Reunited with Helper Arm

After a long delay, Jordan was reunited with her helper arm yesterday afternoon. It’s the same arm, but with extra sparkle power!

Check it out! See that extra strip of pink sparkle? That covers up the spot where Jordan snagged onto playground equipment at school and tore up the arm. The sparkle power will protect the arm and Jordan can keep playing.

The moment I reintroduced Jordan to her arm, she had to put it on. She was legitimately happy to see it back. That may be due to her recent shoulder pain and we’ve discussed how her helper arm gives her shoulder time off each day.

The sparkle power seems to be working. She wore the arm yesterday evening and she tried to do everything. She closed my car door. She even opened a door at our occupational therapist’s building. I didn’t tell her it was a power door that continues to open once you tug on it. To Jordan, getting the door to open was a miracle… A big pride point. Seriously. Look at this face:

Classic moment. I helped Jordan put on her helper arm this morning before school and watched her carry a chair to her table in her classroom so easily with that helper hand. I’m proud of how she’s an excellent user of her arm… Obviously it doesn’t do close to what a real arm can do. And in many cases, her little arm does it better. But that helper arm gives her body a break. It allows her to do simple things, like carrying a chair, with balance and ease without challenging her shoulder or other muscles in her body.

It may sound silly, but I always think about Winter the Dolphin when I put Jordan into her helper arm. Winter only wears her prosthetic tails a little bit each day. But it’s enough to help prevent further damage to her spine. The dolphin swims like a fish: side to side. But she’s supposed to swim in an up and down motion. The prosthetic allows her to do that for 30 to 60 minutes a day. That’s long enough to help her spine maintain integrity. And that’s how I feel about prosthetics for Jordan. If she uses it for any portion of her day, she’s helping maintain and even build additional integrity to her shoulder, her back and her body’s core strength. I can’t even explain how happy I am to have helper arm back in our world.