Julia had a 12 hour trip to UT yesterday. She really enjoyed spending time with Grandma (my mom). Julia went to the "Muscle Whisperer" doctor, Dr. Christensen. He found 8 muscles not working in Julia (I guess 12 muscles is what is generally expected with teenagers). 4 of the major muscles were in her neck. Remember her neck injury on the trampoline 2 years ago?!?
Her posture is beautiful now. I noticed right away when I met her at the airport. Her upper back was in constant pain and getting even more painful and at times unbearable. The pain was due a lot to the 4 neck muscles not working. I'm sure mom has more to say since she was able to watch the Dr. at work...
I hear he is amazing and does a great job explaining what he is doing.Julia was VERY sore this morning. These muscles are just now getting back to work. Her hips are very sore (I guess she had a hip muscle not working either).
I can't wait to see/hear how she improves over the next little while.
This is what my mom had to say about Julia's trip:
Mom - Mar 28, 2008
It was a whirl wind day. I picked her up at the airport and we headed right to Farmington. I got lost twice. I was concerned because I was traveling differently than normal. New routes. In the morning there was SNOW. That really threw me for a loop. The street signs were partially covered with snow. We made it, fortunately. While with Dr. Christiansen the weather improved greatly. He took us a bit early and he worked his magic on Julia in 3 hours. He began by talking with her and going over her history carefully before he began. He explained that he would check the muscles related to her area of pain first. He found 4 muscles not working in her neck. He identified them then used his muscle activation technique using acupressure to restore the nerve connections so the muscles could once again function properly. He gave her an exercise to do which shall only take two minutes a day, and discussed Posture. How your head is like a heavy bowling ball and without proper support and posture will eventually lead to more and more hunching over. Julia was soaking it all in and asked questions all through out the session with him. She is one smart cookie. Well disciplined too. He asked her about her diet. How many fruits and veggies a day. She pondered and answered 5 to 7. (I could see Corin's influence on that answer!) Exercises 3 times a week for 30 minutes by running.(on that one, I could see John's influence!) He explained to her that if she continued to have these healthy habits, she would experience higher quality of life as she ages. He stated some wise health guidelines for her to follow. He then proceeded to test the remaining muscles. He checks 270 muscles in all. That is amazing to watch! He identified a muscle in her shoulder and 3 hip muscles that weren't doing their job. He activated them. It was fun to see Julia's face when he'd retest them and they would work! He told her that he had done a lot and that she would be "sore" for a couple of days. It was a good 3 hour session. He worked into his lunch hour, so we didn't have to return after lunch!
That opened the afternoon. We went to Sub Way for lunch. Julia was not interested in Soda pop...water for her. I was really surprised ....soda pop is so yummy.... WE WERE Famished! At lunch I had a great visit with her...we talked about her Grandma who lost her house in Farmington and all of her heirlooms to a mudslide. Then I told her my story about the great love we have for the Salt Lake temple and how the tradition began.... I suggested that we spend the afternoon at temple square. I managed to navigate Salt Lake and found a parking place just West of the Conference center. We took the conference center tour. It was amazing to be in that hall...HUGE. It was surreal. The tour guide had been in the choir for 20 years. She was really into explaining about the organ, the acoustics etc. While we were there, they were getting it all set up for the YW broadcast on Saturday. Experimenting with lighting, the organist was trying out some tunes. Julia wanted to try them too. On the tour, we saw several large pianos, Steinway's that Julia was itching to try too. We saw the Arnold Freiburg BOM pictures...the hall of the prophets, bust sculptures of all of the prophets, and then oil paintings in another hall. We went on the top and saw the gardens, the waterfall was functioning, there is a fountain right over where the speakers at the podium speak. The tour guide spoke lovingly of the "living waters of the gospel" and all of the waterfalls, and fountains in and about the building. We saw where the cameramen set up their cameras during the Olympics. After the tour, Julia wanted to see the Joseph Smith movie. So we ventures out to see it at the JS memorial building. We had about 25 min before it started so we explored the JSM building. A bride and groom were being photographed on the mezzanine level. Remember Richard and Julianne's wedding day photo shoot! It was the same area! We peeked in some rooms and saw where Wade and Jane had their dinner after the wedding. We took the elevator to the 10th floor and saw the view from there. I discovered that Julia loves to try out different chairs to see how comfy they are. That was fun. Looks are deceiving on that one! The film was great! We headed back to the car and had time to stop and step into the tabernacle. Looks good. Then off to the airport during rush hour. Did fine. It was a long day. Julia was wanting to sleep on the plane, but also wanted to try cranapple juice. I wonder if she did?! She slept on the morning flight and missed out on the drink and nuts then...she was pretty tired since she had gotten up at 3 am for the exciting marathon day to Utah....her Grandma is dragging today too....
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