overwhelmed

When we began this journey, we were overwhelmed. Overwhelmed emotionally. Overwhelmed with the physical task of putting on braces, doing stretches, getting therapy set up, having to help Brody with things that you typically don't have to help a 3 year old do, etc. And overwhelmed with the financial burden this would be. But in the last 2 months...the 2 months since we've created this blog and let our friends and family follow this journey with us...we've been overwhelmed again.

Overwhelmed with love and support.

You saw where our church body blessed us by hosting a massive garage sale and raising $1500 to pay for the first set of braces.

And in the last couple of weeks, we've had unexpected gifts sent or dropped by out of nowhere. We are amazed at how the Lord provides. He promises to never leave us nor forsake us. And He is holding true to that promise, as always. It is so comforting to know what we can pay for the next set of leg braces in the next 6 months to a year without worrying about where the money will come from.

So thank you friends and family...you know who you are. We can never thank you enough for loving us the way you do!

And ultimately, all praise goes to God for his provision and faithfulness. We know that he has all of this in his hands, if only we'll let go of the reins and let him lead.

Just to catch you up

Hi everyone! Sorry that its been a little while since I've posted. I've had some people ask if we were still doing therapy because I haven't been able to post pictures. Yes, we have still been at therapy, and it is going great. Matt takes him on Tuesdays and I take him on Thursdays. He's getting more comfortable with his therapist, Ms. Chelli, and seems to really be enjoying it. Today he kept saying that he was getting tired and didn't last very long on each exercise. Chelli and I even debated letting him quit early because he seemed legitimately fatigued and more clumsy than usual. But once she let him in the ball pit, he was having fun and she was able to incorporate some beneficial exercises into it and we finished out our 45 minute session. She said that playing hard has an affect on his muscles so he may have been tired from playing outside yesterday or even Tuesday. And I think I know why...

For Christmas, my grandmother (Nana) got the boys a TRAMPOLINE!! They are in heaven. They play outside more than they ever have. Brody asks to go outside pretty much the moment he gets up in the mornings. I'm able to let them go free out in the backyard for hours. They'll even eat their lunch outside, and then, get this...Brody comes in and CRASHES! He has been resisting naps for months now. He will normally go "rest" but never actually sleeps. Well, this trampoline is changing that! It wears him out and he has napped great for the last week because of it. And on top of that, it is great exercise for his legs. It works all the muscles in his legs and ankles and he's having fun while doing it! He doesn't know he gets "tricked" into exercising :) I'll post pictures soon!

So, I think you're all caught up. There's no other real news to report regarding his progress or anything. I'm working on another post about some things that I have started thinking about regarding Brody's care and "lifestyle." I want to be proactive and I feel there's a lot that we don't know and haven't been told. Stay tuned...

Physical Therapy: Session 1

Last Thursday was Brody's first real physical therapy session. (I mentioned before that he went once but it was just an evaluation.)  When he had physical therapy when he was about 2 years old, I felt it was pointless. The therapist didn't seem to know how to work with children, plus Brody was young and didn't seem to understand what to do. So I partly blame the fact that we left weeks of therapy with no progress on his age. So I was a little leery going into this first session. I didn't know if we would be heading down the same road as before. Let's just say I was highly impressed. Chelli did some fun games and exercises with him that I could totally tell were working him exactly as he needed to be worked. And for the most part, he seemed to really enjoy everything she asked him to do. She also was very good about explaining to me why she was doing each exercise and what muscles it was working. She did seem a little annoyed that I kept getting on to Brody when he would disobey what she asked him to do. We discussed this and I think we may be on the same page now. She wants him to learn to trust her and she also doesn't want him bored with an exercise and unwilling to cooperate fully. So she said that if he is disinterested, he's not going to get the full benefit. So if he walks away in the middle of it, she is ok with that and they will move on. (Matt and I on the other hand expect obedience. So it is going to be a struggle to just let him walk away after being told to complete a task such as balancing on the trampoline while catching a ball, etc just because he doesn't like it.) But its only been one session...we'll work through this part of it.

I brought my camera and captured a few of the games/exercises they were doing. I didn't get all of them so here's a quick run down of what I can remember.
-Climbing up and down stairs, alternating which legs he used to take the next step. Also worked on taking the stairs only using one foot on each stair. Currently, he steps up and puts both feet on one step before taking the next stair.
-Jumping on the trampoline, which he loved. And then standing still on the trampoline while trying to catch a ball. This works on balance and strengthens his mid-section.
-Tying his legs together with an elastic band and trying to walk around. Also, try to pull legs apart as well as up and down. (See photos)
-Holding on to the parallel bars while standing on a piece of foam with a rounded bottom. It was quite funny watching him try to keep his balance as the foam rolled back and forth.
-He is old enough to use one of the machines, which he was thrilled about. He laid flat on his back at what look like a leg press. When he pushed off, the part he was laying on slid up. The harder he pushed, the higher up he would go. He couldn't go very far, but it was fun for him for sure!
-Standing on a round disk with a ball on the bottom. She held it stable and then moved it back and forth as he played with some toys. He had to adjust his legs to keep from falling. (see photo since my description is not very clear.)
-And lastly, a ball pit. What little 4 year old doesn't love a ball pit! He was told to kick as many balls out as he could while sitting on his bottom. He went to town with this of course!

I'm so excited to watch him grow and get stronger through this therapy program. I think it is going to be very beneficial for him. We'll get to work with him and do some of the exercises at home as well, in order to keep his legs loose and help him stay strong. I'll try to document the sessions every few weeks so you can see new things he's doing and how he's strengthening. Thanks for joining us in this!