Walking Machine

Today's gift is she was a walking machine.

Wow!  She got her groove back!!!  It is so good to see.

As you know my daughter's walking hasn't been the best lately.  I know it was bothering her just as much as it was killing me to see her walk with difficulty.  However, over the past couple of days she has been getting better and better.

If her walking was good, her sitting up straight was off.  If she was sitting upright better, her walking was off.  But today....everything was great!  Everything was working like it is supposed to.

She started her morning with physical therapy.  I have to say she wasn't the happiest camper when we got there, but she pulled through (as we know she is a rock star!) and had a great session!  She was walking, running, jumping, and dribbling a ball that was easily four times her size!

Then she went to school with all smiles where overall she had a good day.  The best part of her day for me was watching her walk out to the car!!!!  I couldn't believe my eyes!!!  It has been a long time since I have seen her do this.  In between taking pictures, I was giving her thumbs up through the window!

Her busy day didn't stop after school, as she also went to the chiropractor today.  She really enjoys going and I have to say I truly believe she must feel so much better from going, otherwise she would not want to go one more place after school.

So why is her walking better?  I have no idea.  Is it the fact she went through a growth spurt and now her body has adjusted?  Is it the fact she added a chiropractor to her list of specialists?  Is it a combination of growth spurt evening out, chiropractor and physical therapy?

I do not know.

What I do know is she loves being back in her old body again.  She loves being able to walk and run freely.  I love being able to watch her go with no worries of her falling over.  I love having her sit at the table and not have to keep adjusting her as she leans to the side.  I love having her be herself again....herself... with the way we have lived with Rett Syndrome for 6 years.

As she has taught me, there are always going to be bumps in the road and mountains to climb.  This was a little bump we took, but hopefully one we can put behind us.  Thanks to the bumps and the mountains we are stronger individually and stronger as a family.

Here is a quote for today....

Sometimes God pushes us to our limits.  It's because he has greater faith in us than we have in ourselves- Author Unknown

© copyright 2012 – All rights reserved
365 Days Gift

Trying Something New

Today's gift is trying something new.

This afternoon my daughter added another doctor to her list.  This one is voluntary and was not a necessity.

I decided to try a chiropractor for my daughter.

There are many opinions out there about chiropractors....either you love them or hate them.  I have yet to find someone who is middle of the road.  But each person has to make the opinion for themselves and that is exactly what I am doing....for my peace of mind and for my daughter.

I will say I didn't jump on this decision overnight.  It has been on my mind for a while and I talked to one of my daughter's physical therapists who also has a daughter with special needs.  She shared with me her experience with her daughter and gave me the name of the doctor they used.  I of course want my daughter to be seen by someone who would understand her and the possibility of her getting upset...and I wanted someone who was understanding with the circumstances.

He was great.  He was understanding.  He was straight-forward.  He was patient.  He didn't try to tell me he would be able to "fix her" or "cure her".  He said he would try and make her more comfortable with adjustments and let's see how she does.

I am willing to try just about anything to help her be comfortable and pain-free.  I am willing to do anything to keep her moving.  Where is the harm in trying this?!?

She was fantastic!  As soon as he walked into the room she was all giggles and grins!  She was very cooperative and laid down nicely on the table.  She is so tense and tight it took her a couple of minutes to relax her neck and lay her head down, but once she did....she kept it down.  She let him do the adjustments and he could feel exactly what I told him in our consultation.  All the technical terms he used were the same her therapists were using.

Below are my "non medical" observations from her appointment:

• once she remained calm, head down, she was very relaxed
• as he was making the adjustments, at times she would look at me (I was on the floor at her eye level holding her hands) like...what was that...but also with a look in her eyes, that it felt good...felt right
• she always had a smile on her face
• she was in a "different" mood after the appointment.....

What I mean about a "different" mood is she was extremely happy....and loving towards me.  It is like if someone does something really nice for you and it made you feel good....that type of mood.  Which made me think and feel her adjustments, made her feel good.

It didn't stop there....her walking was better when we got home...not perfect, but much better.  So much better...she didn't want to stop walking!  This is huge!!  You know she must be feeling better if she didn't want to sit down.  And twice when she was standing WITHOUT shoes on she was flat footed...this hasn't happened in a VERY LONG TIME.

Overall, I am very happy with today's outcome...with his patience, her cooperation and her results from one adjustment.  We are going to try to go once a week for 4-6 weeks and see what happens.  If it helps her with her walking....than it is worth every second and penny!

Seeing her today after her appointment, it truly was like she had a different sparkle in her eye.  Even at dinner, she leaned over to me, grabbed my face, on her own and gave me a big kiss....out of the blue!  I think she was telling me....thank you mommy!

Here is a quote for today...

Don't be afraid to fail.  Be afraid not to try- Author Unknown





© copyright 2012 – All rights reserved

Pushing Forward

Today's gift is pushing forward.

Lately my daughter has developed some walking issues.  She is still able to walk; however, her walk is funky and she is leaning forward more and more.

It must be so painful for her to walk like this....if only she could tell me where it hurts.

I,  along with everyone else who works with my daughter, have been trying to rack our brains...why....why the change.  These are the answers we have come up with...

• she is having another growth spurt (happens all the time when she has one AND my other two children are having one right now too!)
• she is tiring more easily now (she does ALOT of walking at school....I mean ALOT)
• she is extremely tight in her hips and this is adding to the problem (they stretch her at PT, but she DOES NOT like it...but they still do it because of how tight she is...and it needs to be done)
• her scolosis
• the progression of Rett (she had a regression stage years ago...I think this option is highly unlikely)

Whatever the reason, we need to figure it out so we can help her push forward....and not regress backwards.

Well, today at PT (physical therapy) they stretched her....and I mean stretched her to the point, where she usually doesn't like it and will let them know it!    The part where it is uncomfortable for her because it hurts.  The part that has to happen to avoid future problems.  

She pushed forward.

She let them massage her till she was so relaxed she was drooling!  This massage was more of a deep deep tissue massage....the kind that hurts, but feels good.

She let me them stretch her sides and hips over a huge ball...you could see the stretching and knew it must be painful as she is so tight.

She let them do it all...without any problems.....without any whimpers....without any fuss.

She pushed forward.

And it paid off.

Today her walking was better.   After her bath I massaged her back and it was not as tight.  For the first time in months, her back was flat on her left side when she is lying down, where usually it is a little raised!  When we walked up the stairs tonight to go to bed, she did something she hasn't done- in a long time.  For the first six steps we have railings on both sides of the steps.  Tonight she held onto both railings...hands apart...and walked up the first six steps-ALL-BY-HERSELF!  Immediately, I thought....should we continue the railing on the right all the way up?!?!?!

I wish I could stretch her like they did today at therapy...every day.  However, I would need to grow another two arms, as it truly takes two people.  One is holding her on the ball with all their might and the other is getting her to reach for things to get a good stretch.  Looks like my husband and I have our homework cut out for ourselves on the weekends!  The extra stretching is going to help her AND make it easier at PT too!

It is amazing what one good physical therapy session will do!  I am so excited that she pushed forward today, when I know she wanted to pull back.  I think tonight she saw and felt a difference too!  I hope she remembers how good she felt tonight and will understand when we ask her to do it again...and again...and again.  She was in a great mood....and I know she just "felt" good too!  Sweet dreams little lady, you deserve it!

Here is a quote for today....

You are going to want to give up.  Don't.- Author Unknown

© copyright 2012 – All rights reserved
365 Days Gift