I sometimes dread therapy. Some weeks it is at 4 and others 5pm. There are positives and negatives to both times. Therapy is 40 minutes away in the city so if it starts at 4pm I have to pick up both kids from school early. I leave at 2:40pm grab Chloe and head to Brendan's school for 3pm. We get to therapy about 3:45 and get in and settled. Therapy is until 5pm and we get home at 5:45 just in time for dinner. I try to cook ahead of time on therapy days. If it is at 5pm I get to stay home until they get home from school and leave at 4:15 but we don't get home until basically 7 PM due to traffic or if he has aquatherapy. We still have to eat dinner and I am beyond exhausted. Today is a 4pm day and I was sitting here dreading leaving in 9 minutes for a 3 hour ordeal so he can get one (if we are lucky one full hour) of therapy. Some days I wonder why I bother since 30 minutes is just stretching and if he is in a bad mood we almost get nothing accomplished. What 9 year old wants to go do physical work after being in school all day???
And yet again this is a reminder of how different lives can be with a disabled child. I think I would much rather take him to soccer right down the street!!!! Thank goodness I love him with all my heart and will do anything and everything I can for him because some days I just don't want to!
It was Thanksgiving day back in 2002. I was only 23 years old and my life forever changed on that day. I had a placental abruption and Brendan was born at 33 weeks. He lost oxygen during delivery due to incompetent care but was a fighter and turned 17 this year. My journey in life over the past 17 years took many turns I was not expecting but I try to stay strong and have my husband by my side even when I am not.
4 comments:
I hear ya on this one! I used to take Malayna to therapy at a place that was an hour and 10 minutes from home. Thankfully, she got OT and PT at the same center so it was almost 90 minutes of therapy but it still took a half a day to do it. When she went to kindergarten we actually kept her out on Fridays to get this therapy in but then we finally decided school was important too so we gave it up. Like Brendan, she hated it and fought it most of the time she was there so it got to the point it was hardly worth it. I did find a local therapist who isn't a pediatric specialist but she had some experience with kids and was willing to work with her and it's 5 minutes from our house! Malayna loves the therapist so she has a blast while she's there so it's a win-win situation. So I feel your pain on this one but it is one of those things we do because we love our kiddos so much!
Yeah Steph, I also totally understand what you are talking about here. I used to take Emma to therapy at a clinic that was 1.5 hours from home. I did that because speech therapy is always booked solid locally. Most of the local therapists also don't have experience working with kids who have the level of CP that Emma does. They were doing a lot of group speech, which is not completely useful for Emma. At any rate, Emma was nearly asleep by the time we made it to the speech clinic after that 1.5-2 hours in the car. Sometimes they would get 30 minutes from her, and other times not so much. So, we all (the speech clinic too) decided it was not working. It was very difficult for me to quit that therapy because I know how much Emma needed it. The clinic was ready to boot Emma too because they had waiting lists for kids who could participate better with them than Emma was able to at taht time. That was so hard for me to deal with.
I sometimes feel the same way about Emma's PT and OT. Emma has wonderful days there, and she loves her Physical Therapist. But, Emma also has some days where she totally refuses to do what they need her to. On those days, Emma will even say, "NO!" As with Brendan, the bulk of the time is spent on stretching and or Emma using the same Total Gym machine that she has been doing for 2 years. I know Emma gets so bored! Sometimes I just want to say, "ENOUGH!"
But, like you, I keep going and pushing forward because I love Emma. I know that it is not always perfect but that it helps Emma each time. Sometimes that help is just the socialization that she gets there--even if she gets no physical benefit each time. Also, our kids have the added benefit of learning early in life the value in being committed to something or plans or schedules. If nothing else, I think Emma is learning preserverance.
I am thankful that you did this post. It was timely for me. We missed therapy this week because I have a bug, and I was feeling like, "Well, I just don't feel like fighting with Emma this morning and dealing with the whole ordeal for what we get." Talking about this here has helped me put this back into perspective. I also know that I am not alone in this chaos of raising my special little girl. Thank you.
Hug and know that I totally understand.
I am so glad you girls can relate!!! I felt a little guilty writing it. I have only cancelled once since being pregnant. He used to go every other week but since PERCS he has gone every week. Part of me wants a break and switch it back to every other week. I am not sure what to do. :( I know school therapy isn't the best so I should probably just stick it out. I haven't even thought about adding a newborn to the mix.
Seriously we rock as mom's!!! :)
That sounds like quite the ordeal. I'm lucky that our therapy centre is just down the road.
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