Saturday, September 5, 2015

Making Strides

Earlier this week, Daniel, Little A and I loaded up and headed into Chicago to meet with Dr. Gaebler-Spira at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.  We really did not know what to expect but we were going into this appointment hoping to gain a better understanding of what Cerebral Palsy means for our precious girl.  We still don't fully understand and I am not sure we ever will but it was a productive visit.  The intake nurse told us, "Dr. Gaebler is absolutely brilliant" and after our consultation I would firmly agree.  She gave us some good insight to our girl and her disability.  Dr. Gaebler indicated that A is in a good prognostic category and gave us the hope that in a few years she will be able to participate in sports and even play an instrument despite her right hemi-paresis and dystonia.

While we were there A was casted for new "special legs" (AFO's) and we allowed her to pick out the colors and patterns.  She was so excited to pick "purple" special legs.  She will also be adding a purple thumb loop to her accessories to help with the use of her right hand.

It is absolutely amazing to see how far this little girl has come in 12 months time.  When we met her in China she was still quite wobbly on her feet and was very rigid when she walked.  Today she is running, trying to jump and climbing all over the furniture.  12 months ago she barely recognized she had a right hand or arm and just this past week she attempted to use it to eat her chicken and rice for lunch.  One year ago she had little to no speech (Chinese included) and just this morning she asked me to play with her and pretended to run a grocery store.

Our Little A is making strides and continues to amaze us on a daily basis.  Next week, Little A will begin the Early Childhood program through our elementary school and I cannot wait to see where we will be 6 months from now.