Thursday, October 4, 2012

Sigh!

Oh how I hate being disappointed, especially when it comes to Katie and her therapies.  Here I just wrote  about how excited I was to get her going on this neurofeedback because it seemed like it could help her so much, and what a disaster!

Had I known it required putting a cap on her head similar to a swim cap, and THEN that she had to be calm and keep her eyes closed - well I would have known this would never have had a chance.  We tried, we failed.  At least we tried.  As I write this I am sitting here with my glasses on because those contacts would just not go into my over-tired eyes as I was up all night worrying about what in the world to do about this.

So I just called my neighbor.  She is a physical therapist and her client is the person who took his daughter in to this place (Absolute  Health) and raved about how much it helped her.  We talked, and figured out that this girl had the biofeedback done, not the neurofeedback. The biofeedback uses a headband, wrist band, and ankle band, and is somewhat similar to the neurofeedback, just not as quick or extensive of a therapy, as much as I can figure out anyway.

 Katie did okay with the bands, as long as we had the iPad to keep her entertained and make her forget there were these bands on her, it was for about 1/2 hour.  The biofeedback was interesting in that "frequencies" or electrical impulses were sent back to the computer and told the doctor what parts of Katie's brain were not functioning at full capacity, then the doctor was able to send out more frequencies at one every 5 seconds to a specific part of Katie's brain to correct it as much as possible. She said that Katie's frontal lobe was working at around 44% and after the biofeedback - it was about 25% better, which in her book is a huge number, as it is usually around 5-6%.

 I know this sounds all Hocus-Pocus and you are probably on your way to sell this Arizona resident an ice scraper - but if you had a child like Katie I would hope you would do whatever it takes too.  I do not do anything at all that might harm her (these frequencies are extremely low and safe) and I have put this therapy off for a year because I didn't really know what it was all about, but after hearing three people talk of huge successes, we have to try it!  

So I feel better.  I am the type who, after being all disappointed is now thinking that there must be some reason the neurofeedback isn't in the cards for her.  Maybe the biofeedback is all she needs. Maybe she doesn't really need any of this, but if it doesn't hurt her and can only help, I have to try.

I am waiting to hear from Absolute Health about what exactly to do now. They were going to see if there was any other way to do the neurofeedback, but I think the road ahead is biofeedback. I'll let you know.  Oh I need a nap!

05/12/16 No, just doing biofeedback was not an option.  This is not in the cards for us.  

Monday, October 1, 2012

October


Wow, it's already October.  Time is flying and I still can't believe Katie is six years old.  Maybe because developmentally she is not six, but she sure is improving!

I've been doing some leg exercises with her in the morning that seem to be helping her gait to be less of a side-to-side motion and a little bit more normal and stable. I feel guilty because I haven't done some of the stuff I had learned at The Family Hope Center, but certain things I am doing a lot of, one of them being the leg exercises called the Marie Foix reflex.  All in good time!  I plan to start some of the other things I have learned there soon.

  I have changed her therapies and am focusing more on things that might help her brain since it seems she probably has some connections that are not connecting.  We start tomorrow with a Braincore Therapy -really interesting stuff and I am taking her there because I know three people who raved about how much better their kids are from it. From GI issues (constipation) to sensory issues, to speech, etc.. Whoa!  That would be huge!  If Katie stops slapping her hands over her ears from noises, that's going to blow my mind.  And this might happen.  If she starts talking, well I just have to see that for myself before I even attempt to think about that too much.

This therapy is not cheap, but with three people reporting huge changes, we have to try it. You can check out the website if interested at www.braincoretherapy.com

We will be doing 20 sessions, so I will be reporting back if I see any changes, or not. But I am sure we will!    

05/12/16 We ended up not being able to do this therapy as Katie would have to wear a type of cap similar to a swim cap with electrodes attached - and that just was not happening.