Therapy and Therapy

We have finally gotten a grove down with all of this rehab stuff. To say that it is expensive and hard is far beyond an understatement. It might be the understatement of the month!

While having a major issue with scheduling at the rehab department and having to pull a momma bear out of her cage, we got a few things back on track.

So PCH has several locations around the Valley. One is in the East Valley and really close to our house. When we started this incredible hard journey we had to be open and honest with the doctor about our willingness to rehabilitate. So we basically had to contract to make our appointments and do the time to make the most of our surgery. We had 3 times a week the first month and then down to 2 times a week the second month.  When we were getting close to cast off time I called and made sure we had a place in the East Valley and they said it was fine and no big deal. Call when we had an exact date. I called and low and behold they were full.

SHOCKER- NOPE

So we took what we could and have been driving to downtown for the last month. 3 times a week means we fill up every single week. We miss school and we are late coming home because traffic is TOUGH in the PHX! They also cancelled ALL the time. So the momma bear part was me freaking out because we were going WEEKS in-between. WEEKS! That was not what was agreed on in office. Our therapist is also Dr.A's therapist for her CP clinic so I told them to take it up with her. Low and behold, our therapist got a bit of over time!

But it is hard work. It's a lot of work getting him into the hospital. He has finally started getting heavier over the summer and is much longer than he was. So our ability to just hoist him around is MUCH harder. But he has to work A LOT harder to get moving.

He works his core muscles more than he ever has and he mostly does a good job. Very little complaining. I am sure it doesn't hurt that we have had to start a bribing system. He knows he can ear $2 a therapy session. If he meltdowns at home, or fights or won't do his work, he has to give his money back. He has to pay his tithing out of the money and he has made sure that he counts it each week because he is working to buy a video game ( which he got on Friday!) So with 3 appointments in PHX and 2 appointments at home he can make a pretty penny.

He has done really well and is walking a lot more slowly but more independently. He is also a speed demon when he wants to be. His gait is looking good with his braces on but still pretty similar with them off.

Total kudos to Grayson who spends all 5 of those appointments trying to stay busy by himself. I do what I can to entertain him and Ty's therapist do a lot of including. He also earns a few bucks here and there or a new toy to play with. It helps us donate a bunch to the therapy places that we go to.

Grayson is So SO stinking funny at these things sometimes! Ty spends 5 full minutes on the treadmill. We need to get one of these for our house. He could use it at regular therapy at home!

Photography by Grayson on that one!

Playing Tic tac toe- But they don't understand the rules. Between each turn we have to keep our hands up while on our knees. Tough when you have no tummy muscles. 

Crawling backwards to pick up pieces for the ball runner we were putting together. After it is all done we played for a bit then finished off with a game of basketball. 

Tyler and Menaka. He was telling her a story. He lays on his back and has to stretch the medicine ball all the way to the floor then he can throw it. Sometimes he has a lot to say. But mostly we are just so proud of how hard he works. We are so proud of Grayson for being so grown up about sharing his time. But mostly we are thankful for the people who have helped us get to where we are.


Also, Troop Tyler or Team Tyler is raising money for the Hydrocephalus awareness walk here in the Phoenix Valley. It is being held October 24th in Gilbert Arizona.
Our walk page is HERE! Please sponsor us. You do not have to walk to sponsor. You can pay by check, cash or on the site. Walk for a cure is fully funding research. The Staff at HA is small and they do not make a lot of money. It truly does go to find a cure!! 

Gait Lab {Shriner's Utah Trip}

One of the biggest reasons we went to Utah was for the Gait Analysis Lab. It was such a cool experience. They have a great lab there and it was interesting to watch.

We dropped off Grayson at Aunt Sheena's and he did SOOO good. He didn't cry, which is HUGE and he said he was going to be brave and he did. Sheena was surprised at how quiet he was when I was not with him. But he is such a shy little terror.

Dallas didn't get to come with us because he was already on his way home with a small stop at Scheels to see his grandpa's animals. ( His Grandpa's stuffed animals are on rent at Scheels! How cool is that!) 

Tyler and I got a burger at Shriner's and headed down to the basement to start the lab. It can take anywhere from 1-3 hours and it is not all fun and games. It was VERY cool to watch and very HARD to watch. Tyler was at an age where he did really well, but his abilities also make it very hard to be ok when things get hard. We had to get creative about how we got him through.

In a gait lab they have 2 physical therapists and a full time engineer. They video tape his gait. He walks back and forth for about 25 minutes on a matt and then they stretch, pull and prod at his little body to see how far his muscles stretch and how far they can get his stiff joints to move to.



The pT working on figure out how much he can bend and move and come to a correct position. This was really hard and someone ended up crying. And it wasn't them..... me and Ty did!







 The stuff on his legs were what the engineer was working with. Those things lit up as he walked. It was awesome!





After the lab we went to get Grayson, Headed back to our Granny's house and then had Nicky come over for dinner.