A Day Late

          

This post is actually from yesterday--Wednesday, April 24, 2013--I couldn't get the blog to work until tonight.

Brinel was very proud of his hat!

Brilner and Milo

          Horse therapy was different again today.  One of the regulars, Rosaline, couldn't go because she has been having more and more seizures.  I understand that she had a couple of them this morning.  So, I got to pick another child to go in her stead.  I wanted to try Marvens or Catelain, but I wasn't sure how they would react, and if the reaction was negative, I knew I couldn't handle them.  I don’t even think Brinel could handle them.  Instead, I chose to have Brilner go.  I fell in love with him back in November 2009 on my first mission trip.  At the time, he couldn't walk, and he had a killer smile.  He still has the smile, he can now walk, but he can be quite the stinker.  He’s not always so cute. 

Brinel on the horse for the first time

Brinel and his "cowgirl" Christina

            However, he was a champ at horse therapy!  He sometimes pulled the “I don’t want to go where you are taking me so I’m just going to flop down” routine.  But, overall he loved it.  He wasn't afraid of the horses.  He loved riding them.  He won the hearts of the workers.  I think I fell in love with him again!  It’s so good to see the kids respond positively to new situations and new therapies.  I don’t know whether he will get to go again, but I would love to see it happen.  As long as Rosaline can keep going, too!

            I have grown in my respect for P.T.’s and O.T.’s while I've been here.  Today, my respect for them has reached new heights.  A couple of therapists were here Monday and Tuesday through Healing Hands for Haiti.  They taught me some tricks for teaching kids how to eat and develop mouth muscles.  They made it look so easy.  It’s not.  It’s hard.  It’s messy. 

            I started last night working with Jean-Daniel on how to drink from a bottle.  He has never learned how to suck, which means that his mouth muscles are weak.  This weakness leads to lots of drooling.  He wanted to chew on the nipple instead of sucking at it to get water out.  I just about lost it last night.  However, I learned that the cheap baby bottles I had purchased didn't have holes in the nipples (maybe that’s how they all come?  I don’t know.)  No wonder the poor kid couldn't get any water out!  Even after poking a whole in the nipple he still struggled to get water out.  He just couldn't figure out how to suck.  I did everything the therapist showed me, but no luck.  I finally gave up.

            This morning at horse therapy I tried again with the eating and drinking from the bottle.  Jean-Daniel did great with the eating.  I held his mouth closed and ran my finger down his throat to induce swallowing.  It worked!  He ate without much drooling.  He was only able to drink a little bit; he continued to chew on the nipple instead of sucking.  Let me tell you, it’s hard to hold the bottle, keep his head upright (not tilted totally back like a baby bird), and stroke the throat so that he will swallow.  In about 15 minutes he managed to swallow about ½ ounce of water. 

            Lunch was just messy.  Sloppy.  Drooly.  I decided I could work with both Jean-Daniel and Phonsley at the same time.  Big mistake.  I had them sit at the same small table—mistake number one.  Phonsley doesn't have the core strength to sit up and feed himself.  He fed himself just fine yesterday, but he was sitting in a wheelchair that gave support so that all he had to do was focus on feeding himself.  Today, he had a hard time finding his mouth; some of the food first went toward his eye and then slowly made its way to his mouth.  The poor boy would've starved to death if I hadn't helped at times.  As it was, much of the food landed on the floor, on him, in his hair, anywhere but his mouth.

            Jean-Daniel just about caused me to lose it.  It started okay, but as we went I had a harder and harder time doing everything I needed to: hold the head up, get the food into his mouth, hold the mouth closed so that the food stays in, and then stroke the throat so that he would swallow.  Again, as much food was on him, on the floor, or on the table as in him.  It’s a good thing I had the boys take off their shirts before we started or they would have needed whole new outfits.  They just needed to put on new shorts due to the mess.  I didn't have the patience to work with Jean-Daniel again on the drinking.  I was whooped just after the eating portion of lunch.  

My practice field for driving my motorcycle

            The people who do this time of therapy for a living have my utmost respect.  It’s hard, messy work, and I think the rewards of seeing progress are off in the distance.

            I practiced with the motorcycle again today.  Tomorrow Sony is going to go to the police station to apply for a license for the bike.  Hopefully, they will give some sort of temporary license plate so that I can start driving on the roads!  I can hardly wait to go out on my own.  I don’t have to go fast or far.  I just want the freedom to head out on my own. 

          I"ll attach today's updates to this post.  I spent the day working with the kids on therapy.  Breakfast with Jean-Daniel went better.  I think more breakfast went into him instead of on him.  Phonsley did okay sitting in his wheelchair and eating at the table in the kitchen, but I think the nannies cheated and helped him along.  I know they helped him at lunch.  Phonsley really does make a mess when he eats rice and beans (it's probably not the best food to work with when trying to teach a kid how to feed himself).  The nannies did get a bit upset with me because he was making a mess and taking so long.  One started to feed him just as I was finishing up with Jean-Daniel.  I told her I would take over and help him, but she said that he wasn't doing a very good job.  I just replied that he needed to practice.  

          Jean-Daniel did a great job at lunch!  Hardly a mess at all.  A big part of the success goes to him, but I'm also getting better at helping him.  This morning when I tried the bottle again with Jean-Daniel he managed to drink about an ounce of water.  It's like he gets it for a few seconds and then goes right back to biting on the nipple.  The drinking part frustrates me.  But, at least it's less messy than the beans and rice!

          Sister Emma, Gertrude's real sister, called today to ask whether I would be willing to do some therapy with a one-year-old girl.  Somehow the baby's mother is connected to the school/work program run by Sister Emma's convent.  I said sure; I mean, I'm not going to say no.  However, I'm concerned that people think I know more than I do.  I've learned a lot since I've been here, but I'm no expert.  If this keeps up I may need to look into training as a P.T./O.T.!