Good evening all. Shawna continues to increase slightly with gains to physical movements. The tone in her left side has been slowly decreasing. We have decided to wait for making a decision about a shunt insertion until the aspect of tone medication has been explored fully with the assistance of Dr. Gillette. Shawna has experienced a few changes of late with respect to her personal support worker. Her PSW Sharon Kingma had to take some time off to become a new mom to Avaia Faith. Shawna was able to hold the baby and stare intently at her for a few minutes today. It was a beautiful moment. Today another important development in her treatment was tried. She had pool therapy! We tried first in the cooler pool to do assited walking but that was not too successful we decided to move her to the warmer pool and have her float and try having her initiate leg and arm movements. That part was succesful as she floated on her back with her new pfd-a. Her physiotherapist breathed a huge sigh of relief as everything went according to plan and her life vest proved to be very effective in preventing her from turning over and protected her airway completely. In the heated pool (91F) the tone was almost completely gone and she relaxed almost to the point of falling asleep as she floated. Travelling home she was exhausted and promptly fell asleep. Tonight when we make swimming motions and talk about her pool therapy she breaks out in spontaneous laughter, because she enjoyed it sooooo much. Heated pools here we come!
Another fantastic development in her treatment which was alluded to by Mrs. Vanyken in the last blog coments was a loaner "all in one"computer which is set up for touch screen and eye-gazing. The eye gaze portion of the computer has two cameras which watch Shawnas eyes to move the "mouse" and when she holds it long enough in one position clicks the mose to activate the programs or icons. It is completely set up for her to type messages that way and email or talk to friends online once she becomes more precise with her eyes. She demonstrates quite readily that she can read and regularly clears the screens playing memory games. The computer has an associated speech sytem which will speak the sentence she types out or the command she has enacted right down to saying what she would like to wear that day or have a drink etc. Right now we only have the computer for a two week evaluation but i'm pretty sure the therapists will recommend this device to enact a major breakthrough in commuication. The therapists were so enthusiastic the first time they brought the unit here when Shawna demonstrated she knew exactly what it was for and promptly sounded the alarm page and turned it off again and again for 4 times. Each cycle required three processes with eye movements to different quadrants of the screen. Very exciting..hopefully...considering one of the therapists questioned if Shawna could even do it since she herself couldn't.
Shawna also enjoys the new sunroom/exercise room which has been added to our home. A beautiful well lit and warm room to enjoy even on the coldest of days. Again we are experiencing the riches of God's grace as he continues to show us he cares for us and all is in His control. Thank you for your prayers and support. Al, Deb, Shawna and family
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6 comments:
How exciting to see the new developments and to have the wonderful God-given technology available so that Shawna may again be able to learn a new way of communicating with her loved ones. Each of you and all those involved in Shawna's therapy continue to be in our thoughts and prayers.
May the Lord continue to surround you with His love and care.
The Hutten's
What can one say when reading this ! Our God is an awesome God ! May Shawna continue to improve steadily! Praying that He will continue to provide all you need ,what a comfort that is for us all!
Love Marlene and Jack and family
Dear Shawna, Alan and Debby and family,
What a story !! Everything but special the part of the computer. Also the technlogy is given by the Lord and now Shawna can use this. That is great :
O worship the King, all glorious above,
O gratefully sing His power and His love;
Our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days,
Pavilioned in splendor, and girded with praise.
We continue praying for all of you! Love from:
oom Klaas
oom Jan + tante Menna
oom Albert + tante Joke
oom Henk + tante Marry
oom Age + tante Willy
+ our children.
That's amazing! I'm sure that will decrease her frustraton levels, when you and her can communicate with accuracy! We are thankful with you for this development. Thanks for continuing to share with us.
Andy and Cora Muis and Fam.
We are amazed at the strides in technology that are available for Shawna to use, to re-develop her skills, and her proficiency at using them is truly gratifying. You are still remembered in our prayers, and we pray also for Shawna's caregivers, for patience and acceptance. May the Lord continue to give you all you need as time passes.
So happy and thankful to hear about the new developments. Communication is so important. The pool will also add to her progress. We have seen that in the kids we worked with. God Bless you and keep you.
Andy and Gerda Vandenhaak
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