A CP Mom Shares Her Joy
The note below is copied from a letter from my sister-in-law about our niece's progress following stem cell treatment in Beijing. Thank you, God, for the blessings she is experiencing.
_________
Kara has continued to do well and make improvements since returning home. She has been healthy and continues with the course of medicines as prescribed.
A notable change for Kara is her improved focus. She stays with a project or assignment, showing greater attention to task for much longer periods, both at home and at school. Her reading and math programs were recently changed at school to better capitalize on this improvement. She has begun an on-line reading improvement program at school, which we can work on at home as well for continuity. Her math and computational skills have improved, and she has a better grasp on math equations. Kara’s teachers and her therapists have noted an improvement in Kara’s impulsivity. Where she began projects haphazardly, such as cutting with scissors, she now takes some time to think and plan before beginning.
Another notable improvement is Kara’s endurance during physical tasks. Prior to treatment, Kara had low tolerance and ability for the treadmill, generally walking at a very slow speed for 1-2 minutes. During this short amount of time, her muscle tone would increase, causing gait to deteriorate greatly. Following treatment, Kara has been able to tolerate and even enjoy the treadmill, often walking for 10 minutes or more. Increased tone has not been an issue and her gait remains good throughout. Walking speed increased and Kara has even been able to keep pace with a raised incline!
Additionally, Kara’s gait in general has much improved since treatment with dragging of the left foot no longer an issue. Previously, Kara would wear a hole in a gym shoe within 2-4 weeks; she has had her current shoes for almost three months now with no wearing at the toe as before. Her confidence and ability using the crutches continues to improve, whether using one or two crutches. She still uses her walker at school for safety, though alternates between that and the crutches with better tolerance and speed. Her gait in walker is improved as she now has slowed down and puts weight through legs and feet instead of mainly through upper body.
She has much broader use of her left arm and her left hand. We work on distal finger control and movement both at home and at school/therapy. Shoulder range remains good also. Overflow movement from left to right decreased during treatment and continues to improve.
Speech remains good with Kara mainly working on improving sh/ and sl/ blends. Cognition is notably improved since treatment with Kara more often asking “why?” or requesting specific information or stories. Overall, she seems to be putting the pieces together much more easily, along with making more and better comparisons. We continue to work on age appropriate social skills, attempting to narrow the gap between where Kara is and where she should be for her age.
We rejoice that we did not do the surgery. Kara is seeing improvements that go so far beyond that procedure and without the pain and long-term recovery it would have required.
_________
Kara has continued to do well and make improvements since returning home. She has been healthy and continues with the course of medicines as prescribed.
A notable change for Kara is her improved focus. She stays with a project or assignment, showing greater attention to task for much longer periods, both at home and at school. Her reading and math programs were recently changed at school to better capitalize on this improvement. She has begun an on-line reading improvement program at school, which we can work on at home as well for continuity. Her math and computational skills have improved, and she has a better grasp on math equations. Kara’s teachers and her therapists have noted an improvement in Kara’s impulsivity. Where she began projects haphazardly, such as cutting with scissors, she now takes some time to think and plan before beginning.
Another notable improvement is Kara’s endurance during physical tasks. Prior to treatment, Kara had low tolerance and ability for the treadmill, generally walking at a very slow speed for 1-2 minutes. During this short amount of time, her muscle tone would increase, causing gait to deteriorate greatly. Following treatment, Kara has been able to tolerate and even enjoy the treadmill, often walking for 10 minutes or more. Increased tone has not been an issue and her gait remains good throughout. Walking speed increased and Kara has even been able to keep pace with a raised incline!
Additionally, Kara’s gait in general has much improved since treatment with dragging of the left foot no longer an issue. Previously, Kara would wear a hole in a gym shoe within 2-4 weeks; she has had her current shoes for almost three months now with no wearing at the toe as before. Her confidence and ability using the crutches continues to improve, whether using one or two crutches. She still uses her walker at school for safety, though alternates between that and the crutches with better tolerance and speed. Her gait in walker is improved as she now has slowed down and puts weight through legs and feet instead of mainly through upper body.
She has much broader use of her left arm and her left hand. We work on distal finger control and movement both at home and at school/therapy. Shoulder range remains good also. Overflow movement from left to right decreased during treatment and continues to improve.
Speech remains good with Kara mainly working on improving sh/ and sl/ blends. Cognition is notably improved since treatment with Kara more often asking “why?” or requesting specific information or stories. Overall, she seems to be putting the pieces together much more easily, along with making more and better comparisons. We continue to work on age appropriate social skills, attempting to narrow the gap between where Kara is and where she should be for her age.
We rejoice that we did not do the surgery. Kara is seeing improvements that go so far beyond that procedure and without the pain and long-term recovery it would have required.
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