We had a physiotherapy class at Margaret Drive Rainbow School. Charlene was sleeping for the first half of the lesson and woke up in time to be Teacher May's dummy for the hands-on demonstration. She was whining and babbling non-stop and the other mummies there were so amused with her.
We met other mummies who had special needs children and they also voiced their disgust with neurologists. One mummy encouraged me to use the gym ball more to improve Charlene's head control and said that her son's head control was initially very poor but he can hold his head after a long time.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
26 Sept 2011
Charlene was asleep when she started her physiotherapy. She was angry at being awakened - she whined and showed black face. Afterwhich she had occupation therapy. As she was very cold, the therapist covered her up and played slide and swing with her. But she continued to remain cold. So we wrapped her up and put her on a wedge. The therapist trained her head control by getting her to turn to the side where the toy (it was a singing school bus) was. Charlene smiled happily and when I told her "no more", she protested ("eh") and didn't want to leave. Her occupation therapist was very pleased and surprised by Charlene's responsiveness.
The wait at the neurologist is freaking long and not much of use. Status quo. Continue to wean off topomax...
The wait at the neurologist is freaking long and not much of use. Status quo. Continue to wean off topomax...
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Pictures... (long over due!)
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| This is called AFO. It costs $200+ per side. |
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| Nice pic. Handsome looking, isn't she? |
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| Charlene's first attempt on the standing frame Look at how TALL she is! |
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| Charlene sitting on the spiky gym ball |
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| Charlene rolling on the spiky gym ball |
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| Charlene drew a card for her 1st ever teacher! |
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| Charlene drew another card for her physiotherapist in sch |
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| Big O |
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| Thanks to Uncle Lincoln, Charlene can look at herself in the mirror! |
22 Sept 2011
My mum was carrying Charlene and rocking her (cos Charlene was upset after a seizure). I said that I promised Charlene if she could hold her head up by herself, I will bring her to sit the 20 cent coin machine that will move and sing song. My mum said cannot spoil her, don't let her sit. Upon hearing that, almost immediately, Charlene protested with a loud "Eh". My mum was rather 'impressed'.
Then when my mum told Charlene that she is going home and nobody will play with Charlene anymore, Charlene "Eh" loudly again. Hahaha. Good job, Charlene. :)
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
21 Sept 2011
Charlene is a happy girl in school today. Teacher Melody did a bit of rolling n checked her breathing. Charlene's abdomen muscles are developing and have strengthened. This has pushed down her ribcage and helped her to breathe better. Thank God!
Teacher Melody then put AFO on Charlene's feet and told me to get a pair. One side costs $200+. A pair would cost $500? Sigh, it's demand and supply at work. Demand is rather price inelastic, explaining for the high price. But, people who required these stuff would already be incurring high medical expenses. Sigh...
Anyway, Teacher Melody then proceeded to put Charlene on the standing frame. It is the FIRST TIME EVER that Charlene is standing! She looks so TALL and so handsome. Hahaha. She is quite a cooperative and good girl. She did not whine at all. I think she is quite awed by her new view. Her right foot required more stretching and more weight bearing as the back of the foot is hardly touching the ground even with the AFO.
Teacher Theresa (she is super good!) then took the initiative and tried to put Charlene on a buggy that she think will work. It is a wooden frame with wheels and a 'table' in front. Charlene obviously cannot sit in that as her head keep tilting upwards. Teacher Theresa is not trained in physiotherapy but she pushed Charlene all the way to the second floor to ask the occupation therapist (full marks for initiative and effort!) Dear Charlene was probably quite amused with her new 'chair' and was smiling happily with her head tilted upwards throughout the short 'journey'. Onlookers were all amused with her. After much consultation with the OT, Teacher Theresa found a great buggy (she named it Mercedes Benz, as it is big with big wheels and super comfortable with padding) and most importantly, Charlene's head would not tilt upwards causing her to choke. However, Charlene stopped smiling. Strange girl. Anyway, thanks to Teacher Theresa, I can push Charlene around in school and no need to carry her around (literally heavy load off my shoulders)
Teacher Melody then put AFO on Charlene's feet and told me to get a pair. One side costs $200+. A pair would cost $500? Sigh, it's demand and supply at work. Demand is rather price inelastic, explaining for the high price. But, people who required these stuff would already be incurring high medical expenses. Sigh...
