Day 100 - Friday March 23, 2012

We went to occupational therapy today for an evaluation.  The guy was nice--his name is Jory.  He had a good rapport with Bridgett and seemed good at what he does.  He recommended twice a week therapy on the same days as we have physical therapy.  Up in Salt Lake at the low vision clinic we are doing vision therapy along with occupational therapy for low vision issues.  Kasey said we would continue seeing him until we are able to do regular occupational therapy.  I'm not sure how long we will continue going to Kasey but he offers something that no one else does--the low vision approach--and that's what Bridgett needs right now.  So, at least for a few weeks we need to continue there.  Mark called and talked to Bree's dad last night about the whole insurance issue.  Our case manager said they are trying to get the rehab to negotiate a lower price.  Bree's dad said that the insurance company just needs to pay the difference.  Mark had a good visit with him.  Hopefully we will be able to work it all out without having to involve a lawyer but I guess time will tell.  Bridgett did really well on her occupational therapy evaluation I thought, especially compared to a few weeks ago.  Back in the inpatient rehab they were having her place large colored pegs into a mat with large holes and she was struggling to do it--mostly because of her vision.  Today she did a small peg board with small, metal pins.  You take all the pins out as fast as you can and then replace them.  The trick is that the pegs have a shape and you have to turn them to fit correctly in each hole.  She actually did really well with the right hand and of course slower with the left.  The hardest part was fumbling around to get the peg in right because she couldn't see how to fit it in.  They gave her a six card sequence to put together and she got five cards in order and one out of order. The cards had pictures from the 70's and actually it was hard to tell what one of the pictures was representing--a man taking a number to wait in line at the ice cream store.  You don't do that anywhere we go to get ice cream!  The next sequence had five cards and she got them in order.  She did some pattern blocks and got them right with only a few remarks from Jory--look around, all of the blocks are there in the box, etc.  She does really well with repeating strings of words or numbers.  She had a hard time identifying some animals, probably due to vision as well.  The lion she identified as a dog, as well as the rhino. The camel she called a horse.  All in all she did much better than the last time she did an evaluation.  So, things are improving all the time.  Of course, there is a lot of work ahead, but she'll do it!  She's a fighter! Oh, when asked about her pain today she said her neck and shoulders hurt.  She said they always hurt.  Hopefully they will be addressing this in physical therapy next week.  After therapy she was really worn out and slept for quite a while.