Left Hand Trying to Work

Last week Matt continued to be busy and pushing hard in rehab. He is standing everyday and they continue to be amazed at Matt's progress. Took him to Tony Roma's on Wednesday, was -20 with the windchill but with Esmeralda it isn't bad at all. There is a button you push which heats the vehicle without turning it on so the van is always toasty warm (when I remember to push the button). Friday Matt was supposed to go for a massage but Shaunie had a bad day and ended up in the hospital with another seizure so we postponed it until this week. Matt gets really upset when he sees Shaunie like that but came to ER as soon as we got there. Nice to have family around when it happens. He even came and visited her on the pediatric ward. I think he came for the free TV!
Lindsay, Nolan, Jacki and family, Bobby M came down for Saturday night and the ones without kids stayed up until the wee hours (except Mom but she had to look after Matt). They had a great time playing Wii and watching TV. However everyone seemed to get the flu bug that is going around. Cough, aches, runny nose, etc. Matt felt really bad on Monday am so they let him stay in bed but got him up for his therapy.
Today I was able to watch occupational therapy. She had Matt's left arm on the table on a pillowcase and was asking him to slide his arm toward a glass on the table. His shoulder is much stronger and he could do it quite easily. Then she asked him to open his left hand to grab the glass. The therapist holds his wrist and stimulates his proprioceptive, in other words by holding his wrist and pushing the joint together tells Matt's brain where his hand is in relation to his body. Then she rubs Matt's thumb and fingers on the sides of the cup to stimulate them to move. Matt was able to close his hand around the cup and hold it when she told him to bring his arm back. Then she lifted Matt's' hand up like his was going to take a sip out of the cup and he continued to hold it in his hand. I thought that was pretty impressive and then she took a jar full of beads for weight and told him to do the same thing, however he must try and slide the jar off the table and onto his lap without dropping it. He did. So not only does he have some movement in his fingers, he can grab things lightly to prevent them from falling. She asked him to put the jar back on the table and he was so close and tried so hard, but he could just not lift the bottom of the jar past the bottom of the table. It takes so much concentration and she had to continually tell him to stop trying to help with his right hand.
Keep up the awesome job Matt. We are so proud of you and thank the Lord you have continued to progress.