Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Allie's Gait Trainer
What you'll see in the video below is this kid running around in a Pacer 502 gait trainer by Rifton. Allie needs coaching to help her focus on the job. She likes to just chill on the weekends but if I have to work, she has to work.
She has one of these rigs at school, too, and I'm pretty sure she's more responsive to her teachers and physical therapists than she is to mom and dad.
Kids are kids.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Thankful for Allie's School
They make sure Allie has plenty to do every day. One of the things they have her class involved in is a garden out behind her classroom.
If you look closely at the tray attached to Allie's chair, you'll see a large red disc. That's a button. When Allie pushes the button, she waters the plants. |
Allie lets everybody know how excited she is to be outside in the garden with the power to water plants at her fingertips. |
Another day out in the garden with one of Allie's favorite teacher's aide's. |
Ready. Set. Spray. |
Today Allie stands and helps water the plants growing our behind her classroom. |
You can't believe how this makes my heart explode to watch her stand tall with assistance and enjoy doing some work. |
Susan and I were reflecting over the weekend on some of the initial predictions about how life was going to be for Allie. One doctor was always particularly negative. When Allie was in a coma, he told me not to expect her to ever emerge from the coma. When she did come out of the coma, he told me to never expect that she would be much more than a vegetable. As Allie showed more and more promise, he expressed, reluctantly it seemed, surprise, but he told us to expect to have serious behavioral issues.
Allie continues to grow and exceed all anyone ever expected from her life. Her behavior is continually joy-filled expressions of affection and contagiously positive personality. I wish that doctor could see her now.
Monday, December 16, 2013
Ready for Christmas
Tuesday, July 02, 2013
Allie at the beach [VIDEO]
Susan's parents just moved into a little house a block away from the beach so there should be a bunch more of these videos in the future.
Thursday, June 06, 2013
Our Recent Stay at Miami Children’s Hospital
We were at Miami Children's Hospital earlier this week to have a thorough MRI and video EEG. The goal was to capture good data about the seizures Allie has been having for the past few years.
Here are some findings.
Allie is having tonic seizures. Her seizures originate in her brain's right frontal lobe. Doctors arrived at this conclusion with data gathered from the MRI as well as analysis of video EEG information captured during two strong seizures Tuesday morning.
The original plan for our hospital stay was to be admitted from Monday through Friday of this week. But doctors on Allie’s case were able to collect all the data they needed on Monday and Tuesday to accurately diagnose and categorize Allie’s seizures.
We got to go home early and checked out Wednesday at noon.
Miami Children’s stands head and shoulders above the other Florida hospitals we’ve stayed in for these reasons:
- They put the patients and their families first in each and every interaction. It’s obvious that this is a part of the corporate culture.
- They are organized.
- There is always a plan and they plan for adjustments to the plan.
When families are dealing with trauma and hardships with their children, these three things lighten the load. In fact, this demonstrates a cognizant effort on the hospital’s part to help shoulder the burden. This has tremendous therapeutic and healing affect on a family working through some of life’s most difficult trials – that is, children afflicted with sickness, disabilities, or injuries.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
The Center of the Universe
Beauty times two.
I feel like I know what it is to have everything a man could ever want. When I look into these faces, I know that I’m loved.
Such a beautiful face.
This picture was taken as I rocked Allie in our giant rocking recliner. Sometimes she fidgets when I hold her, but in this picture, she is just at peace laying across my lap. I love to make her feel safe and loved.
Beauty and the beast. We all know which is which.