First, let me apologize to anyone who is (trying to) regularly following this blog - it has been a while - 10 days since our last post at the conclusion of "The Streak". I guess when you take one day off, things slide from there quite quickly. Anyone who has ever dieted or tried breaking a bad habit or even attempted a daily exercise regiment like running can quickly attest. While we do not plan to post daily going forward, we do plan to post much more frequently than we have recently. As such, I believe if you officially "follow" the blog, the site can then send you a notification whenever we post a new entry (though don't quote me on that).
Susan wrote the post on the last day of the streak, so I wanted to just take a few words to try to express my feelings about the whole thing. I can actually sum it up quite easily as truly the most amazing experience of my 33-year life. The roller coaster of emotions since that horrible day - ironically April Fool's Day, 2011 - has been somewhat indescribable. Disbelief, shock, anger and sorrow - the likes of which I could never wish upon my worst enemy...my baby boy suffered a stroke before he even had a chance to cry out loud for help. His life was forever altered - and will always be more difficult than mine - before it ever started. When most are happily playing, crawling, laughing and learning as babies should, Noah is in therapy, seeing doctors, being carted around children's hospital and having his "good" arm strapped to his body so he can't use it while being forced to use his "bad" arm which is so difficult for him. I think, "why did this have to happen?" and, "what did we do wrong?". The answers, I know, are - Noah was the unlucky 1 in 4000, and nothing. Knowing the answers doesn't make it any easier. But at the same time as these terrible feelings and thoughts have been with me, I have also experience happiness, joy, excitement and amazement - the level of which I hope, but am not sure, that all new parents get to experience. My son survived. He is the happiest baby I've ever seen - his demeanor draws in everyone around him. He is the cutest baby I've ever seen - yes, I'm biased, but come on! He is curious, creative and strong. Anyone who knows Susan and I also knows that we have many faults...at 8 months of age, it's as if Noah has inherited only the good from each of us (except perhaps for his mother's "snippiness" when hungry!) and it is amazing to see him develop. Thinking back - it seems like so much longer than 10 weeks since we received his diagnosis...the days fly by, but time seems to have slowed down. So many thoughts, so many feelings - this blog has really been a great outlet for me and I thank you for continuing to read.
What has happened is the past 10 days - I guess a lot; and not much. We have started the routine of constraint therapy with Noah twice per day - once in the morning shortly after we wake up (these days, about 5:30) and then again in the afternoon/early evening. As a refresher, the constraint therapy involves wrapping what equates to an ace bandage with a sleeve on one end around his body and restricting his "good" arm. We then sit and play with Noah - trying to utilize his most enticing toys and forcing him to use his "bad" arm. Noah is at his best in the mornings and we have been able to use the constraint for up to 25 minutes so far - slowly increasing the time periodically. In the afternoon/evening, it's usually a little tougher as his patience is thin and he's usually getting tired - we shoot for 15 minutes then. How is it working? Well, take a look:
The video is too big to post the whole thing here, but he started grabbing for the fruit bowl and the water pitcher shortly afterwards!!! It was fantastic!
We try not to get overly excited for these kinds of things as we know it's going to be a long, slow process - we have a long ways to go. It's only been a little while since we started the constraint therapy - 2 weeks. It's only been a little while since we started with the occupational therapist (Jessica) and the physical therapist (Sandy) - 2 weeks and 9 weeks respectively. And it's only been a little while since we found out about Noah's diagnosis - 10 weeks. But, a lot can happen in just a little while...and more in a long while.
