Archive for the ‘Health Experiences’ Category
Saturday, October 25th, 2008 |
Those were the words I was greeted with yesterday at Riley’s annual Early Intervention evaluation. Riley no longer has any delays, in any area. That simple sentence literally took my breath away, as I realized that I have never been in a meeting about either of my twin boys and heard that they were developing completely “normally.” Usually, these meetings are difficult for me, as I am forced to focus on the areas in which the boys are not progressing as they should be. Of course, we always talk about the gains they have made. However, the bulk of our discussions naturally center on their deficits and on the fact that, since their premature birth, both of my boys have required intervention and therapy in order to learn what comes naturally for so many children. Both of my boys have been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy (CP), and they have had physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and developmental therapy since they were two months old. These meetings can be grueling, and sad, and often leave me drained. Last night, though, I was absolutely elated and joyful! For the first time, Riley is meeting all of his developmental milestones exactly as he should be.
At his annual meeting last year, Riley was still commando crawling on his belly, and was not even able to crawl on all fours. I remember having a conversation with all of his therapists about whether or not he would ever be able to walk independently, and when they thought that might be. I burst into tears because I was so afraid that he was going to start to become aware that he was missing out on things when he saw his twin brother, Ross, begin to walk. I asked if he could try out using a walker and in January of this year, he started to use a walker for the first time. Then, there was a huge miracle in May, when he took his first steps all on his own. Now, in October, Riley walks completely indpendently, although he does have a slightly altered gait due to his CP. He still wears braces on his legs and probably will for some time. His balance is still not great and he falls often. He has a ways to go with managing steps on his own, running, jumping, etc., but, he is a million miles away from the little boy who made me wonder if he would ever walk on his own.
Riley’s language skills are right on target for his age. He says about 100 different words and he is now starting to use 2 and 3 words together once in a while. He is having a little bit of trouble pronouncing certain sounds and his speech therapist and I both believe that his CP is making it harder for him to move his mouth in certain ways, so he will still have speech therapy to address that. His fine motor skills are coming along beautifully, although he still has needs related to his CP that he will continue to address in OT.
This past year has truly been incredible for Riley, and while he does still have some challenges to face as a result of his CP, for today, I am basking in the glow of hearing “he no longer has any delays.”
Melissa Ringold
Winning entry for October! Thanks, Melissa for submitting your parenting experience to From My Experience.
Posted in Happy Experiences, Health Experiences, Parenting Experiences, Winning Experiences | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 |
Two years ago i had gotten chroniclely sick. I was in seventh grade at the time. Terrible stomach pain and on going vomiting. I went from doctor to doctor and they all said the same thing “I am a mystery girl.” just what i wanted to hear right.My mom and dad pulled me out of school for the rest of the year. It was so tragic i could hardly stand it. I was so dehydrated so weak i was also losing a lot of weight and i was not fat to begin with.
School is out now and i am starting a new school for a fresh start. still sick and not eating all day i signed up for girls basket ball. What a mistake i was too tired to carry on. i felt bad for my mom and dad i felt like a terrible burden. what parent wouldn’t want there child to be 100% healthy? Well i also got pulled out of that school for the same reasons. That year passed i was home alone all day and it was really getting to me. lots of testing also but no answers. the doctors put me on lots of acid reducers but since i have been taking acid replacers i have been much better.
I am going to start a new school year and make lots of new friends. What i have learned from all this is to really thank god for your health, in one second everything can change. i had never of thought that i would have gotten sick for two years. So remember to enjoy life give lots of hugs and kisses and thank god for your health.
Eve
Posted in Health Experiences, Inpirational Experiences | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, July 16th, 2008 |
This is the eighth month after the death of my mother-in-law.
She was a health freak and never used to eat out. I lived with her for seventeen years and never saw her missing her daily exercise routine. She was a role model for many people in the hospital where she was working as a matron. It was in 2006 that she started complaining for stomachache. I was upset with her bad health. She was diagnosed with the second degree cirrhosis of her liver. Poor lady! My husband and I took her to the best doctors in the town and started her on medication. Unfortunately, she did not respond to any of the medications as it was too late to get the damage repaired at that stage.
During this course, she became very hostile with us. She was irritated to the extent that she started calling me names. She was amused in bad mouthing me to every individual who used to come to see her. The doctor, however, explained it in another way. He was of the opinion that she is terminally ill and scared of death. Since her liver was damaged, she had all possible deficiencies in her body because of which she was not able to eat anything more than a couple of spoonful of soup and half a glass of juice for the whole day.
We were finding it difficult to adjust between our work and home life. It was very difficult for me to tolerate her bad words. In spite of supporting my husband in that critical time period, I used to criticize his mother’s behavior. He tried to make me understand several times, but my brain had a block set up there and was not ready to listen to him. This continued for all those months while her health was deteriorating. It was in the month of October that she breathed her last and finally the horrified episode of my life came to an end.
As a matter of fact, I should have had peace after this, but I am sad to loose her this way. Every now and then, I feel the loss which her death has created in my life. I go out for work and my children are alone at home. She used to be there with them when she was alive. I never realized it when she was alive. She used to take care of several things at home and I never knew many of them until the whole responsibility came on my shoulders. I regret my behavior with her. I could not understand the pain she was going through.
We tried all alternative medicines available but what can substitute love and care!
My only motive here to share my experience is that the parents can not be replaced once lost. There is no way that we can get them back. My mother used to say that parents can raise ten children but they together also can not look after their parents.
The Nature would never change its course for anyone, but we can change our nature to incorporate an element of love and care in our hearts to be given away
Posted in Female Experiences, Health Experiences, Life Experiences, Parenting Experiences | No Comments »
Sunday, August 19th, 2007 |
From my experience ginger pills with ginger root are an excellent home remedy for an upset stomach and sea sickness. I saw an episode of MythBusters that did a test to see which remedy (other home remedies and over the counter medicine) worked the best for sea sickness and ginger capsules won hands-down. It was the only cure that worked without side-effects. So I decided to try it on my first week long cruise and it worked wonderfully. Since then I have taken 2 ginger pills (1,100 mg) whenever I begin to get an upset stomach or feel nauseous and without fail the ginger pills have taken care of all the symptoms.
I have convinced my family of the effectiveness of ginger pills and they take them at the first tummy pain. Give them a try, I highly endorse them. I can’t recommend a brand other than Nature’s Way, because that is all I have ever taken. You can find Nature’s Way Ginger Root if you want to try ginger pills for yourself. They can be hard to find at local shops.
Read more here to see why ginger root works. Of course wikipedia has an entry on Ginger.
Posted in Food Experiences, Health Experiences, Medical Experiences | 3 Comments »
Those were the words I was greeted with yesterday at Riley’s annual Early Intervention evaluation. Riley no longer has any delays, in any area. That simple sentence literally took my breath away, as I realized that I have never been in a meeting about either of my twin boys and heard that they were developing completely “normally.” Usually, these meetings are difficult for me, as I am forced to focus on the areas in which the boys are not progressing as they should be. Of course, we always talk about the gains they have made. However, the bulk of our discussions naturally center on their deficits and on the fact that, since their premature birth, both of my boys have required intervention and therapy in order to learn what comes naturally for so many children. Both of my boys have been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy (CP), and they have had physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and developmental therapy since they were two months old. These meetings can be grueling, and sad, and often leave me drained. Last night, though, I was absolutely elated and joyful! For the first time, Riley is meeting all of his developmental milestones exactly as he should be.
