Tayla
I have to agree with you that I would personally prefer to keep more frequent hospital appointments and still continue with the joint sessions at home.
The problem is that they both get so stressed out by the hospital PT sessions, the questions they are asked, and the way in which there is often no explanation for the question or the explanation is open to misinterpretation that they tend to be less responsive to the PT during the session and dread going. Often they are asked to do the PT sessions without the parents being present but this means that as the questions arise we are not able to reinforce the message in a way in which our children will understand what is actually being said and not what they think is said !!!
Our Consultant has explained that this is a problem he sees frequently and as young people mature, towards 15 or 16, they more readily understand their illness and the what will help them to recover
I have question whether this is directly influenced by the fact that the staffs explanation about RSD and the mechanisms of pain / recovery are far too difficult for anyone younger that 14/15 to understand and as a result should they be similfying their message even further
This wold account for the fact that although the Hospital have a good track record in sending RSD into remission, the recovery process can, in a lot of cases, be quite lengthy
I also think that the experiences before diagnosis played a large part in reinforcing the wrong message about RSD and it will take a long time for Alison and her friend to undo the damage done
I do hope that in time they will begin to understand the reasons behind the questions they are asked, and I hope that the hospital will also take a look at how they convey that message to the younger children they treat
Self belief and trust have to play a major part in the recovery process and I hope that, given time and space, Alison will begin to trust her team again