Water Therapy and an Update

Today we met Zane’s PT at the rec center pool for therapy. I don’t know why we’ve never done this before. Being in the water is the perfect way for Zane to feel movement throughout his body, as well as to get the much-needed extension his body craves. Zane spends a lot of his time in flexion (sitting in a chair, doing abdominal crunches, sleeping curled on his side). In the water, he doesn’t have to fight gravity so hard, so he’s able to straighten out quite a lot.

I was so impressed by the exercises Cindy showed us (and by how much Zane absolutely LOVED them). She and I are certain that swimming is his sport and that if it’s made a regular part of his routine, we’ll see tremendous progress with him in movement. We’re hoping he’ll even learn some swim skills along the way.

As far as Zane’s seizures go—there is no improvement yet. Of course, the neurologist only upped his dosage a day or two ago. I’ll monitor him for the next ten days, then call back for another check-in. Normally, he has one seizure here or there during the day. This morning he had three in a row. I’m absolutely surprised he accomplished an hour of therapy at the pool afterward…with a smile on his face  no less. Normally the seizures tire him out, and all he wants to do is sleep for a while after having them.

On a separate, non-Zaner note: Justin’s baseball team (the underdogs in the league) won the team tournament this past week 14-12. Because Justin's team has the rep as being the "losing" team, the other team showed up pretty arrogant and overly confident, so it was beyond awesome to watch them win and have fun. Since they won, they get the honor of playing in the town championship tomorrow! I am so super proud of Justin—and the whole team. They so needed the taste of success to feel good about themselves and their baseball playing (something I, too, am hoping to know with my writing after so many rejections).  If they win tomorrow (despite having a ‘non-winning’ record), they are the champions! Fingers and toes are crossed. I would love to see them make a comeback and show that even the defeated can achieve success!

You know, I'm supposed to be an example to my boys. And I am. But so often, they show me the way to be; they teach me what it means to be alive in this challenging world. Through Zane, I know smiling through trials can make the difference. Through Justin, I've learned that Jelly Bellies can turn a bad mood into a not-so-bad one, especially if you hand pick them from Fuzzywigs!

Thank You, Riverview

Today is Zane's (and Justin's) last day of school. Thank you to all the wonderful professionals who work at Riverview Elementary. They made Zane's kindergarten year an outstanding one. 

I'd love to post some really great pictures, but I don't have the permission from the adults or children's parents to do it. So I tried to include non-identifying pics. Here's the year in (semi) review:

Inclusion (It happened to be Halloween. Thus, the HP scar).

Swimming at Fort Lewis College.

 Before skiing at Adaptive Sports.

Checking in during the ski day with ASA.

After skiing with Adaptive Sports.

Dr Seuss's Birthday celebration. (He's dancing with Steph!)

Special Track & Field Day. So proud of the medals. 

Using the mobile stander.

Circle time with assistive technology and hand-holding. 

It doesn't get much better than that! Zane always attracted the pretty girls.

Yesterday, the art teacher held a special class for Zane. He and his classmates made wheelchair art. They created an abstract texture board for his wheelchair tray. It is a happening piece of art! Unfortunately, I was on a rather long conference call during that time and missed the whole event. I was told it was absolutely awesome! I've been promised video and pictures, so I'm holding those people--the ones with the video and pictures--to their word:-)

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Thank you, Riverview, for creating a culture of acceptance and love for my boys. I've always felt safe leaving them in your hands. Today will prove to be an emotional one for me. For a woman who rarely cries, the end of this school year has me pretty weepy. But I do so adore summer vacation!

Swimming Rocks

I used to think Zane’s sport of choice was skiing. But not after today. He and his SLS class had an outing to the rec center to swim. I have always been the one to take Zane in the water, so I’ve never been able to fully gauge his reaction to swimming.  This time, I let his aide take him in the water while I stayed poolside to take photographs. I haven’t seen Zane so happy in a very long time. The boy is definitely a water bug—like his brother and his mom.

Here are some photos from today’s adventure. It was so fun!

Zane was up since 2:30 am, so he caught some zzzzs before the field trip.

We walked from the school to the rec center. Part of the walk was on the Animas River Trail.

There was pizza (not for Zane) and playground play (Zane went down the slides) before going to the pool. It was an overcast morning, so I left the hat and sunscreen at home. But the sun decided to make an appearance at lunch time, so I used an umbrella instead.

Zane was all smiles—the ENTIRE time!

He had such a busy day, and an early wake-up time this morning, so he took a cat nap in the rec center lobby.

Mary Jo—Zane’s aide—was so absolutely incredible with him. Because of her, Zane had a wonderful day of swimming. Thank you so much, Mary Jo!