A Plethora of Appointments
Upon reflecting about the month of July, I have come to the conclusion that Faith has never had more appointments in one month than she did last month. She had over a dozen chiropractic appointments, eight ABM lessons, two visits from the Easter Seals coordinator, one occupational therapy consult, one optometrist appointment (and a partridge in a pear tree!).
The Easter Seals visits were merely a formality as Faith has a new case worker and we needed to update some paperwork. Her disability case manager came along on one of the visits. Her optometrist appointment was her annual routine eye exam, and we are glad to report that Faith's eyes continue to remain the same and she still isn't needing glasses. We are thrilled about this as Faith had glasses at one time and we also had to do patching on her eyes, but her vision and her eye muscles continue to function normally! (Praise the Lord!)
In June, Rob took Faith to see a chiropractor for a consult to see how chiropractic care might be able to help her - especially with her sensory processing. He was confident he could help her and at the end of that month, Rob and I attended an informational seminar given by the chiropractor. Needless to say, we learned A LOT about how chiropractic care could help Faith and about nutrition in general.
Faith had her first chiropractic appointment in July, and he did a thorough exam, including a scan called an EMG (electromyography) Amplitude. Technically, an electromyograph detects the electrical potential generated by muscle cells when the cells are electrically or neurologically activated. It gives a total output of energy going through the nervous system. A normal energy rate is 100%. Faith's numbers, at 235%, proved to be much higher. No wonder she is so sensitive to loud, sudden noises and she continues to battle her startle reflex!
The chiropractor felt that adjustments to her upper spine, what he calls neural integration, would help decrease the high rate of energy. We are happy to say that the adjustments to her spine are making a difference - her re-evaluation showed her energy rate had gone down to 195%!
In the midst of her chiropractic appointments, Pati was here from Wisconsin for Faith's ABM lessons. With Faith being out of school, we wanted to try to get in as many lessons as possible, so we scheduled for eight. It was a lot for Faith and there were times we were wondering if it was too much. At one lesson in particular, Faith seemed to come completely unglued.
At the session prior, before strapping Faith into her chair, Pati allowed Faith to fall to the side without catching her. In doing this, Pati was trying to get Faith to learn what she needed to do in order to get herself back into an upright position in her chair. Faith did not like this because she felt like she was falling. She ended up being mad at Pati and was sure to tell her!
It occurred to me that Faith has never had the experience most babies have when learning to walk and that it's okay to fall. They quickly learn to get right back up again, completely unscathed. In Faith's case, she has never had this experience and when she falls to the side in her chair, someone is always there to catch her. She has never learned or never had the experience of learning to get back up on her own.
ABM is truly a whole new world for all three of us and we are all learning together. Pati knows this and she didn't mind that Faith was mad at her. She said, "Faith is in the 'Making the Impossible - Possible' phase right now, and this brings up a lot of emotion." We are thankful for Pati's patience and her dedication to both the children she works with and with their parents!
Faith also had a visit with the occupational therapist she has been seeing and had a consult for some testing and re-evaluations. Faith really loves her OT, Geri. She graciously allows Pati access to her office to do the ABM lessons. Geri is familiar with ABM and tries to incorporate some of it into her OT sessions with Faith.
With all of Faith's latest treatments and lessons, Rob and I are noticing that Faith seems to be understanding and comprehending things better and that she is asking appropriate questions when trying to find the answer to something. It's like her brain is a puzzle and all of the pieces are very slowly coming together.
Her respite care provider is noticing things as well like how Faith is more easily able to pick up food with her hands and bring it to her mouth. Even my dad noticed that her hands seem more relaxed and opened up instead of being in a clenched position.
The Easter Seals visits were merely a formality as Faith has a new case worker and we needed to update some paperwork. Her disability case manager came along on one of the visits. Her optometrist appointment was her annual routine eye exam, and we are glad to report that Faith's eyes continue to remain the same and she still isn't needing glasses. We are thrilled about this as Faith had glasses at one time and we also had to do patching on her eyes, but her vision and her eye muscles continue to function normally! (Praise the Lord!)
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| Faith getting a chance to relax! |
Faith had her first chiropractic appointment in July, and he did a thorough exam, including a scan called an EMG (electromyography) Amplitude. Technically, an electromyograph detects the electrical potential generated by muscle cells when the cells are electrically or neurologically activated. It gives a total output of energy going through the nervous system. A normal energy rate is 100%. Faith's numbers, at 235%, proved to be much higher. No wonder she is so sensitive to loud, sudden noises and she continues to battle her startle reflex!
The chiropractor felt that adjustments to her upper spine, what he calls neural integration, would help decrease the high rate of energy. We are happy to say that the adjustments to her spine are making a difference - her re-evaluation showed her energy rate had gone down to 195%!
In the midst of her chiropractic appointments, Pati was here from Wisconsin for Faith's ABM lessons. With Faith being out of school, we wanted to try to get in as many lessons as possible, so we scheduled for eight. It was a lot for Faith and there were times we were wondering if it was too much. At one lesson in particular, Faith seemed to come completely unglued.
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| Pati working very gently and slowly with Faith |
It occurred to me that Faith has never had the experience most babies have when learning to walk and that it's okay to fall. They quickly learn to get right back up again, completely unscathed. In Faith's case, she has never had this experience and when she falls to the side in her chair, someone is always there to catch her. She has never learned or never had the experience of learning to get back up on her own.
ABM is truly a whole new world for all three of us and we are all learning together. Pati knows this and she didn't mind that Faith was mad at her. She said, "Faith is in the 'Making the Impossible - Possible' phase right now, and this brings up a lot of emotion." We are thankful for Pati's patience and her dedication to both the children she works with and with their parents!
Faith also had a visit with the occupational therapist she has been seeing and had a consult for some testing and re-evaluations. Faith really loves her OT, Geri. She graciously allows Pati access to her office to do the ABM lessons. Geri is familiar with ABM and tries to incorporate some of it into her OT sessions with Faith.
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| Faith gives Geri her best effort |
Her respite care provider is noticing things as well like how Faith is more easily able to pick up food with her hands and bring it to her mouth. Even my dad noticed that her hands seem more relaxed and opened up instead of being in a clenched position.
We are truly excited about the progress Faith is making and thank God for bringing some more amazing people into our lives for the next stages of Faith's development. Although she has had a lot of appointments lately, it has definitely been worth it!
I'm so happy to hear about all the improvements Faith has been making and how well she's responding to the chiropractic sessions. There's going to be good days and bad days with those sessions but even the small improvements make everything worth it. Thank you for sharing! -Kristofer @ Core Chiropractic Center
ReplyDeleteChiropractic care is one of the wonders of medicine that can help in lots of health problems without the use of synthetic drugs and invasive surgeries. It’s nice to know that you’ve learned a lot from your daughter's chiropractor. I hope you’ll be able to use all those information for Faith’s progress. :)
ReplyDeleteVanessa Adams
I hope all that plethora of appointments paid off in the end. It appears that her chiropractic appointment went well despite the little mishap. I take it as a great sign that she seems to comprehend of things going on around her. Keep us posted about her progress, and I wish all the best for you and your family!
ReplyDeleteDerek Sparks @ Forgey Chiropractic
Thank you all for your comments - I do apologize it has taken until now to respond back to a few of them. July marked one year of Faith receiving chiropractic care and at her last appointment I was telling her chiropractor how compared to other children with cerebral palsy, Faith is doing so well healthwise. She has only been hospitalized once and that's when she had her gastronomy. She has only had the flu twice and has never had any other major illnesses or surgeries. We do attribute this to lots of prayer, including prayers answered through chiropractic care.
ReplyDelete