If you aren't cryin' then you aren't tryin - Day 2

Apparantly this is the motto for what Camden has now coined "Terrorsuit therapy". The day started out well enough with his daily massage and flirtatious smile with all of the staff that he hoped would save him come work time. Unfortunately for Camden he failed to charm the right person as it was now time to put on the suit. I went out to grab something to eat and came back to find a wet eyed, rosey cheeked, lip touting bulldog. Little did I know that this would be the theme for the day.

The first exercise in the suit was to go from a sit to a stand position. Camden did great and was rewarded with extra jumping time on the bouncy pod. Next he did some abdominal work before the day went South. He had to go from a lying roll to a side sit. This is something he has done several times in PT with Lisa in Jacksonville but for some reason he wasn't having it today. After 5 reps on his left hand, Ms, Tammy had to take a break because Camden was crying so hard that he was having trouble breathing. Ms. Tammy said that the suit constricts every muscle, including his chest, and even breathing can be work. She was so good with him and finally got him to continue. Continue he did, screaming that is. By some miracle, or everyone's prayers, he made it through 10 reps with the right hand. Ms. Tammy rocked him after this and sang to him about how good he was doing and Camden promptly went to sleep. This is when I truly realized how hard he was working. I am so proud of you Camden!

We had to wake him up because he still had 2 1/2 hours left to go. We gave him a quick snack before moving to some more relaxing trunk control exercises. The he did some assisted walking to the fun room, Camden would probably disagree. In the fun room he was able to ride a mechanical horse named "Bert". Next he performed some vestibular(balance)work on a long swing and a covered swing. He was still crying at this point but moslty a tired cry. This was mild for what was in store.

The last group of exercises were in the monkey cage and gait training in a Kaye walker. Camden loved the monkey cage yesterday but turned into a gorilla today. He was literally growling at poor Ms. Val and she tried to do her best monster voice back to distract him. I think Camden won this battle as the cage was shortly deemed closed!

At this point it was 11:15 and he still had over an hour left. Ms. Valerie tried to take it easy on him but he was so exhausted and tired that his poor crying head just sunk in his chest while he tried to take steps. He had very little energy left to cry and couldn't even manage the lip. I almost had an emotional breakdown of my own as I questioned whether we were pushing him too hard and if he was ready for such an intensive workout. Ms. Tammy comforted me by saying that this was normal for Day 2 and that Camden was doing great for only averaging an hour of PT a week back home.

I agreed to continue but also agreed to not come back to the therapy room tommorrow as I really don't think I could handle seeing him cry again like he did today. So tomorrow's update will be mostly feedback from the therapists. I gave Camden a great big bear hug and sat with him for several minutes telling him how proud I was of his hard work. I put him in the car seat and drove off, he didn't last a whole block before I looked back and he was slunched over the side of the car seat. He was out.

I rewarded him with a trip to a friend's swimming pool after his 3 HOUR nap. He seems to be in great spirits now and the good news is that we can give him Motrin every night while he is in therapy. We also got permission to up his reflux medicine since he has been spitting up more lately from the abdominal stress. Thanks again for the great feedback and support. Hopefully Day 3 will be a breeze.