Anyway, Teacher Melody then proceeded to put Charlene on the standing frame. It is the FIRST TIME EVER that Charlene is standing! She looks so TALL and so handsome. Hahaha. She is quite a cooperative and good girl. She did not whine at all. I think she is quite awed by her new view. Her right foot required more stretching and more weight bearing as the back of the foot is hardly touching the ground even with the AFO.
Teacher Theresa (she is super good!) then took the initiative and tried to put Charlene on a buggy that she think will work. It is a wooden frame with wheels and a 'table' in front. Charlene obviously cannot sit in that as her head keep tilting upwards. Teacher Theresa is not trained in physiotherapy but she pushed Charlene all the way to the second floor to ask the occupation therapist (full marks for initiative and effort!) Dear Charlene was probably quite amused with her new 'chair' and was smiling happily with her head tilted upwards throughout the short 'journey'. Onlookers were all amused with her. After much consultation with the OT, Teacher Theresa found a great buggy (she named it Mercedes Benz, as it is big with big wheels and super comfortable with padding) and most importantly, Charlene's head would not tilt upwards causing her to choke. However, Charlene stopped smiling. Strange girl. Anyway, thanks to Teacher Theresa, I can push Charlene around in school and no need to carry her around (literally heavy load off my shoulders)
Monday, September 19, 2011
19 Sept 2011
Charlene gave all she could and responded to her teachers in class today. Not once but twice. She was asked to count 3 and she "Eh". And when she was asked to raise her hand to indicate that she wanted a song, she managed to raise her hand by half. Thank God for Charlene's ability to learn!
Monday, September 12, 2011
12 Sept 2011 Term 3 starts
Charlene only slept at 4am and was soundly asleep the whole morning. I prayed to God that He will bless Charlene with a fruitful
day in school.
Amazingly, the moment we reached class,Charlene woke up.
She smiled happily through song time. Charlene was able to raise her hand up to shake hand with Teacher Adeline after much scaffolding. Teacher Adeline was impressed and praised Charlene. I was so touched I almost wanted to cry.
Then, Teacher Dilah got Charlene to raise her left hand again. Though it takes some time, but it shows that Charlene can do it. Also, after Teacher Dilah taught Charlene how to slap her right hand in the water, Charlene did that consecutively for 3 times!
Charlene fell asleep immediately after bathing. I thank God that He kept Charlene awake for 2 hrs of fruitful school time in which Charlene learnt many things!
Then, Teacher Dilah got Charlene to raise her left hand again. Though it takes some time, but it shows that Charlene can do it. Also, after Teacher Dilah taught Charlene how to slap her right hand in the water, Charlene did that consecutively for 3 times!
Charlene fell asleep immediately after bathing. I thank God that He kept Charlene awake for 2 hrs of fruitful school time in which Charlene learnt many things!
Friday, September 9, 2011
2 Sept - 11 Sept 2011 Sch holidays
6 Sept 2011
I brought Charlene to the hospital for her gastro appointment. Charlene weighs 11.8kg and is 83cm tall. I told the Dr to check Charlene's tongue to determine if the whitish thing at the back of her tongue is oral thrush or refluxed milk. Dear Charlene refused to open her mouth and bite the ' ice cream' stick tightly. So the nurse resorted to pressing Charlene's nose to force her to open her mouth (I was watching and thinking to myself how clever and unorthodox these people are). Anyway, Charlene was totally furious at what was being done to her and started waving both her hands in the air furiously. The Dr screamed at the nurse to hold her hands and the nurse with one hand on Charlene's nose, meekly asked me to hold Charlene's hands. Haha, I actually find it quite comical. As compared to the quiet meek Charlene in her 1st few months of life, Dez and I prefer the complaining, whining, energetic Charlene. Praise God!
Anyway, the result of the check on the tongue is that it is neither oral thrush nor refluxed milk. It's phlegm....
