We got home and he seemed fine by Sunday morning. That day we had a birthday party for our older son, Jacob, who was turning 13. We were very excited to show everyone all the new things that Jadon could do with Righty. Unfortunately Jadon was not having any part of that. He refused to raise his arm. I think he was just sick of all the attention Righty had been receiving.
We had our first therapy session with our local therapist scheduled for Monday. I was looking forward to working with our therapist who knows Jadon and works great with him. Monday's therapy session was mostly just Matt and I telling her about the week prior, the new stuff he can do, restrictions. measurements, and going over the stretches with us again. She noticed that he flinched and started screaming as soon as her hand came to his shoulder. She could tell it was just an automatic reaction because he was expecting something unpleasant next. She suggested that we all just rest our hands on his shoulder at different times without doing anything else to get him used to us touching him and not associating it with something unpleasant. She practiced this with him during that first session. I was so happy with how patient, and considerate she was with Jadon. I knew she would be but it was nice to see it in action.
When she wanted to check his scar she pretended to tickle him under the arm, then she would go in and massage. If he fussed she would go back to tickling until he was laughing again...then back in for more scar massage. Then she put him in his favorite chair to play with some toys while she did some stretches. I feel like we really got a lot done the first day.
I was also working very hard at home to come up with times in our day to do stretches and make it a pleasant experience and not something that sent him into a complete fit. Scar massage is done after tubby time in the evening. I discovered that Jadon loves lotion. I keep giving him squirts of lotion in his hand and while he is busy covering himself with lotion I am doing some scar massage and have even snuck in some stretches too!
We have been doing the other stretches or PROM (passive range of motion) while we are sitting and waking up in the morning and then again at night while he is drinking his bedtime tippy and watching a show with Mommy or Daddy. We do our AROM or active range of motion (meaning encouraging Jadon to reach for things etc/movement on his own) all throughout the rest of the day. At the beginning of the week we met a lot of resistance everytime we requested Righty to do something but as the week went on his positive attitude about all the new things he could do returned.
Wednesday's therapy session went well also. Jadon was a little grumpy but Karen managed to keep the session positive. When we got home Jadon was so crabby and clingy. The next thing I knew he was throwing up again. Ugh! Within an hour he was fine. Playing with toys and wanting to eat dinner with us. He kept dinner down, but was really cuddly and clingy all evening. The next morning he woke up crabby and sure enough. Within about an hour of waking up he got sick again. So today was just a Mommy and Jadon day. I took him to the doctor just to make sure he did not have something like strep or an ear infection. Dr. said that he probably had the flu over the weekend and his tummy was having trouble bouncing back. So now Jadon is on the BRAT diet.
Tonight we got his stretches done without any fuss. A first since post op! I was so pleased. Hoping any soreness and pain he might have felt during the stretches the first week is starting to go away! He also continued to keep Righty plenty busy. He has also figured out that if he does things he is not supposed to do with Righty instead of Lefty we have a hard time saying no. Ugh! He is too smart!
Here he is holding a "man" as he calls it with Righty so he can push a button on its back to make the arm punch. The tongue is sticking out so you can tell he is really concentrating.
Took this picture tonight while we were rocking before bedtime. I got the camera because he was reaching back to touch my face and I wanted to capture that. When he saw the camera he reached for the camera instead. That is ok. He could not have done that before surgery either!
Still can't get enough of all the new range that Jadon has from this surgery. We are in therapy three days a week right now. Makes for a lot of running around but it is worth it to keep getting Righty stronger! Hoping Jadon feels great in the morning and is ready for his Friday session!
Thank you so much for sharing Jadon's Journey! My little Steven also suffered an Obstetrical Brachial Plexus injury. He is now 9 months old and so far hasn't had any surgeries, but as you know, he still may need to in the future. You have inspired me to create a blog as well to get the word out there. Before this happened to us, we had never heard of it, I hope one day every expectant mother will know the risks!
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