We're in Boston for our annual visit with Dr. Peter Waters, who did a truly masterful job on the tendon transfer surgery that corrected Quinn's brachial plexus injury two years ago. Last year's visit was a nightmare, with Quinn uncharacteristically crying, hiding behind the curtain, spinning wildly (well, that one wasn't so uncharacteristic...) and refusing to be touched. Only the following day did his clueless parents realize that we had not prepared him for the visit, and the poor boy was terrified we were in town for another surgery. Duh.
So this year, LOTS of preparation. And a much better result, hallelujah. He raised his arms when he was supposed to, reached for the toy monkey when he was supposed to and generally did what they wanted him to do. And this was through three different visits - one with the OT, one with a fellow of Dr. Waters and one with Dr. Waters himself. We were very proud of our brave little patient. Despite all our preparation, through, he was quiet and solemn all day. Some fears are just hard to shake, I guess.
As for the doctor's report, he said Quinn's surgery was about as successful as it could have been. His range of motion and use of his arm (which was almost not useable pre-surgery) is at the top of what's possible. His only real deficit is strength, so the OT gave us some good ideas, like lifting balls overhead, having him hand heavy things up to me when we're emptying the dishwasher, etc.
Unfortunately, Dr. Waters said Quinn is doing so well he was lifting any limitations he had placed on him, meaning the ban on football evaporated before my eyes. But when he was the horror on my face, he said he would reinstate the ban just for me and would happily let me blame him for it. Whew!
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