progress

I feel exhileration. Elation. A huge thrill that reaches to my toes.

My daughter used 'shoulder flexion'...a HUGE deal in her healing process. HUGE. It is the anterior deltoid that lifts the arm straight up. She only moved it a little, and definitely needs to do more with it, but we are now sure that the muscle is functioning. It works!

Yesterday, 'playing' and exercising with her, I noticed that she appeared to move it, perhaps a couple inches up, then dropped it back down. My husband agreed that it was what he saw, too. However, we are not physical therapists and could not be sure. Today, Jeff saw her move it. He was very excited with us. She only moves it a few times, then is worn out and won't do anything else with it. We still need her to move it a lot more to be "out of the woods"...but I am so encouraged right now that I believe it will happen.

Jeff admitted to having grown somewhat concerned by her lack of progress in that area the past couple weeks. He also suggested that if she can raise that arm to eye level, they will probably not recommend surgery.

At her 2 month checkup last week, I asked the pediatrician what her experience with past cases has been. She gets 2-3 brachial plexus injuries a year, and she said so far they have all been resolved. Excellent odds!

Usually, by Fridays, I begin to feel discouraged and worried and fretful over her arm and anything that has not yet begun to function enough. Today, my heart is uplifted. This will carry me through the next week on angel's wings...