Jake is sick again

Jake has been sick since this past Monday, he stayed home and didn’t have any therapy sessions this whole week. This morning I did some exercise with him at home, he did pretty well.

I had a working lunch with my boss yesterday, it turns out his mother is a speech therapist in Israel, and his nephew has mild CP. He told me when growing up; he often went to work with his mom and spent a lot of time with children with disabilities. Although yesterday was the first time I talked about Jake and his challenges with my boss, my boss has always understood of me taking time off to take Jake to Michigan for therapy. After our conversation yesterday, I feel a little bit better about having to tell him again that I have to take three more weeks off in April for Jake’s therapy. I feel guilty but at the same time, I have to do what I have to for Jake, I have no other choice.

The house is coming along, Jake therapy room is especially great. We have the whole cage set up, he ‘s got music to listen to, chairs and table for table top activities, a treadmill, and lots of toys in the cabinets, The next step is to put up some pictures on the walls. I would love to hang some inspirational pictures of other individuals with disabilities doing exceptional things. I read some quotes a long time ago, and wrote down the following to remind myself at times when I want to give up:

“You must do the things you think you can not do.”

--Eleanor Roosevelt--

“For every mountain, there is a miracle.”

--Robert H.Schuller—

“By perseverance, the snail reaches the ark.”

--Charles Haddon Spurgeon—

“Flowers grow out of dark moments.”

--Corita Kent

Long over due

It has been forever since I last updated. We moved into our new house at the beginning of Jan. 2008. Then, 2 days later, we took Jake to Michigan for 3 weeks of intensive suit therapy. This was a make up session for Nov. 2007 when he was suppose to do 3 weeks but ended doing none because he got very sick.

As soon as we came home from Michigan, we don’t have enough hours in a day to work, organize and buy things for the house, take Jake to school and therapy, assemble furniture, put up blinds, etc… My first priorities were to get Jake’s bedroom all cleaned up and organized, then his exercise/therapy room all set up.

Speaking of Michigan, Jake did great this time. He walked almost 40 steps without assistance which was amazing to watch. Now that we have so much more room in the house, especially since most of them are empty, I encourage Jake to walk as much as possible. Jake ‘s walking has really improved a lot. I feel him taking stronger and better controlled steps when I hold his hand. When he tries to take independent steps, he is still unsteady, but he is learning to gain better control. I bought a big balance board to work with Jake on weight shifting. (It hasn’t arrived yet). It used to be a far far away dream that Jake can walk by himself, but now I truly feel that it will become a reality. But here is the thing, it is never enough….when he takes one step, I want him to take 5, when he take 5, I want 10, when he takes 40, I want him to walk around the house…

Sometime I read from other parents with special needs children that as parents, we should enjoy our children the way God made them; we should let them enjoy their childhood and not be bombarded with therapy. It is such a fine line with how much we should push Jake and I understand we expect a lot from him. So on the weekend, we try to go out as a family, to the mall, to the aquarium, to restaurants… I hope when Jake grows up, he will understand that we are doing the best we can to not only give him a happy life now, but that we are doing everything we can to help him live an independent life in the future.