Showing posts with label abm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label abm. Show all posts

Monday, December 30, 2013

2013: A Year in Review

This past year has held many challenges, many changes and some breakthroughs as well. We have met some new people who have helped Faith make forward progress but have been discouraged as certain prayers continue to go unanswered. Through it all though, there is one truth that remains - God has been with us and He has been faithful.

He has placed many people in our lives who have kept us encouraged and who continue to inspire us each and every day to to "walk by faith not by sight." As I think about our past year, I can't help but feel hopeful that the New Year will be better than the last!

JANUARY - Me and Faith spent the tail-end of last year and the beginning of 2013 recovering from the flu. In fact, she was at the walk-in clinic on New Year's Eve. We recovered just in time to celebrate the NDSU Bison winning their second straight national championship. This year they are once again headed to Frisco, Texas to defend their title as they take on Towson University on January 4th.

In other news, we were without an elevator for almost a week in our building which made our lives very interesting getting Faith and her chair up and down the stairs.

FEBRUARY - Both me and Rob celebrated our birthdays this month - we had fun celebrating with our friends from church at Bruno's Pizza. At work, we had an old-school Valentines Day party and my Valentine pizza box even won a prize!

Speaking of hearts, I had one of the longest pacemaker appointments ever that included being hooked up to a 24-hour holter monitor just to make sure it was functioning as it should. I also received the exciting news that my heart is not pacemaker dependent.

MARCH -  We celebrated the resurrection of our Savior with some friends at their home for Easter dinner. Unfortunately, the snow, cold and wind kept us from our tradition of flying kites.

Faith had her first lessons with Pati Holman who is an Anat Baniel Practitioner. Pati comes to Bismarck about every 2 months from Wisconsin to work with children in our area. Faith had lessons in the summer and fall as well and we are currently in prayer about continuing with the lessons as we have also found some other kinds of treatment that are beneficial.

APRIL - Bismarck broke their record for the most snowfall in one day as over 17 inches fell on the city. School was canceled and even I got a snow day from work. It is a rare occasion for any town in North Dakota to shut down on account of the weather! Besides North Dakota making news because of unprecedented snow fall, we also continued to make news throughout April due to a pro-life piece of legislation signed by our governor in which North Dakota became the first state to ban abortions based on gender and/or genetics defects.

MAY - Spring finally sprung and with the warmer weather, Faith ended her school year as a third-grader. We all loved having Mrs. Ternes as her teacher and were a bit sad to find out she would be retiring. We are glad though that Faith had her during her final year of teaching.

While Faith was finishing up school, Cari finished up another season of Java JOY for which she volunteers as coordinator. Sadly during a season we celebrate new life, we lost a precious person to our family - Rob's Aunt Audrey. How wonderful though is the assurance that she is resting peacefully in her eternal home!

JUNE - Our long awaited summer vacation was finally here! We were so thrilled to be able to go to Winnipeg, Manitoba to meet Rob's parents - David and Jean who flew there from Toronto. We had so much fun at the Holiday Inn, visiting, watching hockey, drinking Tim Horton's coffee, eating, laughing and just enjoying being together.

We also went to the zoo where the highlight was Hudson the Polar Bear. The time went by way too fast but we promised we would not let another two years go by without seeing one another and are looking forward getting together again in 2014.

JULY - My dad had officially retired from the oilfield in March and he and my mom made the move to Bismarck. They found the perfect retirement home north of Bismarck, close to my brother Todd's. We had a fun family get-together in July to celebrate dad's retirement and their  new home.

Faith and I also enjoyed a lot of time outside on the patio downstairs of our apartment which also ended up being a great place for others to come visit her.

August - The last month of summer vacation was full of fun visits with friends including a trip to Hazen to see our friends, the Sagos. Kimberly, Matt and their baby, Gunnar came up from Kansas and I reunited with two of my college roomies when they were in Bismarck for a conference. The month went by too fast and before we knew it, Faith was starting 4th grade at Centennial Elementary!

September - This month we were especially aware of the benefits of the chiropractic care Faith had been getting over the summer with Dr. Steve. She sleeps much better and her startle is not as severe. She has more energy and instead of needing to take two afternoons off a week from school, she goes five days a week, six hours a day. In September, she went on a few field trips for school and all three of us went to the International PowWow.

The last weekend of the month was a little chaotic as we moved to a different apartment and my job transferred locations. I also took a trip to Brookings, South Dakota with my dad where we met my sister, Tesa for the NDSU Bison game - which of course they won! 

October - Faith turned 10 years old this month and celebrated by having not one but two parties! Unplanned by me, one of them ended up being an all girls party which we had downstairs in our lobby. Faith got to share her day with her grandma, her aunts, cousin, friends and neighbors. The next day we had another get together with some of our church family.

