We Have The Technology...

At long, long, long, long, long last, Sophie has her prosthetic arm!

We had an appointment last Friday to get her leg checked up on and adjusted, and at that appointment, the doctors let us know that Sophie's arm had finally cleared customs from Canada, and that we'd be able to get it on Tuesday!

So, on Tuesday, we went back to the clinic and waited for Sophie to be called in...

When we got into the room, her arm was waiting for us...



Sophie has been getting better and better with Dick and Christine, so we were happy that she had just seen them a few days earlier and she was very well behaved. No crying this time!



They gave Sophie the arm, and she was very interested in it, and wanted to hold it and even tried to kinda put it on her arm - it was pretty cool.

It's a new technology that Dick is actually pioneering, using soft silicone instead of the traditional hard socket (like the one for Sophie's leg), which gives the child a lot more feeling and flexibility. It does still have a rigid part to carry the cable to the hand, and a hard end to attach the hand to.



Sophie helped to push it on, and was able to use it a wee bit.

We'll start occupational therapy soon to help her learn to use it.

While we were waiting for the doctors to make adjustments, Stacy and I would walk up and down the hall with Sophie, and not only did that give her more practice walking on her leg, but we started teaching her to hold our hand when walking next to us.

It's not something you can really do at home, the space and arrangement just doesn't suit it very well, but going up and down a hall was the perfect opportunity. She did very well, and I have video of her walking with Stacy up and down the hall that I'll get posted soon. I made a point to hold her prosthetic hand as we walked out of the room and out of the clinic, so that she would feel comfortable with it, and know that we were comfortable with her new arm as well.

Well, that's about it...

Oh, Sunday is Sophie's 2ND Birthday, and her first with us!

A lot of family and friends will be joining her on this special day, and I intend to take lots of pictures and video, so look for a new post in the next week about it!

Larry