Electfornopain

Day 439:

The Word of the Day is,.... "Electromyography".

Phonetically speaking I believe you pronounce it: elect-tro-what? Or,.. EMG if you're looking for the short terminology, or happen to find yourself on the stage of the National Spelling Bee. It's the testing of the electrical activity of muscles. One of the concerns with Hannah's arm and hand is the progress at which the 'helper hand' is able to,... help. On our last visit the doctors didn't seem overly impressed with the progress and even hinted at the fact that paralysis in the fingers had begun to set in. Paralysis is not bad if you find yourself digging in a tackle box full of sharp, barbed hooks,... but in the general scheme of things, it's not good.

With the EMG, small needles are placed into the muscle, from her elbow down to her wrist, to measure electrical activity. The needles are smaller than the normal needle because they don't need the opening for medicine to go through; however, the experience of needles and electrical impulses is not very pleasant from what we've been told by those who have experienced it first hand.

This trip to Mayo will be rather quick with a two day turn around. A number of people have asked about scans. We are now on a 6 month scan (which will take place in November). This trip is all about the reconstruction and progress made with splints and therapy - and maybe a stop at a Harley dealer.

When we return, Hannah has a planned visit with a wonderful group of ladies who are planning on helping her with cookies for the Jenna Mammina concert. She will be talking to a group from the United Way and sharing how through them, we were able to receive a nurse for in-home blood draws.



On another topic, I did hear from Pam (aka Madi's Mom) as well as an update from her caringbridge page - Madi is now considered to be in remission. What a blessing and answer to prayer!