Other than the problems with the water, the physiotherapy, walking and sleeping went very well this time.
We even walked in the evening sometimes and sat on the terrace of the restaurant for a while. Dejana liked it extremely and looked at us with joy in her eyes. I think she was really proud to be between all this people and to look at the crowded boulevard, to drink (sugar free) juice and to eat a piece of sugar free biscuit. And people did not stare at us as usual and this made me also feel good and stress free.
Every morning after breakfast, we climbed a small hill in front of the hotel. It was a quiet and nice moment in the day to walk for a half hour up and down the steep path of that park and listening to an ‘early bird song’. At this moment it was warm but not so hot yet. I took some food from the restaurant and so we always got a company of a group of street dogs coming up the hill with us. Dejana liked them too.
Climbing was usually the biggest challenge for Dejana because of the different gravity power than during walking on the flat ground. For that reason I used to help her by pushing her from the back. And I did it this time too. Two weeks long. In the third week I just tried to let her climb alone and warned her that I will not help her anymore. It was a try and not a believe that she would do it.
But surprisingly for me .... She did it. All alone and happy. She walked very slow but with a correct body position and well coordinated too. I always considered this as more important that the speed. It was a moment of a private celebration. How can I explain this to anyone that does not have any experience with the Rett syndrome how great the improvements are that Dejana made???? So I was happy on my own.
And of course, the rest of the holiday she walked up the hill alone with more and more confidence in herself. Down the hill I still had to help her not to fall over.
In fact I wouldn’t have came to this idea if we didn't had a very energetic and pushing therapist.
An extremely professional and young lady in her 20ties, enthusiastic and a fighter. Miss Cristina saw after her first physio-session that Dejana could do exercises on her own. We only had to give her enough time to concentrate and plan her own activity. We also needed a strong motivator like a peace of fruit and a challenging therapist like Christina. Dejana walked on the stepping stones and over the obstacles without any support. She crawled over the high pillows, got up from laying to sitting, grasped a ball high and low (with weight on her arms), balanced on her knees and on one leg.
I was super proud and Dejana was too.
It didn’t matter how difficult the task was, she smiled with a pride if she succeeded.
And after every physio session she was significant more flexible in her all body and walked more upright than before the treatment. It is a temporary effect of course but still it is more than clear that movement does good for the girls with Rett syndrome. I do not have any doubts about this topic any more.
Two times of 30 minutes physiotherapy a day in the period of tree weeks didn't trigger any Vaslavas/epilepsy attack at all. That was a big improvement compared with a year ago.
“And she was better in coordination and understanding the tasks”, said one therapist who worked with Dejana last year. It was one more reason to enjoy the holiday.
