This past weekend Alexis was invited to a swimming party. It turns out my daughter can walk all by herself at a water depth of 2'6", even with a current and lots of splashing kids. All she needed was a bit of strong encouragement to believe in herself. You should have seen her when she realized she was walking. She was so surprised, and she just kept going and going ... until she fell over and I had to retrieve her from the bottom of the pool. She must have gotten a good ten steps in first though, and then she walked many other times throughout the party.
As a result, we are making room in our schedule for walking therapy at the pool three or four times a week. Hooray! Wait and see. Soon she will take independent steps on land. She looks quite good standing up, and is getting tall. She's now 40" and 40 lbs. Last Thursday we were seen by a specialist at Shriner's who has been following Alexis' care for the past ten years. Some of you know she has a neck issue. It's called Basilar Invagination, which means her top several vertebrae are curving into and impinging her brain stem. It's a pretty serious issue, yet she lives with it quite well.
In addition to her neck issue, the vertebrae in the middle of her back are fused and curving in a non-typical sort of manner. Paralysis typically sets in when people have 1/3 of the curvature Alexis currently has. The doctor cannot explain why Alexis' mobility is improving, for it is contradictory to history and medical logic. He is still concerned though, because Alexis appears to be in a growth spurt and he foresees that along with her growth will come an increase in the angle of her spine. He says there is nothing to do, except wait and see.
I, on the other hand, believe there is a something to be done. Call it wishful thinking or even delusional, I do not care, for I believe with positive thought and envisioning her spine tall, her vertebrae will straighten themselves out. Thus, I ask you, if you happen to find yourself thinking of Alexis and wondering how she's doing, will you think of her sitting tall, walking tall, and with amazingly great posture? We have six months until we must return to Shriner's for more x-rays, and I believe Alexis can independently walk up to her doctor and shake his hand.
Namaste and Amen!
--angie
3 comments:
I most definitely will! I love to hear of her progress, and will send positive vibes her way!
Awesome. I to was in a wheel chair several years back with little hope. Yet here I am. No crutches etc. Walking. You go girl! !!!!
Thanks so much Jan! The positive vibes are already working; Alexis stood independently balanced twice today!! Hooray!!!
Mia, why were you in a wheelchair? What happened? And how did you pull through?
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