Head Games - Day 8

Camden has managed to make it 7 days without the head support helmet, unfortunately, he was not so lucky today. He started out fine with his ab work and knee bends but seemed to have a difficult time keeping his head up for his sit to stand drills. We suspected this day might be coming and I just hope he can one day forgive me for the pictures. We will just chalk up the head control problems to his unordinarily large and heavy brain.

So now it was on to some new drills with his new and improved superhero head gear. He did great with his second round of sit to stand drills and Daddy could finally see those beautiful blue eyes. He continues to struggle with the walking exercises as the suit makes it extra difficult to bend his knees and lift his feet. I am so proud of him for not quitting although there is no way Ms. Tammy was going to let him off the hook. He finished the morning session with some balance lessons on "Bert" the mechanical horse. Don't tell Mom, but Ms. Tammy let Camden stand up on "Bert" and he loved it.

He completed the day in the monkey cage and took his first flying lessons(see pictures above). This was hard on him because it put a lot of pressure on his back muscles but he seemed to enjoy the freedom. Camden is now a cape away from his superhero license. I forgot to mention that I had a chance to wear the adult suit last week and it was quite the experience. I felt like I could not bend down at all and it was freaking me out to have such straight posture. Breathing was extra work because my body was fighting the constriction. I was proud to say that I lasted 30 minutes and am still in awe that Camden can go 3 hours.

Camden has officially reached the halfway point and we are optimistic about the long term results. We naively thought he may be sitting up by now but we never realized how many things have to happen simultaneously for such a simple act that we all take for granted to occur. Camden may do a good job of putting his hands out but then his legs will stiffen up. Then he may get his legs bent but his trunk and back will collapse. This is why it is so important for him to strenghten all of his muscles while at the same time practicing over and over a certain simple move. What may take a typical kid several hundred times to master, will take a kid with CP or a neurological disorder tens of thousands times to master. The suit is speeding up this process by helping to train Camden's brain to know what it should feel like to complete a correct action while at the same time strengthening the muscles that it takes to perform that task. Like Ms. Tammy says, you have to first lay the tracks for the brain train to roll. We are very encouraged by Camden's added energy and new movements with the suit off and we can't wait for Ms. Lisa to see what new things he can do in therapy. Sorry Lisa but he hasn't lost his manipulative outbreaks. Thanks again for the support and prayers.