A Dozen Shots in the Arm

Shopping therapy
Kyra has endured Botox injections every 3-4 months for the past 5 years, for the purpose of temporarily relieving the spasticity and dystonia that make simple movements so hard for her.  While intentional movement is always extremely challenging, even passive movement of her arms and legs is difficult, and sometimes painful without Botox.  For Kyra, each visit to the Botox clinic involves somewhere between 12 and 20 injections in her shoulders, biceps, forearms, and hamstrings.


Today, she had 14 shots.

Kyra rarely makes any objection to the injections, although today was a bit more difficult than it has been in the past.  Then again, Kyra hardly makes any objection to any medical procedure that’s required of her, as long as the procedure is clearly explained to her step-by-step, and she’s allowed to watch the doctors, nurses, and techs that are attending her. However, Kyra’s been having some generalized, unexplained pain in the past few months, and today’s injections were more painful than before.  Her doctor was visibly moved by the change in her behavior, and had the nurse double-check the needle size before continuing with the injections. We noted that Kyra has had a slight fever after the last couple of Botox sessions, and the doctor said that she may be developing antibodies to this particular type of Botox, which would make the injections less effective.  So, if these injections don’t have a good result in spasticity reduction, we may have to look for a different solution in the future.

Since every good job done should have a reward, Kyra’s reward for today was lunch and shopping therapy with Grandma Joan and mom.  Kyra was shopping for an outfit for her cousin Eric’s wedding later this summer, and Grandma and I were along for the ride.

The Napping House
After shopping in just one store, Kyra was thoroughly worn out, no longer smiling, forehead puckering, ready for a rest in her dark, quiet bedroom.  So we went home, and soon Kyra was tucked into bed with two cats curled up behind her knees, a dog stretched out at the end of her bed, and a puppy chewing empty water bottles in the doorway. Furry angels keeping watch.

Peace to all.

* p.s. Looking for a great picture book? We highly recommend "The Napping House" by Audrey & Don Wood.

* Watch a video of the book here.