9 Sept 2011
We have 2 appointments today, one at 1030am, the other at 3pm. Charlene used to smile happily at Dr Natalie whenever we have paediatric appointment. However, cos Dr Natalie has left, Charlene slept through the whole appointment with the new Dr. She didn't even see how he looks like.
The appointment went unexpectedly fast. Cos I reached early and the fellow before us was late. By 1130, we were done. After feeding Charlene milk, it was only 12. 3 more hours to go. I bought MacDonalds lunch and was thinking to myself how to pass that 3 hrs when I bumped into Jo (the occupation therapist we are supposed to see at 3pm). She asked why I am so early and when she heard that we are done for the day, she said she could see Charlene at 1pm. I was super happy and thanked God for His goodness!
Charlene was awakened by Jo who 'took her on a bumpy ride'. She showed interest in a toy drum as well as 2 noisy boys running around the gym. Cos she was quite cooperative, I told Jo to reward her - let her slide down the slide. I counted one, two and Charlene said "ehh...!". And when she reached the bottom of the slide, she whined and made a lot of noise. Jo was pleased to see her 'talk'. She also said that Charlene's neck control has improved a bit. Thank God!
Thomas and Rusyinni gave us a ride to cell. When Thomas said Charlene 'heng2 mei3', she smiled at him happily. After cell ended, I took the waffle with ice-cream and showed it to Charlene. Then I went to eat and ignored her completely, leaving her to her Daddy. When we changed hands, Charlene threw tantrums at me, obviously upset that I dumped her aside just now. She whined and 'thrashed around' so much that our cell group people were wondering if she is ok. We are grateful to God that Charlene is making progress!
I brought Charlene to the hospital for her gastro appointment. Charlene weighs 11.8kg and is 83cm tall. I told the Dr to check Charlene's tongue to determine if the whitish thing at the back of her tongue is oral thrush or refluxed milk. Dear Charlene refused to open her mouth and bite the ' ice cream' stick tightly. So the nurse resorted to pressing Charlene's nose to force her to open her mouth (I was watching and thinking to myself how clever and unorthodox these people are). Anyway, Charlene was totally furious at what was being done to her and started waving both her hands in the air furiously. The Dr screamed at the nurse to hold her hands and the nurse with one hand on Charlene's nose, meekly asked me to hold Charlene's hands. Haha, I actually find it quite comical. As compared to the quiet meek Charlene in her 1st few months of life, Dez and I prefer the complaining, whining, energetic Charlene. Praise God!
Anyway, the result of the check on the tongue is that it is neither oral thrush nor refluxed milk. It's phlegm....
9 Sept 2011
We have 2 appointments today, one at 1030am, the other at 3pm. Charlene used to smile happily at Dr Natalie whenever we have paediatric appointment. However, cos Dr Natalie has left, Charlene slept through the whole appointment with the new Dr. She didn't even see how he looks like.
The appointment went unexpectedly fast. Cos I reached early and the fellow before us was late. By 1130, we were done. After feeding Charlene milk, it was only 12. 3 more hours to go. I bought MacDonalds lunch and was thinking to myself how to pass that 3 hrs when I bumped into Jo (the occupation therapist we are supposed to see at 3pm). She asked why I am so early and when she heard that we are done for the day, she said she could see Charlene at 1pm. I was super happy and thanked God for His goodness!
Charlene was awakened by Jo who 'took her on a bumpy ride'. She showed interest in a toy drum as well as 2 noisy boys running around the gym. Cos she was quite cooperative, I told Jo to reward her - let her slide down the slide. I counted one, two and Charlene said "ehh...!". And when she reached the bottom of the slide, she whined and made a lot of noise. Jo was pleased to see her 'talk'. She also said that Charlene's neck control has improved a bit. Thank God!
Thomas and Rusyinni gave us a ride to cell. When Thomas said Charlene 'heng2 mei3', she smiled at him happily. After cell ended, I took the waffle with ice-cream and showed it to Charlene. Then I went to eat and ignored her completely, leaving her to her Daddy. When we changed hands, Charlene threw tantrums at me, obviously upset that I dumped her aside just now. She whined and 'thrashed around' so much that our cell group people were wondering if she is ok. We are grateful to God that Charlene is making progress!
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