November - Faith had a few fun visits at her grandparents in November but unfortunately towards the end of the month she came down with a fever and not feeling well. She ended up missing Thanksgiving dinner at her aunts but we had our own little Thanksgiving celebration writing letters and little thank you notes to people. Faith certainly has much to be thankful for and is especially thankful for all the wonderful people in her life.

December - Faith is enjoying her break from school and she and her Daddy have been having fun just hanging out at home. Bismarck is experiencing one of the coldest Decembers ever so we have all been content spending time indoors. This month she had her first music therapy session which she absolutely loved and can't wait to do more of.

We had a nice relaxing Christmas and are gearing up for an uneventful New Year's Eve!



We look forward to what the New Year holds 
and pray you have a blessed New Year too!

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Getting Used to Our New School Schedule

Today marks Faith's 8th day of school and we are all adjusting to a new schedule. Faith has made huge strides this past summer in sleeping better and having more energy so we decided to have her go to school from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. 5 days a week. This is a change as last year she did not go Tuesday and Thursday afternoons due to how tired and worn out she would get.
Faith's first day of 4th grade
School starts at 8:30 a.m. but we asked if it would be okay for us to get her there at 9:00 instead. This allows us to more time to get her first feeding into her before she even gets to school. Her aides noticed last year that when we brought her to school without any food in her tummy, she was pretty sluggish and tired upon arrival. Sometimes, after getting her to school she wouldn't start getting her feeding until after 9:00 a.m. which meant, that because she gets a feeding every 3 hours, her last feeding of the day didn't end until 10:00 p.m.

Another advantage to the new school schedule is she has more time to wake up and not have to rush to get out the door. Our mornings are much more relaxed and stress-free than they used to be. It also gives us a chance to change her diaper right before she gets to school. Last year, they had to wait until after her feeding to get her changed and there were times her diaper would be so wet it would soak through onto her chair. This of course was pretty embarrassing for her and she didn't even want to go back to school the next day after having one of these unfortunate episodes.
Me and Faith right before taking her inside for her first day of school
There are a few things we are attributing to Faith sleeping better and having more energy to get through the day. One is the ABM we have been doing with her and another is her chiropractic care and the adjustments she has been receiving all summer long.  Because of both of these new types of treatment, we are noticing her behavior has improved as well.

In the past, when getting ready for school and not wanting to go, she would scream and cry (at the top of her lungs) for at least half an hour sometimes. It took both me and Rob and all of our energy just to get her dressed, put in her chair and out the door.

She still has some mornings where she's not too thrilled about having to get her feeding done before going to school (it's probably because she doesn't get to spend as much time with one of her favorite people - the school nurse who sets up her feedings). Her crying episodes are now usually less than 10 minutes long (sometimes even only a few minutes) before she is able to settle down. And even better is the fact that she no longer screams at the top of her longs - which I'm sure the neighbors are glad about!
Daddy rolls Faith into her new classroom
Besides a new morning schedule, we're also getting used to a new evening schedule. After Faith comes home from school, she is due for a feeding. When I come home from work, I get supper going, we watch Wheel of Fortune and then it is off to her bath. She starts her last feeding between 7:30-8:00 which is a huge improvement from starting at 9:00 p.m.

She's usually in her bed at 9:00 and after reading a bedtime story, she tries to fall asleep. Sometimes this takes a while for her. We often hear her in her room laughing or talking to herself or kicking her legs around. This can last up to 30 minutes before she finally falls asleep. She usually wakes up only once at night and Rob will go in and turn her on her side but again, a huge improvement from waking up several times during the night.
Faith at her desk
We put a lot of prayer into her school schedule for the year and it seems it is working very well for us. It's definitely been a nice and somewhat surprising stress-free transition from summer to school!

Thursday, August 1, 2013

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!)
Faith getting a chance to relax!
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, Dr. Steve Nagel. 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!

Dr. Nagel 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.
Pati working very gently and slowly with Faith
The problem she was having was that 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 and Rob that Faith has never had the experience most babies have when learning to walk and that it's okay to fall because 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 thankfulf or 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 who works at Hope Therapy Center. 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. 
Faith gives Geri her best effort
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. 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!

Monday, May 27, 2013

A Jam-Packed Month of May

The month of May is already nearly over - it makes perfect sense why it went by so fast as this month was jam-packed. It's hard to believe that June is just around the corner. I can share in our pastor's sentiment when he said the year is half over but it seems like 2013 has just begun!

On the first Thursday of May, JOY International had its last Java JOY of the season. We had a great get-together as we celebrated moms and discussed the powerful prayers of a mom. We had a wonderful panel of three amazing moms who shared their hearts on praying for their children. We also shared testimonies of answered prayers for ourselves and our children. As Java JOY coordinator, I am relieved to be taking some time off but I already have lots of ideas for our next season which starts up again in September!
Me with our mom panel at Java JOY

Me and Faith on Mother's Day
Me and Faith playing our favorite game - Wheel of Fortune
At the beginning of the month we had another round of Anal Baniel Method (ABM) lessons for Faith. This time she had six lessons as opposed to four the previous time in March. In July, when Pati comes back to Bismarck we are hoping to get Faith in for eight sessions. We won't have to schedule around school so more lessons will be much easier to do.

This last time around, Pati showed us some weight-bearing techniques that do not involve her being tightly strapped in her stander. She also did something with Faith I would have never thought possible - she had Faith in a kneeling position on her knees being supported by the bed. Doing things like kneeling seems like such an easy thing to do but for a child with spastic muscles, these movements can be nearly impossible.
Pati working with Faith during a session in March
Pati said there is so much she wants to do with Faith and wishes she could see her more often. It really is optimal that when kids start having ABM, they have lessons every three weeks. With Pati coming here from Wisconsin, this is just not a reality unless we started taking Faith to see Pati in Minneapolis. There is a ray of hope, however.

One day after Faith and I were leaving from one of her lessons, we ran into one of Faith's former speech therapists. Some of this speech therapist's patients have been doing ABM. She was so impressed with the results, that she is taking lessons to become an ABM practitioner. It would be so wonderful to have someone who could be here in Bismarck full time - not just for us but for the many kids who could benefit from this alternative form of therapy.

Besides ABM, Faith has been super busy in school this month. They try to pack in as many activities as possible before the school year ends. Rob took her to two field trips - one at Bismarck State College for a water festival and one at the University of Mary for fun and safety day. She also went on a class picnic at a nearby park. Faith had a great last week of school and I know she is especially going to miss her teacher who is retiring after 30 years of teaching. 

Ever since Faith was a kindergartner at Centennial, she and this teacher have had a very special relationship. They just sort of took to each other right away and when Faith reached third grade, we were so excited that Faith would have her for her teacher. In fact, during Faith's open house before starting school this year, her teacher told her, "Faith, we've been waiting for this since kindergarten!"
Faith with her very special teacher, Mrs. Ternes
Faith with her teacher and the girls in her class
Faith with some rambunctious-looking boys
Recently this month, I took part in classes at the Healing Rooms. I have taken the classes twice before but this time, the classes were in preparation for becoming part of the Healing Rooms ministry. I have sent in my application and my pastor also sent in a letter for me. This afternoon I have my interview with the directors.

I know they are needing help in the reception area so that is what I hope to do but in the future I would love to be part of their prayer team as well.We have been going to the Healing Rooms for prayer ever since we moved here in 2004 when Faith was just eight months old. By volunteering, I am hoping to be able to give something back to this ministry that has been so instrumental in our lives.

Aunt Audrey on her 85th birthday earlier this year

On a sad note, we lost our precious Aunt Audrey on May 9th. She had been fighting various illnesses and this month, her health continued to deteriorate. It was hard for Rob being so far away as it just wasn't possible for him to travel to Toronto for the funeral.

Aunt Audrey was a very kind, caring and generous person. She only got to see Faith about three times, but Faith was very special to her. She was an avid reader of this blog and loved to keep up-to-do date with Faith and her progress. She will truly be missed by many.

I think that pretty much sums up our busy month of May. We are looking forward to using Faith's time off of school to make some changes in her therapy, her diet and other areas. We are also looking forward to seeing Rob's parents in Winnipeg next month! We only get to see them every couple of years and I know they will be amazed at how much Faith has grown this year.

Happy Summer Everyone!

Monday, March 18, 2013

Faith's First Anat Baniel Lessons

To someone who might not know Faith well, or to the stranger observing Faith, her movements probably seem pretty abnormal. Her tone kicks in and her muscles tighten, not allowing her to move or relax. Every once in a while, she throws her arms up in the air for no apparent reason. When she's tired, her head hangs to the side and she can barely keep it up, even while sitting supported in her chair. But to me, this is Faith and this is how she has moved for most of her life.

She has spastic motions that are anything but graceful. While sitting with me, her hand will shoot up and slap me in the face. There is no reason - no purpose for some of her movements - that is all she and her parents have known. We are in a constant battle with her high muscle tone. Sometimes she tightens up so stiffly we can barely pick her up. This is how it has been for her nine years of life. This is normal for us.

