A new beginning

After the morning session, Maya's cast was taken off. It was funny for her at first, the left arm must have felt weird. After her nap, she started realising that she had her arm back 'for real' (not just a cast change).



In the afternoon, we made a start with bilateral therapy, but only very limited (less than 2 hours), so this will definitely be something to focus on in the future. Also, in order to keep her right hand on the level that it is now (or even gain more skills), we are planning to keep using the cast daily for at least a few hours per day.



(Look how she can now get a necklace over her head - she's never had that range of motion with her right arm before:)



At the end of the afternoon it was time for the endpoint tests at the clinic. It became obvious that Maya has gained many skills, and has become a lot more tolererant to therapy! We remembered how last time, in that same testing room, she was crying most of the time and unwiling to use her right hand. This time, she made a good effort with most of the tests and was succesful in many. Way to go Maya!



After all of this, it was time to say goodbye to Brittny and Mary Rebekah. A few presents, hugs and (almost) a few tears later - not Maya, but Sanj and I felt quite emotional! - we left the clinic. However, we did not leave before having made sure we're on the cancellation list for 2009, and just in case we've booked for 2010 also! We think Maya has benefitted greatly from this program and would love to come back into it. And Birmingham, Alabama has proven to be not such a bad place after all!

Thank you all so much for all of your emails, comments, phone calls and mental support. It has meant the world to us to know that so many people were going through this with us. And last but not least: thanks to your contributions over the past year, we were able to make a sizeable donation to the ACQUIRE program!