Epona Therapy Services, LLC

Holiday Gift Giving

gina taylor, OT — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 18:12:06 +0000

Every year Toys R Us posts it’s holiday gift guide for differently abled children. This is a great resource for families, relatives and therapists looking to get the right gift for a loved one in their life.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Crayola Dry Erease Activity Board:This is a great gift that can be used during play time as well as to help structure your childs’ day!

Melissa and Doug Bake and Decorate Set : I like this gift set because it encourages self-help skills that can be transferred into an activity with Mom or Dad. I also like that the decorations can be wiped off and the cupcakes reused and redecorated.

Step 2 Wagon : This is kind of a classic type of toy. It can be used indoors or outside and allows children to take their toys with them in creative play or for parents to take children with them on outdoor walks. Anything that encouraged outdoor and creative play gets two thumbs up from me!

What are your favorite gifts?

Hanging in there

gina taylor, OT — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 17:56:00 +0000

Sierra is still hanging in and staying mobile. She is able to walk household distances, but has more trouble with community distance (going for a walk). With fall coming, it would be a good time to work on increasing her endurance before winter weather.

We’re upgrading!

gina taylor, OT — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 20:51:35 +0000

Welcome to Epoona Therapy Services, LLC. Please check back for our new website soon!

The ups and downs of DM

gina taylor, OT — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:19:00 +0000

We’ve been doing swimming this summer, but less so then last year. She needs help to keep swimming with her hind legs this summer. Underwater treadmill would probably be more helpful at this point as it would require more hind leg use. She seems to enjoy the swimming and seeing her doggie friend Milkway while she is there.

She has both good days and days that are more difficult. I judge many of her days by how well she is able to get up/down the steps, whether or not she plays in the yard and how much trouble she has getting up from laying down. The DM journey is full of ups and downs.

Back to swimming

gina taylor, OT — Tue, 18 May 2010 21:36:00 +0000

Sierra is back swimming again and has been very perky since her swim yesterday. We just did 5 minutes in the pool as I didn’t want to push her too hard the first day. She swam the five minutes with ease and wasn’t too tired the rest of the day. I am going to try for 7-10minutes tomorrow or Thursday (depending on the weather).

I am also going to work with the families dog that has been kind enough to share their pool with me as their dog is having some hind end weakness. Hopefully, I will have a video to follow in the upcoming weeks.

I only wish the water was this nice:

The pool water was a chilly 70degrees this week.

Waiting for aquatics

gina taylor, OT — Tue, 11 May 2010 22:29:00 +0000

Sierra is having more mobility problems and has lost some muscle mass since she last hurt her foot/nail. I know pool season is just around the corner and I am hoping that will make a difference again in her mobility. Her biggest problem is the back three steps. There are too few for her to walk down carefully, so she tries to jump down her back legs and often looses her balance and falls. I try to cue her to go slowly, but she isn’t always careful enough.

We also had some issues with the fabric from the CoolAroo bed. It’s a stiff canvas and when Sierra sleeps her legs kick while she dreams. Since she has poor sensation she doesn’t wake up while kicking her legs. This was causing rubbing and then bleeding on her legs. It required wrapping and protecting her legs. I am now using pipe insulation on the edges of the beds to protect her legs- it’s been working great.

Finally, Sierra cut her leg while getting into the self service tub at the groomer. There was a lot of bleeding, but it healed pretty quickly and didn’t have much of an impact on her overall. We are hoping to keep what skills she has until she is able to get back to swimming, then we might get some mobility and endurance back.

Canine Rehabilitation course tomorrow.

gina taylor, OT — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 01:46:00 +0000

I am very excited to be attending the first Canine Rehabilitation course for occupational therapists tomorrow. It’s going to be a great day with hands on training. I feel like I will come back with greater insight into OT’s role in canine rehabilitation as well as tools for continuing Sierra’s rehabilitation.

The last few weeks have been tough for her. She tore open a nail on a walk around town and has been limited to the backyard and house. She seems to have lost some muscle mass and stability. I am glad swimming season is just around the corner.

Spring is here

gina taylor, OT — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 01:22:00 +0000

Time to get back into a walking program with Sierra. She really loves her Coolaroo beds and they are really good at supporting her. In addition, if she has anymore incontinence issues I can easily place a chux pad under them! Here she is in her new bed

I bought the first bed in December and just purchased a second Coolaroo for downstairs. She loves sleeping in this thing.

We’re hanging in there!

gina taylor, OT — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 22:41:00 +0000

Sierra has been hanging in through the winter. She enjoys a quick run through the snow. Here are a few pictures of her in her snow blanket for playing outside.

Beach

gina taylor, OT — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 16:21:00 +0000