A little piece of heaven

We decided to stay another week in Toronto so Nathan could have more time with Esther. We are all so happy with his progress that we figured it would be ideal if we kept going. The Ives kindly offered to host us for another week and Esther was able to clear up a couple of appointments so Nathan could see her at least once, possibly twice a day this week.

Owen went home to look after the doggies and to get back to work, while Nathan and I stayed here. Mary, Nathan’s nurse, is flying out and should be arriving tonight. Once again, it’s amazing how everything worked out to give Nathan this opportunity to continue to strengthen his body.

Today was my first day trying the exercises. I started to do them but realized I just wasn’t prepared enough. Esther makes it look so easy but in reality it’s quite hard and how you position your body determines the success of the exercise. So I spent most of afternoon and evening going through all of the videos to learn how she does the exercises. I wrote out instructions and captured still shots (from the videos) of each of the exercises as she went through the sequence. Tommorrow I’m going to take them to an office depot and get it printed and in a folder/binder so we can have them handy as we’re doing the exercises.

I am so excited to start doing them! Having gone over and over them today I feel pretty confident that when I start with him tomorrow morning, my technique will be at least adequate.

It’s been such an emotional week, I have been laying in bed at nights just floating in gratitude, grateful to have found Ester, grateful for the Ives for telling us about her, grateful for everything they’re doing to help us with this program, grateful that after all these years and so much searching we’ve at last found the right program for Nathan, grateful that our jobs are flexible so we can work from anywhere! Grateful that Nathan enjoys the exercises and wants to become stronger. Grateful that Ester was able to see us and that she is as kind and honest and strong as she is. Grateful that my prayers were finally heard. Grateful that Nathan’s been super happy through this whole journey.

And for those of you wondering if I will stick to this? You bet we will!

I’ll try to post a couple of videos as the week progresses.

If I did, I’ll say it again – I LOVE MEDEK!

Today was a bit different. Instead of putting Nathan through the series of exercises, Ester focused on teaching US how to do the exercises. OMG, they are hard! Ester makes it looks so easy. We found them pretty challenging but I’m sure with practice we will learn them.

It was REALLY COOL to do some of the exercises and feel as Nathan’s body “kicked in” and did things I never thought he could do. And I LOVE the feeling of being the one doing this for/with him. He complains a bit during certain exercises but mostly he really likes it! As Owen and I did the exercises, we made it as playful as we could and he was having a lot of fun. So I think this isn’t going to be the torture I thought it was – today I realized it is actually going to be fun! And it feels amazing to know that we ourselves are going to be doing this and watching/feeling as his body gets stronger every day.

I just feel so very enthusiastic and hopeful and optimistic about this. And I feel grateful that we fell into the very best of hands. Ester is a wonderful, knowledgeable, kind, dedicated, devoted therapist who is committed to rehabilitating her kids. So, things are good for us! We are looking forward to getting home and getting started doing the program ourselves every single day!

Tommorrow is our last day with Ester. She will finish training us. In the evening we drive to Buffalo, then we fly home Saturday at 6 am. If I can’t update before then, it’s because we’re travelling.

Oh and how is Nathan, you may be wondering? He is the happiest he’s been in a long time. Life is good.

At last we found the program/therapy we’ve been looking for. At least we have a program that will help strengthen Nathan’s body and give him more function and abilities. At last I can stop searching, and settle in for the “long haul” with just one program. Hallelujah!

I LOVE MEDEK!

Already in just 3 days Nathan is getting stronger! In todays’ therapy he did things he couldn’t do on the first day. Even after Medek I feel him wanting to pull up, wanting to hold up his head and trunk, wanting to stand on his legs and pull up. It is amazing to watch him! It’s almost as if he was just waiting for someone to tell him he had to pull up against gravity, as if he just didn’t know what to do!

Of course he also needs a lot of strength. I know Medek isn’t a miracle cure, I know it will take a long time and a lot of work to build his strength. But I have NO DOUBT that he WILL get stronger. How amazing!

Ester mentioned several times today that she can see changes in him. She likes working with him, she sees the potential in him. He likes working with her too. He complains a bit, but mostly has now settled into the routine.

Tommorrow we will start being trained on how to do the exercises ourselves so we can do them at home with him. In the meantime, here are some videos: