CP study

One of the things I have been so very blessed to be a part of is a CP study. This study provides physical and occupational therapies FIVE days a week. This is huge as typical treatment approval covers maybe once a week sometimes every other week. In China, when a child is diagnosed with CP, both mom and child are hospitalized and undergo twelve weeks of this therapy. This study is going to look at two things. Can parents here in the states even do this and get their child there every day? and is it effective? How much progress do they make and how much do they retain after the study ends? She is in her fourth week and is doing quite well.

How she started out
At the beginning of therapy,during her evaluations, she had a very short attention span and immediately threw any toy placed in her hand. She had trouble sitting up straight and her lower back practically touched the floor. Her crawl is atypical meaning she sort of leads with one leg and scoots the other up to her only bearing weight on one side. Most of her actions favored her left side and her grasp was wide (not pincer grasp). Her ankles are very stiff and have a very hard time staying flat.

She progressed rather quickly and now her sitting position is much straighter, and she can kneel , and play with toys for longer periods of time. She has started to put blocks into buckets and within the first week she was handing blocks to me.

Although she is making progress, there is still a dismal prognosis and growth has slowed dramatically in height and head circumference.

The Hyperbaric treatment she needs is expected to produce the miraculous results that she truly needs.