Wednesday, February 6, 2013

more info on Eve

While at the hospital yesterday, Eve got some music therapy.  A man came in and played the guitar for her.  He made up a soft song using her name and singing about her smile.  She loved it.  She really made the effort to hold up her head and smile at him.  Then he had her play the guitar with her fingers.  He softly sang some notes, and she tried making noise, too.  I took a quick video.  Unfortunately, you can't hear her "sing" on it. 
Then he even had her strum the guitar with her feet.  She thought that was funny.

Then the neurologist came by with one of the interns, to use Eve as a educational experience.  He went over her reflexes to demonstrate their abnormality.  For example, she still has a pectoral reflex that should only be present in newborns.  She also has reflexes that travel rather than being isolated.  So, if you tap her knee, not only does the knee move the leg up, but her ankle and toes will also twitch.  She also has some reflexes that will cross to the other side of the body.  Then he explained how her extremities have rigidity instead of spasticity.  He showed how to move her arms to tell the difference (steady resistance vs. resistance, a catch and then slow movement).   The intern was super grateful to be able to touch Eve and feel her muscles and reflexes.  He said when he does neurological exams on the kids there, they are usually neurologically normal and that it was great to see the abnormality in person.  I personally love it when med students or training professionals shadow Eve's doctors.  This experience could change another patient's life.  Someone struggling for a diagnosis might get one thanks to this person remembering Eve.  

Eve and I both slept like rocks last night.  After some initial coughing, she was quiet all night.  She woke up happy.  She was coughing and stuffy, but wasn't gagging.  I sent her to school and I think she'll do just fine.  She may be tired, but that's okay.  There's a music program at school today that she will enjoy. 

1 comment:

Karen Higgins said...

So cool - music is such a powerful medium for so many folk. I am so glad that she was able to be involved in this. Glad things have calmed down again. Sending loads of love and hugs. The Higgins' xoxo