July 22

Only one more week and Leanne will be back home for good! Sometimes I think back on those first few days and how scary that was. And yet we knew that our Heavenly Father was carrying us and He knew what the future held even if we didn't. So much to be thankful for!
This past week Leanne spent 4 hours a day with 8 other children who also had  one low-functioning hand.  And with their good hand being restrained, they did many activities in which they had to use the other. We did wonder if she would manage to get any lunch down, but a fork was attached to her hand so that even though she couldn't grasp it, she was able to scoop and lift her food. By Friday, Leanne was noticing more wrist movement, and she was able to lift her pinky and ring finger slightly. And she is able to lift her arm much more easily. So this week was very beneficial, if rather tiring. The idea of it all though is to train the 'bad' hand to work more, as the 'good' hand tends to take over and make the other one 'lazy'. We have noticed her trying to do more things with her right hand this weekend, so it seems to be working well.
Originally the plan was for Leanne to have injections twice a day for 6 months. We got a call from the pharmacist that she is trying to change that, as the blood thinners are very expensive, and we would have to pay for that when she gets back home for good. Aside from the cost, it would be really nice not to have to do those needles anymore. Though I'm getting rather good at it (ahem) Leanne does not seem to love having them done by me (or anyone for that matter!). And it would certainly give her more freedom at nights when she wants to go out. For some reason the idea of taking me out all the time doesn't appeal to her, so hopefully the pharmacist is successful in getting her off it soon.

July 9

I know some of you are still checking for updates regularly, but the progress isn't so dramatic anymore so it's hard to come up with something every week. I will continue to update though when there is anything new, so please don't give up checking!
Leanne went back to the hospital after being home for 10 days. What a nice break! Not that we saw much of her because she went to Strings Camp everyday just to observe and hang out. But she was still home part of each day and things felt rather normal. And she enjoyed Camp enormously even though  she couldn't play. She's counting on joining in properly next year!
For the next two weeks her therapists are planning to strap her left (good)hand in a splint for 4 hours a day to try force her right hand to do more. That should be interesting as she really depends on that left hand. But she's game, since it's supposed to help her.  God has given her a lot of patience, which we're very thankful for.