Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Tomorrow's the Big Day

Hey everyone,

I have LOTS to update on.  First off, tomorrow is the big meeting and my stress about it is brewing .  I'm keeping my fingers cross that the schools eyes will be opened and maybe just maybe they can exhibit some understanding.   All I told them when I said we wanted to have a meeting was that in OT we were coming up with goals and some of them related to school so we needed to all get together and discuss them; I said nothing about the standing frame directly.  Anyways, wish me luck :)!

Next off, I actually haven't been able to get into my standing frame because of my toes.  It is believed I have something called Hammer Toe. It is not uncommon in people with CP and it has been causing me a great deal of pain in my feet and toes.  I have always had a problem with my toes overlapping.  We tried using toe spacers but, they never stay in place.  Mom is taking me to the doctor and she thinks they will probably splint my toes with a Hammer Toe Splint.  I also wear AFOS and so I'm wondering if the doctor will send me to see my orthopedist, maybe he can rig something up that serves as both an AFO and a Hammer Toe Splint.  That would probably mean having to get approval for a new pair of AFOS, we'll see.  Has anyone experienced this problem (Hammer Toe, Hammer Toe Splint interfering with AFO)?

Lastly, I had mentioned we were doing some perceptual testing in OT.  The reason for that is that because of my CP I have some visual difficulties that will affect whether or not I get to drive.  The first round of testing didn't go well but, it didn't go horribly.  My processing time was in  the range of severally impaired.  That could get ugly when driving. The second round was bad, p, and more bad.  First off, my therapist forgot he was supposed to see me so I ended up waiting for 45 minutes and then ended up getting only 45 minutes of therapy instead of an hour ( he apologized profusely by the way)  Anyways, I had to put together this stupid house figure together so it looked exactly like his. I had a supper hard time with that, partially because of my fine motor skills.  Pieces kept falling on the floor and it was just NOT a good time.  Then I had to do this thing where he had a picture of a shape and I had to copy it with stamps.  Again, I had a very hard time and ended up getting fairly frustrated.  At the end he says well I was feeling pretty positive about you being able to drive but now, I'd be concerned about you driving.  Well that's awesome, thanks.  I tried to explain to him how I have been preparing for not being able to drive but, I always held onto the hope that my instincts and what other people were telling me about not being able to drive were wrong.; until the testing says it's real, I can stay in my own happy little world.  Let me tell you something, preparing myself for it never made it any easier to swallow.  Anyways, I left therapy very upset; there were tears, there was anger, there was I'm never going back there. Ever. Then there was lots more anger and hurt.  Long story short, I ended up going back and finishing the testing and actually did very well, much better than my OT was expecting (according to him, not me.)  This time I ended up driving a scooter.  At the end he redid the processing test I mentioned earlier  because he said that while I was driving the scooter, my processing time was not nearly as high as when he did the testing on paper so, he was somewhat confused as was I.   I went from well over a minute to 38 and 48 seconds which is a mild to moderate impairment.(only 8 seconds into moderate)  .  Apparently, sleep, stress, and lots of other factors can affect the results of the test so I may or may not get to drive.  

"He's not jaded or bitter, he's gonna leave the givin' up for the quitters."

Keep Rolling On,

J

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