Monday, May 10, 2010

Recap of Last Weeks ABM Sessions!


Hi all, I promise to do much better job of of blogging. I PROMISE!! So, last week was pretty amazing, Izak was very relaxed and into his ABM sessions with J.R.. I took notes all week after J.R. was finished working with Izak, so instead of leaving you all hanging until I get the knack of this, I will share with you how amazing my son is!! Here were some of the great things Izak did!!


  • Izak's pupils were the smallest J.R. has seen them (very very reactive to light changes, Izak tends to have very dilated eyes), he had great color in his eyes, his BIG BIG beautiful blue eyes with eyelashes to die for lol!!

  • Izak tends to keep his left arm bent at the elbow and up by his head with his hand fisted a lot of the time, during ABM his left arm was extended for most of the session and his hand was open!! GOOO IZAK!! (You see it is the small things that are the biggest blessings, and all these small things will eventually add up to bigger things for Izak)

  • J.R. began to work with Izak's feet and legs (we have been working a lot on his trunk) and Izak had great range in his legs, in J.R.'s words AMAZING!!!

  • He has lots of random motion with his arms, random motion with the intent on doing something purposeful, a lot of Izak's later success will come from these random motions.

  • Izak pushed against J.R. intentionally, it was a controlled movement and not a reflex push. The quality of the movement was again in J.R.'s words excellent

  • J.R. talked about how Izak's "learning switch" is most definitely ON, meaning he has the ability to learn many many many things.

  • Izak had rapt attention when J.R. was working with Izak's left leg, Izak was very very interested in what was going on, he was like "hey what are you doing down there?" lol!!

  • Izak has muscle spasms in his back, however, in the weeks we have been working with J.R. they have almost become nonexistent, he still has them occasionally, but when he does they are much more controlled, and he is able to get himself out of them quite easily, he doesn't get "locked" into them.

  • J.R. talked about how it is his belief that the spasms are initiated by Izak with the intent to move, Izak wants to do something, roll, reach, and this has been what he does out of frustration of not being able to do that. We are teaching Izak that he has more options to move, and it is amazing exciting stuff.

  • J.R. felt Izak push back with his legs (huge), J.R. was pushing Izak's leg, and Izak pushed back, something I have never seen him do. It is not consistent at this point but it has happened a few times, and it will keep happening more and more!!!

  • Izak likes to pull his legs up, and contracts them, his leg contractures are easing up!!!!

  • Izak is very alert during these sessions, and very engaged.

  • When J.R. was working on the left ankle and leg, Izak let go of the contracture in his arm.

  • Izak was very tolerant of moving his hips and feet down further.

  • J.R. stated that things are starting to make sense to Izak, Izak is beginning to make some little choices.

In talking about my son, I have heard the words, amazing, smart, strong, determined, the hands of a surgeon (how delicate his touch is and how his fingers explore everything), J.R. has said Izak is a leader, he wants so so much to be able to do BIG things, but we have to get him to learn the small in between steps first. Izak just wants to skip all that and just DO IT!!! lol!! That's my boy!! J.R. comes to our home EXCITED to work with Izak, and it shows, he tells us about how he goes home and thinks about Izak and the lessons he wants to do with him. This is just all great stuff. J.R. is a Godsend. We are so thankful and Blessed to be able to work with him. It is worth every single penny we are mustering up to be able to continue this therapy. Although it is very expensive, and it is shame insurance will not recognize it as a treatment for children with CP, we will continue to find ways to provide this service for our son, God will help us He will hold our hands and show us the way!!


Well, that about sums last week up. Izak is really knocking my socks off (we have to work on his attitude but that's ok, if anyone deserves to have an attitude, it would be Izak), all the little things, as I stated before, are the BIGGEST Blessings, and we are so so so Blessed to have an amazing child, Izak is AMAZING, God is AMAZING, my heart swells with pride for our son. Please feel free to leave a comment, to follow Izaks Footprints, I think you may have to set up a google account, it is very easy and fast, or you can comment under anonymous I think, and please feel free to send people to Izaks Footprints, I want the world to know what an incredible life we lead, and I want Izak's story to touch the world. I'm still working on adding some cool stuff to the website, so bear with me. We thank you for following our story, we thank you for all your prayers, we feel them ALL the time they surround us, we thank you for loving my family. Please keep Izak in your prayers, for God continue to touch this beautiful little boy in amazing ways, pray for him to stay strong and healthy. We love you all,, God Bless,,







I have more video, but I thought this was enough for now!! Sorry about the quality, I had to use my camera, my video camra is shot :-( Hope you enjoyed!!

3 comments:

  1. Way to go Izak!!!!
    Jami ~ we really do need to get together!! I miss you all..and would love to see all the progress Izak is making.
    love the new blog!

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  2. I hope you have a great day ahead of you tomorrow.

    http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/nathanandzachfeigen

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  3. I love the videos! The therapy and JR look so gentle and appear effective. Izak seems really in tune with what JR is doing. Beautiful!
    Love, Linda

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