Our favorite volunteer cook (and her husband) at the RMH. Ellie has taken a real shine to her (see #6 below).
Naturally, people keep asking if the HyperBaric Oxygen Therapy is making any difference at all. Whether incidental, or directly a result of the HBOT or the Therasuit therapy (or both), here are some differences/changes I have noted in Ellie...
1.
Extends right arm more
2.
Opens both hands more
3.
Puts hands together more often
4.
Works hard at trying to put her sippy cup to her
mouth (hasn't been successful YET)
5.
When she saw a dog a couple weeks ago, she
reached out for it and was happy to see it (usually ignores dogs)
6.
Two times in a row, at dinner, she reached over to touch/stroke the
arm of the volunteer who cooked the meal, and made good eye contact with her; additionally, Ellie wanted to be fed by HER instead of me
7.
During her last day of Therasuit therapy she did
actually take a few steps on her own (with the gait trainer)
8.
Grips things better and more often
9.
A couple of times she has “sung” with me in the
car (not real words or in tune, but some sort of real effort)
10. She works at licking/smacking her lips
when she gets a crumb or some kind of food on her upper or lower lips
11. She
has splayed her fingers on her high chair tray a couple of times
12. For
the last 3 nights she has slept all night long on her side! (For 4 years she has only slept on her
back).
