Missing the Obvious!

One of the personal trainer at the YMCA suggested Chloe might have problems with the moving arm movement on the elliptical exercise machine but she does not have problems the elliptical exercise machine where the arms remain in a stationary position. So she tried the elliptical with the movable arms only for five minutes. She got off this machine very upset and took about 30 minutes to have her finally calm down then she was able to describe a cluster headache in her right eye and double the pain on the left side of her head.
Again this only 5 minutes on the exercise equipment with the movable arm component appear to have caused this.So the next time the personal trainer suggest something maybe test it or leave well enough alone.

The next day Chloe's shoulder still hurt but now she was able to point to where it hurt so I put on an over the counter pain patch which she said was great. We went to her volunteer job and she had a good day. We are learning a lot from from Chloe now that she has a voice to describe what is going on. Thanks again to the neurologist and neuropsychologist  for all the suggests they gave us. We have seen the neurologist for years and was extensively interviewed and testing of Chloe by the neuropsychologist. They have come up with this treatment plan that has really help us figure out and work through issues that we could not of before.

Understanding the problem

Chloe through her exercising at the YMCA and her volunteering at the thrift store. She is finally understanding her ears are protected by ear plugs. So she doesn't need hold her ears when she sees people talking and laughing. That took a lot of activities in the community for her to understand and believe these ear plugs would protect her ears. The ultimate  goal would be to wear one ear plug in her right ear to protect her tinnitus.  We also are working on that they are laughing about something they are discussing and not her. Her first explanation of why she held her ears was, "Stop laughing at me!"

Chloe's exercise routine is called the abrupt work out. Six laps around the track is a mile. We will go 3-6 laps stopping at workout rooms to do 5-10 minute exercising with the equipment in the room we stopped in.
Chloe had problems with abrupt changes so this exercise routine really seems to be helping this issue. Shopping in the mall below we also change up the stores we stop at where we look for items we may need.

Chloe's understanding of concepts is helping her navigate her world and she is able to explain why she does what she does. Her medication seems to be a big help here.

So far left arm working below her left shoulder does not trigger the nerve pain in her head only when she lifts her arm above her head and twists the wrist and elbow

Slow going but Definition still holding

We are working on the premise that when Chloe raises her left arm over her head to stretch she does not get  nerve pain on the left side of her head but if she raises her left arm with any twisting or rotation or lifting  of objects she gets shooting pain in the left side of her head.

Today we went to target Chloe pushed the cart, put items on the belt at the check out and put bagged items in the trunk. She was using both arms and did complain of left side pain at home. She was lifting about 5 pounds and swing the bag into the trunk. Next time we will use only right for any lifting or twisting. With her becoming more interactive with her world we are getting more information.

Chloe's hearing appears to be visual issue too.  Now wearing ear plugs she is able to identify a baby crying, someone laughing or clapping around her but she still may cover her ears if she sees them. I would have to remind her that she is wearing ear plugs. The tinnitus in her right ear probably becomes louder with these type of noises. She may need to wear an ear plug in her right ear to prevent that from happening in the future.  She now wears two earplugs to help her see the difference.

With the medication to improve her focusing, she is now able to understand right and wrong answers. If she gets to many wrong answers she will have to repeat the exercise. She is doing math, geography, Spanish and typing independently and with little redirection but tries to get over 70% correct so she does not have to repeat the assignment.

With proper medication Chloe's life is more confident and she is attempting to do more thing

Definition holding!

So far what we have is when Chloe raises her left arm over her head and rotates the elbow and wrist she gets a shooting pain on the left side of her head. If she stretches her arm over her head but does not rotate it, she does not get that pain in the head. At the thrift store she used her right arm extensively in all different positions and worked with the left below her shoulders. We did that without problems. Now the training of her as to how to uses her arms and avoid this shooting pain begins.

Hearing is a condition response too. If Chloe sees a group of people coming toward her she holds her ears even though she is wearing earplugs. If she does not see a person laughing or talking loud she does not react. She reacts to TV person's voice qualities but likes Talk radio. She complains of tinnitus in her right ear but the left ear normal hearing. We are working on lectures on line and DVD protecting the right ear with an ear plug so far she is enjoying this too.

We are attempting to show her how to avoid these issues and as you may guess it is a very slow process.