Meet Emily.
After a near-fatal auto accident.
Emily, a teenage passenger in an SUV accident, suffered a terrible injury to her right hand and forearm that left her arm resting outside the car window.
She had to have several extensive reconstructive surgeries to attach and repair her arm.
“When she arrived for her first therapy visit, she was understandably afraid that her wounds would never heal, much less that she would ever get any use of her right hand and arm back.”
On top of that, all her family was out of state, and her first year of college had to be put on hold.
Her goals were daily activities that seem simple to people without injuries, but were a big step up for Emily after her accident: putting her hair up in a ponytail, holding her cell phone, and using a computer mouse.
Over the next several weeks, she received wound care that helped with her wounds, and we gave her exercises designed to help her relearn the ability to move her hand.
It was a struggle.
Slowly, she improved her ability to bend and straighten her fingers, using an exercise designed to increase her range of motion and the strength of her hand and wrist.
When she had accomplished her goals with her initial exercises, we switched to helping her relearn how to use her computer mouse. We had to start with a modified mouse that we obtained from a national hand therapy conference, and which seemed to work very well for her—she loved it!
While Emily has moved again out of state to resume her studies, we have faith that her progress will continue!
We all have confidence that such a positive, upbeat, determined person will succeed!