Cast Camp is Over

I took home one very happy boy this afternoon!  Someone was so glad to get his cast off.  It seemed to itch him much more this time and he did get a big bug bite right where the cast hit his upper arm.   So, Griff came home with a goody bag from camp.  What does one get from constraint camp?  Well, there is a pencil sharpner, 2 pencils, a sucker, plastic coins ( I have to say that this one seemed weird at first, but great for the pincer grasp on the right hand), 3 packs of homemade play-doh (great for squeezing w/ righty), a whistle (might hide this one) and a toothbrush and toothpaste.  They sent home an adorable picture of him, a t-shirt he painted , a clay something he made (not sure what it is, but you know mommy is keeping it!), a picture with feathers...  This is great because the boy does not like art.  Most of his school art has 1 crayon line through it and that is it.

Here he is with his cousin Caroline.  You can see where his sisters "signed" his cast.

An ambulance was outside therapy yesterday.  He was so excited he could hardly stand it.  He ran straight to it!

And, while Griff was at therapy we went and got some cupcakes and had a little picnic between storms.

A big thank you to Vanderbilt Pediatric Therapies.  We feel so fortunate to be a part of this study, free of charge!  We have the best therapists - Laura and Lindsey!  We have had several therapists at VU and they are all awesome, I even taught one of them years ago.  The 8+ camp therapists and volunteers are all so wonderful w/ 12 kids at this camp.

~Martha

Check out the cast on Griff's arm.  We are fortunate enough to be a part of a research program at Vanderbilt and take part in a week long constraint therapy or, as Griff calls it, "cast camp."  The basic premise is that you cast the good arm and force him to use the weak arm, kind of like you would treat lazy eye.  There are about 10 kids in the class, all his age, all with casts.  It is really cute to see them all with their brightly colored casts and so great for Griff to be with other kids that have the same struggles.

He won't tell me anything that he does, but I managed to get a schedule so I know what he is doing.  There is a lot of sensory work...hands in dry rice, pasta, etc.  They have played with clay, paper mache, and made pudding today (to eat, not stick their hands in.)  They play games, eat lunch and snacks with their weak hands, brush their teeth...  I challenge you to eat a few meals with just your weak hand.  Gabby tried last night and didn't make it long, but it did give her some insight to what Griff is going through.

I'm not going to lie, cast camp is hard on all of us.  It breaks my heart that he has to go through this and it will probably be a yearly event.  Ideally it should be done for 3 weeks straight.  They are cutting the cast off  and adding velcro to it so we can continue to use it.  We slept maybe 3 hours this first night because he was so antsy and kept asking us to take it off.  Tim and I have both been wacked a few times by accident.  Meals are a little more messy and no swimming or water table.  But, we already see improvement in his right hand and the timing, right before school starts, is great.

If you have a few extra seconds, would you click on some of the advertising on this blog?  Our goal is to raise enough money to cover one of his horseback therapy sessions.  I actually signed up on Fab.com, one of the ads that scrolls through, and it has some cool stuff.

One more pic...

You never know who is hanging out in the halls at Vanderbilt Pediatric Therapies.
Martha