Well, we made the trip back to St. Louis on May 10th. We didn't do a whole lot while we were there. The weather wasn't really cooperative for a trip to the zoo as we had planned. It was quite windy and I don't think it made it over 60 degrees.
We arrived at Shriner's for our appointment and were quickly seen by the S.H.O.P. (Shriner's Hospital Orthodics and Prosthetics). Our first problem was the fact they had made her a right arm...and well...she already has one of those. *smile* That problem was quickly remedied and we got to try on the new arm. It's quite heavy and cumbersome, but she stood there like a champ while they adjusted all the straps. Once everything was adjusted she couldn't wait to take it off. LOL. So, they took it off to make some other adjustments for her petite size. We grabbed a quick breakfast at the hospital and then went back to give it another shot.
After getting the arm back in place and showing her how it worked we headed upstairs for therapy. There were so many toys to play with that we quickly lost her to the world of toys. My mom and I talked to therapist and tried to get Ashlyn to interact with us with the new arm. Nope, wasn't going to happen. Soon enough she pulled her little arm out of the contraption and just let it hang there while she went about playing with all the toys using her little arm instead of her new helper arm. I was told that if she didn't want to wear, not to make her. Don't let it become a battle. Well, I don't know if you've met my girl, but if she doesn't want to do something, no matter how much you try to get her to do it...it's not going to happen. Stubborn little mule just like her mommy I guess.
So it's been a couple of days, and I've tried bribery to get her to wear it. That lasts about 5 minutes per session and then she is screaming and crying for me to take it off. It isn't exactly "comfortable" for her, so I'm going to keep messing with it and encouraging her to see if we can get this to work and show her the benefits it can hold IF she CHOOSES to use it. This, to me, is an OPTION not a REQUIREMENT...so time will tell. She is only 2 after all, and she's a girl, so she has years and years and years of changing her mind ahead of her.
