Summer begins!

Like most parents and their children, Caden and I shared a "get ready for school" ritual each morning, pre-injury.  It included making sure those shoe laces were tied, and helping him with his back pack.  Then I would admonish him to be a very good boy, and he would sincerely reply that he would.  With heartfelt good-byes on both sides, he would traipse out the door and begin his day.  Except that.... 

As I watched him step down from the back porch, I would spin on my heels and tear through the house as quickly as obstacles allowed.  Similarly, Caden would skip or run (his choice) down the driveway.  Our mission:  to see who could reach the front porch first.  Sometimes I would win; sometimes Caden; mostly we tied.  Caden would then continue to skip to the end of the drive, giggling en route.  He would pick up the newspaper and heave it toward me:  launched skyward, it would brush tree leaves and land just a few feet away from where he stood.  More giggles.  He would pick it up again and wing it.  So far!  And 95% of the time it would land in a bush or a tree.  Giggles again.  By then the bus would come and he could really start his day.

Yesterday was Caden's first day of summer school.  Our ritual began the same way, but then we walked to the bus together hand in hand.  He stooped and got me the paper and we both grinned.  Because it was the first day, I was fearful as he negotiated the steps in the bus.  Today, I watched with admiration as he gripped the hand rail and confidently got on.  New days and new rituals :)

The end of the regular school year meant saying good-bye to the wonderful teaching team that has helped Caden regain the power of his voice and his mind.  After four months of having them daily in our home and in our lives, they felt like family.  Thank you!

With summer's arrival and our pool open for swimming, Caden started his pool therapy at home.  His older brothers are a great help with the home pool exercises.  And who knew about all the cool, pool therapy equipment?  Rory says Caden has the coolest therapy "toys".  I'm not certain Caden feels the same way about them ;)

We've really been working on trying to improve Caden's gait and to narrow his stance.  I placed a narrow, straight road in painters tape on the living room floor for Caden to practice on.  Then Carl helped me put a slightly wider, meandering road perpendicular to it.  (We'll see if these new floor designs show up on HGTV)  We know Caden's walking has improved because he has far fewer bruises on his knees!

One of Caden's favorite activities has been to follow the lawnmower (at a safe distance) on the paths that it cuts through the grass.  Sometimes he goes on his bike, or else he just walks along in the freshly mown swaths.  Yesterday -- maybe was inspired, or maybe his legs were just antsy after sitting in school for half of a day -- he took off after the mower at a run!  So his form needs a little work....  It's a start!

New Heights

A couple of weeks ago, Caden's OT decided that all of his upper body strength training was paying off, and she let him try out the rock wall in a therapy session.  Caden made it about 2 feet off the ground, and then maneuvered his way about 4 feet to the right, then down, up and back again.  While the space covered was small, it was a huge accomplishment in terms of strength and motor planning.  As you can see on the left, he is now reaching new heights!

Caden's story was included in the UMDNJ magazine's Spring issue on the brain. The interview was conducted in late January/early February, and the photo taken in March.  It is truly amazing how far he has come and how hard he works to get better every day.   http://www.umdnj.edu/umcweb/marketing_and_communications/publications/umdnj_magazine/spring-2011/9.htm

Swinging

Caden has been keeping super busy with therapy and schoolwork.  The amount of re-learning that he has accomplished in both areas is staggering, and of course there is so much work still to be done.  I am reminded of my grad school statistics classes, and how we would analyze scatter plots, variability, best fit lines and outliers.  Caden's days can look a lot like those graphs:  some days up, some days down, occasionally a day that is way out there, but overall an upward trend.

There have been some new activities in therapy.  OT has challenged Caden with the wii balance system.  It is tremendously difficult for him, yet it brings out his inner competitor and he vacillates between frustration and determination to master the machine.  Additionally, his therapist noted this week that his hands are much stronger and tremor less -- progress!

PT put Caden on a swinging platform this week to do part of his work out.  I was very impressed with Caden's strength, coordination and balance.  His exercises are challenging on solid ground, let alone with the additional difficulty of having to orient himself in space.  I was certain it would make him dizzy, but he handled it well.  New PT homework is to swing on our swingset at home.  Let me tell you, that simple act takes lots of coordination and motor planning!

Progress has also been made on the bike (sans pedals).  Caden now cruises down small slopes for several yards with his feet up and maintaining his balance.  Not only is this great for balance practice, but he can join in the fun with his brothers and friends and bike around the yard.   

