Physical Therapy six weeks later

Dr, Hutchinson asked us to come back down on May 8th to see how the physical therapy was going, and to see the progress Scott had made in his movements.  I was a bit nervous since it was so close to my due date (shouldn't have been - I ALWAYS go late), but ended up being nervous for a different reason.  I woke up the morning before with a pretty bad pain in my left shoulder thanks to a pinched nerve.  I was nervous I was still going to be hurting while we drove to SL (9 months pregnant), and unfortunately, I was.  I'm confident that prayers work, though, since I sent out a plea on facebook for my friends to pray that I'd make it through the day.  And between prayer and some Tylenol, I did.

So, anyway, we sent the other kids to school, packed up Scott & a Bear and headed down for our appointment.  I laid back as best I could in my chair, found a *somewhat* comfortable position, and tried not to move for the next hour and a half.  Scott listened to his MP3 player, and Bear just chilled. 

These are some of my old glasses that he has claimed as his own

We got to the dr.'s office, got checked in and then waited.  After about 15 - 20 minutes, they took us back to an exam room where we waited some more.  I spent most of my time sitting on a chair while hunched over the dr.'s rolling stool (stretching my back) having Brandon rub my back.  The finally came and got Scott for x-rays, and then the dr. came in about five minutes later.  When he saw me hunched over the stool, he was a bit worried that I was in labor.  :)

Just a few pictures of how nicely his hand has healed

So, Hutch examined his hand, and had him do his exercises, and was floored with how well his finger had healed, and how well he was able to move it.   He asked us to meet with Andrew again that day to get some more PT exercises, and to start meeting with a therapist once a week up in Logan.  He gave us a buddy band, and told us to come back in 6 months. (A buddy band is basically a small slip of adjustable "tape" that Scott is to wear when he's doing any sort of sports.  He's to tape his middle finger to his ring finger since the ring finger is longer.  That way, if he gets hit by a ball, the ringe finger will break instead of his middle finger.)

So, we headed back to Andrew's office where he said he'd be able to squeeze us into his schedule in about 30 - 45 minutes.  We were to be back to his office at 1:00.  (On a side note, this was right at lunch time.  We probably should have headed to the cafeteria to get something to eat, but we figured that the appointment with Andrew would only be a few minutes and we'd be okay to wait for lunch. But it lasted well over 30 minutes.  We were all VERY hungry by the time we left his office.  Especially the pregnant Mom.)

So, anyway, Andrew, and a new student, Randy, measured (in degrees) how much Scott was able to move his fingers, and then gave us some new exercises to do with Scott.  The evaluated how well the old exercises had been, praised Scottie for all of his work, and then really stressed how important these new ones are.  They don't want the tendon to seize up and get stuck to the bone, and get stuck with the scar tissue, so they emphasized how much we needed to do these.

Andrew helping him with some PT . . .

. . . followed by Randy

After we were done with the appointment, Andrew let Scottie pick out a toy.  They had some stuffed animals in the closet, and that's the first thing Scott went for.  He chose a cute little dog, and decided to name him Chocolate.  Andrew was so sweet, and also let Connor pick out a Hot Wheels car.  He was in HEAVEN, and so excited.

So, now, we have to make an appointment with the therapist up here, and really push Scottie on his exercises.  We're all very pleased with the progress that has been made, and look forward to more progress in the next six months!

Mom, Scott, Chocolate, & Connor