Physical Therapy

Tim Wild in Kansas pointed out that in the photos Luke's hands are always in fists. Because of Luke's injury there is a tendency for his muscles to contract and this results in arms pulled in by the biceps and fists. Also the calf contracting causes the toes to point. To counteract this, we are doing a few different things for Luke.

First Luke has hand splints that keep his fingers and thumb open to loosen the joints and muscles to help maintain the flexibility. Luke also has splints for his arms to keep his elbows flexible and he has splints for his feet to keep his ankles flexible. Luke has a regimen of 2 hours on 2 hours off for the splints. After the splints come off, he will gradually tighten and the fists return.

Secondly, the physical therapy/occupational therapy team come in a couple of times each day and work with Luke on his range of motion. They flex each of his limbs and work it through a series of stretching exercises to keep him flexible. We are learning to be able to do this ourselves. As we transition to home he will have in home PT a few days each week and then his nurses and family will fill in the gaps.

I guess I had not thought to ask specifically about Luke's range of motion and tightness, but here goes. Would you pray that God would restore Luke's ability to remain loose and not tighten up.

Tim, thank you for pointing this out, we are learning all about Luke's condition and this could have easily been something we would overlook. If you see things in the pictures or have questions about Luke's condition, feel free to ask, you may be helping us recognize a potential problem earlier.

I want to take a moment and acknowledge the Awesome staff at Mary Bridge children's Hospital. The staff here at MBCH are the best, it is the only level 2 pediatric trauma hospital in the state of Washington. We are fortunate and blessed to have such a fine hospital less then 20 minutes from our home. I am convinced that at the vast majority of hospitals Luke would not have been revived and this blog and all the love and support we have seen would not have happened. I am eternally grateful to the MBCH staff, as well as everyone that played a part in saving my little Luke's life. Thanks just doesn't seem to be enough, but it will have to do.

Thanks!!!!