Knees

Today was the first day back to normal after 10 days of Spring Break.  Caden delighted in having his brothers home :)  For the duration, we scaled back the time spent doing therapy and homework and dialed up the play time.  This meant more time hanging out with his brothers, playing outside, going on walks, riding his bike a la Fred Flinstone, and spending time with friends.  To ease back into the routine this morning, Caden did the first half of his PT at home, and the second half on the playground.  We were both impressed with his balance on the suspension bridge; and his new and improved arm strength meant hardly any help from me on the monkey bars.

Back in February, Caden was allowed to slowly transition from using a walker to using a cane.  Well, Caden is Caden, and he never really took to the cane -- preferring to use it more like Fred Astaire, although without the cool jump kicks.  His preference was to use my hand and/or arm which he affectionately calls the Mommy Walker.  Last week he was given the go-ahead to freestyle, and we put the cane aside.  Caden is once again my toddler, or a boy with lots of swagger in his step, or a cowboy, depending on his mood.  To give him more freedom (and me peace of mind), he has a "crash helmet" and knee pads that he can don before swaggering out the door to play.  As he still needs lots more therapy and conditioning to get his balance under control, Caden spends a decent amount of time practicing falling down and getting up :)

I can remember pulling up my knees at the end of a fun-filled day, and smelling the sunshine and grass that lingered there.  We have often told the boys that we can tell how good a day they have had by what stains they have acquired on their shirts.  Caden's days can be read by his knees:  frequently bruised, but joyfully splashed with mud and grass stains and a dash of pet hair.  Guess those knee pads can't cover everything!     

Desks and Ducks

Spring is finally in the air (sometimes), and Caden can smell it!  He wants to get outside and play, and do the things that were normal for him pre-injury.  One favorite is to ride his bike.  This results in great enjoyment for Caden, and a total work-out for me and whichever one of his brothers I can entice to hold up the other side of the bike ;)  Just as we were digging around for a pair of training wheels, his PT suggested lowering the bike and taking off the pedals completely.  We'll give it a try!

With over a month of home instruction under his belt, I think Caden is getting used to the routine.  His amazingly creative teachers are great at adapting the work to help Caden relearn some of his skills.  They have even brought him his very own school desk!  Aside from being the right size to help him with his posture and fine motor skills, it makes home a little more school like for those hours of the day.

During one of Caden's first outpatient PT visits in early January, the therapist recommended that he add the crab walk to his repertoire.  He was just really getting a handle on crawling, and attempting the crab walk for the first time proved very frustrating -- his arms were not strong enough to support him and the motor planning involved made the whole activity beyond his reach.  Two months (and a lot of practice) later, Caden can sidle like a crab around the mats with confidence.  His new challenge:  to walk like a duck.  I told him he can quack to his heart's content.

Milestones

Last week marked 6 months since Caden suffered his brain injury.  Sometimes it seems like September 23rd was yesterday, and at other times we would swear that it was years ago!  In commemoration (ha!), Caden had an MRI.  If you ever want to witness an 8 year old boy fidget, lay him in a tunnel wearing a helmet that looks like a hockey mask, create clankety, clackety noises at incredibly high decibels, and tell him to be still for an hour :)

It has also been 3 months this week since Caden came home.  Therapy and school keep him very busy.  Our living room looks more like a gym each day; and I may have to clean out a china cabinet to store his school supplies.  To break up the home therapy routine, we've started to create some mini obstacle courses.  So far they are pretty simple, but seem to keep Caden amused.

Just as when you are with your child every day, you don't notice how much they have grown; when you are with Caden daily, you may not perceive how much he has progressed.  When he left rehab he was just getting used to his walker - now he can walk with his cane and/or holding hands.  At that point he was only beginning to speak again - now he likes to chat, albeit slowly ;)  Little steps, every day. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Caden wanted to share a little luck o' the Irish today!  He has been working hard:  the whistles, curly straws and milkshakes seem to be paying off as his voice continues to get stronger.  Another PT milestone was made as Caden took some hops on the mini-trampoline.  He is working on his handwriting workbook with the goal of catching up to his classmates :); solves a money math problem each morning with his breakfast; and is striving to be able to read and retell his reading homework. 

Last week Caden was able to participate with his classmates in after-school Bingo.  It was wonderful for him to see his friends again!  Caden enjoyed playing Bingo - especially when it was his teacher's turn to call out the numbers.  He can't wait to go in and visit his class again.

Although we have assured Caden that his injury could have happened at any time and anywhere, Caden was a little fearful of the school playground.  With the company of one of his teachers, the three of us headed out to the playground after Bingo so that Caden could see it wasn't such a scary place.  Confronting his fear was a great success:  Caden even went down the slide and decided the playground is A OK!