Brooklyn’s CP Blog

Still having a hard time finding time to get on here.

March 16th, 2010

Sorry again, I am having trouble finding time to get on here and update everyone.  It has been two and a half years since I have posted anything and I am sorry it has been so long.  Well, to pick up where I left off, Brooklyn had just gotten her walker and was flying around the house, therapy and everywhere else.  We were also able to get Brooklyn on a bike and she is able to pedal the bike with her feet strapped on the pedals.  She does so well with her walker and her speech is really starting to improve.  We continued with her PT, OT and speech therapy through out the summer. 

She continued to make improvements with her walker and if you didn’t get out of her way she would run you over.  In the beginning of 2008 we were told about a therapy clinic that does intensive physical therapy for children and adults with neurological disorders.  One of the PT’s at her clinic was leaving to go work at this intensive clinic and talked to Brooklyn’s therapist about her trying this intensive therapy clinic.  Brooklyn’s therapist had talked about intensive therapy and how there was no way she would be able to do it, but the week after we talked about it her therapist approached me with the idea of trying it.  She had talked to the therapist that was leaving about the therapy in general and she said the first patient she thought of when they were done talking was Brooklyn.  We decided to talk to them and see what they had to say.  I was really impressed with facility and the therapists that worked there.  They use a special suit at this therapy clinic called a thera-suit, which was based on the russian cosmonaut suits used in space to fit muscle atrophy.  When we first took her in she wasn’t 2 1/2 yrs old yet, which is the youngest age that the children can be to use the suit.  The clinic suggested that we wait until Brooklyn was 2 1/2 yrs old to take advantage of the suit during the 3 hours sessions, 5 days a week for 3 weeks.  We set up an appointment for her in April for her to do the intensive therapy with the suit. 

She continued with her therapy at the other clinic until she was to start her intensive therapy.  She would have three hours of therapy everyday Monday- Friday.  When she first got the clinic she was not happy to be there.  The therapy at this clinic was very different from the therapy she received at the other clinic, mostly due to the three hour timeframe they had.  They would start the therapy with hot packs on her legs to get the blood circulating better and get her muscles “warmed up” faster.  After that she  would get her legs massaged to facilitate blood flow and get the muscles to peak performance faster.  This new environment was something she didn’t like as it was a lot more difficult then her other therapy. She would cry when we would arrive at the clinic and would cry on and off during the 3 hours of therapy.  She was having to work harder then she had ever had to and she didn’t like having to wear the suit.  I was amazed at what they were having her do and what she was able to do.  I liked what they were doing at the clinic and I was thinking that I wanted to stay at the clinic to continue her physical therapy.  The end of her 3 week program was coming and there were decisions that needed to be made……..

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