So school calls yesterday and tells me that Ben has thrown up in the hallway - again.  And it was at 3:15 - again!  Only he didn't throw up on his spelling test this time; he was on his way out to recess.  It was another fun night, but this seems to just be an 18 hour bug or something.  Let's hope.   Ben wanted to sleep in the living room on the sofa bed, and since I wanted to keep an eye on him I stayed on the couch.  Just to keep me jumping, Sam's pulse-ox monitor kept going off every 20 minutes from our room, just to be sure I didn't get any sleep at all.  Sam was fine - the machine was just having a temper tantrum. 

 

But Sam is still doing well.  Nothing really new.  He's playing with his legs, moving them around still.  We went to reiki therapy, and this time we brought his exercise mat with us instead of having him lie across my lap like we normally do.  So there he was, stretched out with 6 ladies doing therapy on him.  He couldn't have been any happier.  I know he benefits from the therapy, but even if he didn't, just seeing him feel that good for those three hours would be worth the 3 hours of driving I do on those days. 

 

In the meantime, something called ABR therapy keeps coming up in my research, support groups and on-line conversations.  I had heard of it before, but hadn't really checked into it.  Basically, it's a therapy method based on the idea that brain injury causes the skeletal structure to get all out of wack, which makes it harder (if not impossible) for the body to follow any directions the brain is able to give.  We can see Sam's body gradually changing shape -for the worse - and we need to stop it.  Brain injuries are evil evil things, and it seems like all aspects of them work together to make this uphill battle more and more uphill all the time.  Because Sam isn't swallowing, his mouth hangs open.  Because his mouth hangs open, his tongue is starting to retract, which is making his lower jaw retract, which is going to make it harder and harder for him to swallow.  Just evil.  His rib cage is splaying from sitting too much.  His hip sockets haven't "carved" - that happens as you walk and use your hips, and he hasn't, so his hips haven't carved out that niche, which is causing them to "frog-leg" which could lead to a nasty surgery which I don't even want to think about.  You get the picture.   

 

Anyway, I have heard (just by "chance" - which I don't believe in) from so many people lately that ABR therapy has really made such a difference for their kids.  So I think we're going to go.  It's always a matter of money, of course, but we'll find a way.  We'll have to go to Montreal for a week, and they'll teach us to do exercises on him that we'll do for 3 hours a day, every day. You can check it out here: ABR Therapy for an overview. 

 

I think they'll work in conjunction with the program we learned in Philadelphia, which we haven't been able to implement with him yet because of his swallowing and reflux issues.  As much as I hate to admit it, Sam just isn't a child we can throw on the floor and expect him to get up.  His brain injury is so severe that his stomach didn't close - until we get his head and neck control better, I am too afraid his reflux will be a problem and I can't bring myself to just leave him on the floor.  But I feel like this other therapy will kick-start him and get him over some hurdles, this one in particular.

 

After the trip to Montreal, we'll work with Sam for 3 months.  Then we'll be able to go to their satellite facility in Hollywood - woo - hoo!  oh, wait, never mind, it's just Hollywood, Florida.  Anyway, we'll go there 3 times a year to learn new therapy exercises for him and have his progress evaluated.  I've heard from a lot of people who have used this program, and they've all said it's helped their kids.  And hey, we have to try, right?