Our Special Children's Progress during 2013

Whilst all our children at The GLO are very special, we have some that without our intervention would not be alive today. These children need special care & medication but without the financial support of D.A.F.A it would be an impossible task.

Thankfully we have Charles our Physiotherapist who attends two or three times weekly to offer these children an even greater standard of care. Here is his updates on the children for 2013.

Michelle Otieno

Michelle is a child aged fours years old who was diagnosed with spastic cerebral palsy which had affected brain extremities. As she has been in The GLO since her birth she has received a high standard of care.

She has shown tremendous progress since she started therapy. She is able to use both her hands and exchange toys and other objects from one hand to the other. She also crawls and try to pull herself to stand. She utters some words and able to call names and utters some common vowel sounds.

Challenge: Michelle is faced by the problem of plantar flexion which hinders her from stepping down and bearing weight on standing and walking. Sadly Michelle has recently been diagnosed with Sickle Cell Anemia which is a very painful and life threatening disease, she has started new medication and is responding well.

Recommendations: There is an urgent need of fabricating her knee ankle foot orthosis splints (KAFOS) for both legs so as to prevent her plantar flexion and also a walker so that she can start training on walking. Also we need to closely monitor her on a daily basis to ensure she is not suffering due to the SCD.

Lawrence

He is a boy aged four years old. He was diagnosed with spinal bifida which caused the hydrocephalus that was arrested through shunting. He was paralysed on the lower limbs leading to atrophy of the thigh and legs poor bowel control and loss of power and sensation on the lower parts.

Achievements: Lawrence has shown the following progress
Muscle power- The power has increased to grade two from trace.
Sensation – He has deep feeling around the thigh for the sense of touch, temperature and pain.
Muscle growth- He has shown improvement on his muscles of the lower extremities which look big and well developed.
Lawrence has also improved on his bowel incontinence is now able to slightly control.

Recommendations: He requires a walker so that he can use with the flexion and extension H-KAFOs. Luckily we have had a TENS machine donated which will help in his treatment.

Kevin

He is a boy aged five years old. He was diagnosed with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy with sensory processing dysfunction which occurred at six months from birth after he was infected by meningitis. He had wrist drop and foot inversion on the left hemi-side. He is able to sit upright alone, use the unaffected hand, able to feed himself, can stand with support and does not make steps but gallop when moving.

Recommendations : He should be fabricated a hemiplegic splint to correct the wrist drop and also below the knee KAFOs for the left leg or a special boot.

Whilst many of our children come with challenges of different sorts, Michelle, Lawrence and Kevin need special care, treatment and development to help them in their daily lives. Thankfully we can provide that care at The Good Life Orphanage with the financial support of our great donors including D.A.F.A & a very special lady Mama Danielle. Asante Sane for making a difference to these children’s lives.