Back to the Basics

Happy (almost) May!

What a year it has been so far! There have been some big changes taking place in our family, which has taken me away from the blog for a while. With these changes, it has also had me thinking about the direction that I want to take this blog: re-evaluating why I started this in the first place.

My intention in sharing Elliott’s journey was to bring you along on what our
life looks like with a child who has Cerebral Palsy. To share the good, bad,
hard & successes that we face. It was also to be a resource for others who
may be experiencing a similar diagnosis, or an entirely different one. A
place, nonetheless, where people who find themselves on an unexpected medical journey can find solace in knowing they are not alone.

So, the direction of this blog is going to be refocused a bit more on the
specific Cerebral Palsy (CP) discoveries, therapies and appointments that we
work through, regularly. I realize this may not appeal to everyone, but my primary goal continues to be for this space to be a resource that can help others.  In the midst of this more specific direction, you will still get family updates and some of my own self discovery, but it will not be the main focus.

With that said, I do have a pretty big personal update worthy of sharing 🙂 After multiple losses last year, we got the surprise of a lifetime in January when I found out that I was pregnant!  Like I said, this has drastically changed the course of our year and we have adjusted some plans and goals we had previously set out to accomplish in 2024.  I spent the first trimester very sick with a lot of nausea and sleeping as much as possible.  Luckily, in April I took a turn for the better and am feeling a bit more human again. We are expected to have a baby boy, due in September!!  The kids are absolutely thrilled and I know they will be the best big brother and big sister to this tiny new addition.  We are all so excited and SO grateful.

As for what Elliott has been up to…Back in January he started a Physical Therapy intensive program. This required that he did one hour PT sessions, twice a week, for 16 sessions.

The reason his doctor recommended this version of therapy for him is because of how active he is in his daily life and extra curricular activities.  The intensive focus’s primarily on strength training and muscle control.  

During the first appointment, the therapist measured his baseline strength.  She did this through exercises like lateral step-ups, kneel to stand on both legs, individually, sit to stand with both legs, together, & a sprint test.

Then, over the course of the next two months, every week there was a variety of the same strengthening exercises he would do.  He was continually motivated to break his own records, add more weight, or do exercises with more speed.  This PT program was great for a kid like Elliott who is determined to win, even if it is against himself. 

After these two months, the last session was spent re-evaluating the same preliminary tests that were performed on him the first time. I have posted the results below.

There are a lot of numbers here, but the bottom line of what these results say is that he is MUCH stronger than he was when he started this program.  He exceeded the expectations that were originally set for him and he blew some of these exercises out of the water. 

His therapists have been very impressed with his growth and Nathan and I have also seen a huge improvement of leg strength and agility in his sports and everyday life.  Knowing what we do now, we will continue with the intensive programs in the future, as he was highly successful.  Now that we have finished, he will get about a three month break over the summer and then we will most likely do another session over the fall.

After his last appointment, Nathan took an hour off of work and met us at Elliott’s favorite spot, Starbucks. He was celebrated with a cake pop and a milk.  Two of his favorite things.  We praised him & told him how proud we were of him trying so hard every week.  He showed up even when he was tired and didn’t want to.  One thing our family really focuses on is celebrating victories, no matter how big or small and we absolutely wanted to share in his joy for completing such a grueling and hard few months.

The lessons that he is learning about hard work paying off, at the age of six, is not something we are blind to.  It is important for us to bring this to his attention and teach him why it’s important to work hard, but also why he should be very proud of himself, during and after, completing any given task.

I went to bed that night knowing my kid had a big victory that day, was celebrated for it, and felt proud of himself.  Ultimately that is what matters most to me.  I am hoping that these life lessons instilled at such an early age will keep him showing up for himself and he will always continue trying hard in the future.

As we gear up for summer, we find ourselves entrenched in finishing out the Pre-K school year & all of his sports strong. We are excited to hopefully have warmer weather on the horizon and look forward to spending more time outside: enjoying our backyard and finding the simplicity in slower days and more downtime as we nest and prepare to expand our family this fall.