This week I learned life does not have to be this way. This week I've seen Faith move in ways I never thought possible for her, barring a miraculous healing. It was amazing to see Faith push her feet in her footrests to help scoot her behind to the right place in her chair. It was amazing to see Faith "find the middle" of her chair and to sit up in a straightened position all on her own - even without the support of the laterals on her chair. She was excited too and repeated, "I did it! I did it!"

It has been an eye-opening week for me, to say the least. I've come to realize that keeping her strapped and restrained tightly in her chair has not allowed her to explore ways for her to achieve purposeful movement. Her movement has always been so random and so disorganized, but through the Anat Banal Method, both Faith and I learned that there are ways to help her organize and move her body that are beneficial to her. In doing so, her brain can actually form new neural connections.

I know it all sounds so abstract and it is hard to even put down into words. So instead of using words, I'll share some photos that I took while Faith was working with Pati Holman, who comes to Bismarck from Milwaukee, WI.
This was actually day 2 of meeting Pati. The first day I just wanted to listen and take it all in so I didn't take any photos. Faith was a little nervous to get on the table on the first day and although she was still nervous on day 2, she quickly got over it. She and Pati had a great connection and I know Faith completely trusts her.
Pati helps Faith move on to her side. When Faith rolls onto her side, her body is usually very disorganized and she uses her legs, arms and her head to try to get herself onto her side. Pati repeatedly and very slowly rolled Faith onto her left side then her right and eventually Faith could do it without her whole body flailing in all directions.
Slow movements are essential in getting Faith to relax and help her feel and pay attention to how her body moves
Faith in a sitting position toward the end of the lesson - see how relaxed her legs are! Usually when she's in a sitting position, her lets shoot straight out.
Faith's third lesson - "Oh yeah, I know this lady! She's pretty nice but she's serious business too!"
Pati trying to help Faith figure out what is best for her in a sitting position.
Going from sitting to lying on her back.
Pati takes hold of Faith's arm to help her go from her back to a side position in the gentlest way possible, keeping her whole body as organized as she can.
Faith is totally relaxed and she finds something to play with.
Back to sitting. Pati has Faith putting her cheek on one knee then she helped Faith put her other leg up to do the same. This helps Faith to know that she has a right leg and a left leg and that they can function separately from one another. This is helping Faith to bring attention to her movement which is important for the brain in creating new connections.
That's it! That was our first four Anat Baniel Lessons. Both Robert and I feel this was a very positive experience for Faith we are looking forward to learning more!

Monday, March 11, 2013

Brain Awareness Week and the Anat Baniel Method

Did you know that this week is Brain Awareness Week? I find it interesting that this is the week Faith will be introduced to an Anat Baniel practitioner and taking her first Anat Baniel Method (ABM) lessons during this week in particular.

The ABM practitioner we are seeing is coming here from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Rob met her in January during a workshop about ABM. Through another mom of a little boy with cerebral palsy, we learned the practitioner is coming back to Bismarck so we decided to schedule Faith for some lessons (they call them lessons, not therapy sessions). The mom I talked to recommended getting the book, "Kids Beyond Limits" by Anat Baniel before the lessons started and I am glad I did!

Through working with Moshe Feldenkrais, Anat Baniel has developed her own method of working with kids with special needs. For the past thirty years, she has worked with kids who have cerebral palsy, autism, ADHD, undiagnosed developmental delays and any other type of special need caused by a dysfunction of the brain. She is originally from Israel but currently works out of her center in San Rafael, California.

The book is helping me to learn more about the Anat Baniel Method, and I must say I am really excited to see how this can help Faith. We seem to be at a standstill with her traditional therapy and it is a little disappointing because I feel Faith is capable of so much more! I also know though, that I can't put all of my hope in this alternative therapy but we know we can't not try it either, especially since we have a practitioner coming here to Bismarck! (Most of the ABM practitioners work in large cities throughout the country).

The whole basis of ABM makes so much sense. While traditional therapy tends to focus on doing repetitive movements, exercises and botox injections to help relax the muscles, ABM gets to the root of the issue - the damaged parts of the brain that cause the muscles to have high tone. The focus is all on the brain and the goal is to find ways to help the brain reorganize itself by forming new neural connections. Anat Baniel writes "today we know that the brain can change itself. It is the part of us that is, in fact, most capable of change." How exactly do you get the brain to change and to form new neural connections? Well, I still have a lot to learn but between meeting and working with an ABM practitioner and reading the book, Kids Beyond Limits, I hope we can gain insight that will help Faith.

I can't wait to share with you how are lessons went - we have four scheduled this week. I'll try to take some photos too and share those as well. What about you - are you a special needs parent who has tried ABM with your child? What were your experiences, good or bad? I would love to hear from you! Happy Brain Awareness Week!