Long awaited posts

Thanks to everyone we got to see on our trip back through the Midwest. We had a great time and Matt was so excited to see everyone. He thought it was the best he's interacted with people so far. It also reminded us why we need to be writing, so I am sorry it has taken so long to get back into the blog.

To be honest, it is feeling like everything going on is now our normal life and I forget that you still like to read what he is up to. Plus, in the back of my mind, I've always hoped for the day that I can pass this onto him and he can write to you about what is happening. However, that is still a long, unforeseeable way off, so I will try to keep up better. Here's a start: an update on all three of his therapies.

OT

Of course, Matt's biggest frustration is still his arm and its lack of function. He's gotten a lot more movement back in the shoulder, upper arm, and elbow, but his wrist and fingers continue to be difficult to move. His OT got him a stim unit that we can actually take home and it has been great. Every day, he works his lower arm with the electrical stimulation - he's hooked up with wires that stick to his arm and shoulder. When it turns on, it opens his hand and bends his wrist back. The idea is that his muscles work fine - they just aren't getting the electrical signal from his brain to engage. When the machine turns on, it gives his muscles the signal his brain should be sending and by concentrating on what's happening, he can retrain his brain to work the correct muscles. Its a really interesting process to watch - and in the few months he's been doing this, it is already requiring less 'power' from the machine to get the same movement in his hand.

PT

It's been a long time since Matt has had PT, but his doctor wasn't happy with how he's walking and thought he should get back into it. Matt is walking more and faster than he ever has, but has a slightly awkward gate. He can't bend his knee completely and doesn't have the ability to lift his toes as he steps. The anterior tibialis muscles are just too weak - when he picks up his foot, it curls in instead of straight up. For now it is okay, but if he walks like this for 20 years, he's going to have some orthopedic issues.

His new PT hooked him up with a different electrical stimulation unit that straps onto his leg and into his shoe. It senses when he begins to take a step and stims the muscles to work & pick up his toes. Then when he steps down on his heel, it turns off and lets the foot relax. He has to concentrate on bending his knee more, but it really looks great to see him walking so naturally. We'll try to get video during his next session so you can see how it works.

And finally, speech

Where to even begin with Matt's speech progress - let's just say it is pretty amazing. And even we notice it on a regular basis. He was looking for me the other day and asked, "Could you come help me?" His new speech therapist has been great and has him working especially hard on verbs. His vocab has been steadily increasing, but putting together a sentence that makes sense has been difficult since he struggles so hard with verbs. He's getting more work done in each session now and really progressing. She thought that he would have 4-8 more weeks of work with her and that he'll continue to be able to work on his own at home.


Matt is one of those people who could be a student his whole life. He loved school and was trying to get into grad school programs in Vermont before we tried to start a farm. He was joking about it the other day while working on his homework - he said he could be a perpetual student, but he never thought he'd be stuck in 1st grade. "Got to laugh, right?"