Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month: Reflecting On Our Journey So Far

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Did you know there are 1 million people in the United States who have cerebral palsy? I guess that means Faith truly is one in a million!  Faith was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when she was six months old. Prior to that, she had been given the diagnosis of Periventricular Leukomalacia  (PVL). During her premature birth, there was a lack of oxygen to her brain, which resulted in damage to the white matter, or inner part of her brain.  I will never forget receiving that news. Faith's Dad and I were told that nobody knew what the long-term effects of PVL would look like for her. All I could do was stare at my tiny daughter lying in her isolette, hooked up to all kinds of tubes and lines, and choose to believe she would be okay.  Faith in the NICU a few days after she was born. After over 70 days in the NICU, we finally took her home to Watford City. There, she would receive regular visits from an Early Intervention team who would assess her and ensure that she met al...
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Gearing up for GABR

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It's hard to believe that the Great American Bike Race (GABR) is only a month away! We have been involved in this event since 2008 when I formed a team called "Faith's Rockin' Riders" with some ladies at work.

In 2009, we sort of took a break since we were in the process of moving from our old apartment to our current, accessible one. Rob, however, still rode on MedEquip One's Team.

Last year we formed Faith's Fantastic 10 which consisted mostly of our friends. And this year we are gearing up again but with a slightly different name - Faith's Fantastic 12 since we had to expand our team to 12 riders instead of 10! So now there are 1,200 riders taking part in the event instead of just 1,000!


GABR 2008


GABR 2009

GABR 2010

We are especially excited this year because Faith, along with her friend, Tanner are GABR Stars this year! GABR stars help to promote this huge fundraising event which means their pictures are seen everywhere! Faith is pretty excited about it, especially having her photo on the cover of Medcenter's monthly publication.

On March 30 she will be interviewed on the noon show on KXMB. I am a little anxious about that as I have no idea what Faith is going to act like or what is going to come out of her mouth! She can be pretty unpredictable! She will also be seen live on the day of the race on KFYR as they present her with her own GABR jacket. KFYR does a live one-hour broadcast from noon to 1:00 on race day, which is Saturday, April 9th.

All funds raised goes towards equipment, services and making homes and vehicles accessible for these kids. We were able to get a $2,500 adaptive car seat through GABR and also Faith's iPad. If you aren't able to donate, I completely understand and would appreciate your prayers that this event goes smoothly and that there are no injuries to any of the riders (as has happened in the past.)

By the way, our thanks to my brother Todd for sponsoring our team once again which covers the cost of our personalized t-shirts, complete with our team logo designed by our friend Liza Kessel!
 



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