being made in physical therapy. After the successful surgery, Rachel started PT on the shoulder the very next day, and very quickly saw gains in her range of motion. Just last weekend she demonstrated her ability to now get her arm above her head by "wall walking" her arm up. Walk walking is where you face the wall, place your hand against the wall, and pull your arm up the wall by "walking" your fingers upwards, while taking steps forward towards the wall. This moves the arm upwards, and stretches out the joint, and also helps to develop arm strength. A good side effect of this is that it helps strengthen her fingers as well!
Rachel did have another delay in her recovery however, as she kept noticing that her knee was very sore. She was diagnosed with a torn meniscus in her right knee, which requires surgery to repair. She also continues to have issues with flexibility in her large finger joints (the ones closest to the palm) which prevents her from gaining much more dexterity in the fingers. After consultations with the orthopedics it was decided that it would be good to have a combined surgery, and repair the knee and clean out the scar tissue in the hand at the same time. Rachel will be going in for surgery on the afternoon of 2-29, and will begin PT very quickly after.
We would like to thank all the folks who continue to pray for us, and keep us in their thoughts. Your encouragement and prayers help all of us to continue to improve.
At the end of January, Leah met with the orthopedic doc, and was told that she no longer requires formal physical therapy, as her shoulder has made almost a complete recovery. Her clavicle had formed bone and was meshing completely, which means that the clavicle should heal without requiring surgery. Leah has returned to work full time, and no longer has to go into physical therapy 2 times a week.
Rachel continues to improve, with her skin grafts looking very healthy, and continued gains in flexibility in her right ankle, right hand and right shoulder. She had surgery on her right shoulder in January to clean out scar tissue and resolve a "frozen" shoulder. Prior to the surgery she was unable to move the shoulder more then a few degrees, and no further gains were being made in physical therapy. After the successful surgery, Rachel started PT on the shoulder the very next day, and very quickly saw gains in her range of motion. Just last weekend she demonstrated her ability to now get her arm above her head by "wall walking" her arm up. Walk walking is where you face the wall, place your hand against the wall, and pull your arm up the wall by "walking" your fingers upwards, while taking steps forward towards the wall. This moves the arm upwards, and stretches out the joint, and also helps to develop arm strength. A good side effect of this is that it helps strengthen her fingers as well!
Rachel did have another delay in her recovery however, as she kept noticing that her knee was very sore. She was diagnosed with a torn meniscus in her right knee, which requires surgery to repair. She also continues to have issues with flexibility in her large finger joints (the ones closest to the palm) which prevents her from gaining much more dexterity in the fingers. After consultations with the orthopedics it was decided that it would be good to have a combined surgery, and repair the knee and clean out the scar tissue in the hand at the same time. Rachel will be going in for surgery on the afternoon of 2-29, and will begin PT very quickly after.
We would like to thank all the folks who continue to pray for us, and keep us in their thoughts. Your encouragement and prayers help all of us to continue to improve.
posted by Jay at 8:31 AM
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