Chest Infection

I've seen Josh for a few minutes here and there over the last week or so.  Thursday I had Josh all day and overnight, and I'd mentioned to a good friend who visited that I didn't like how sleepy Josh was, but that perhaps it was because of the pain relief he was on.

Yesterday morning I received a message from JF letting me know he'd gone with Josh to the hospital.  I called his neighbour - also a friend a friend of mine - who was looking after Kayla and Kane. Josh had had problems breathing, the ambulance was called, and although Josh seemed okay, JF had decided to go to the hospital anyway.

 I picked up the kids from the neighbours and met Josh in ED.

To be continued...

Broken Arm

Thursday was my daughters 8th birthday.  It was also the day Josh got his first broken bone.

JF had taken him to some kind of therapy where he'd had an assessment done previously.  It was meant to be a quick refresh of Joshy's abilities and then to put in place a program we could also continue at home.  He apparently was laying over a pillow on his tummy, the therapist had a supportive hold of him at his shoulder and elbow, and was assessing his range.  They'd done the left arm, and were doing the right when they heard a crack...

Long story short, this is Joshy's broken arm.

The doctors say that because he is immobile anyhow, the bones should heal straight without a problem.  My poor baby has lots of bruising, and we're alternating between Painstop and Nurofen for pain relief although he doesn't seem to be in pain; there are no unusual noises or face-pulling. Because he is now difficult to move, not hurting his arm while placing him in my car seat will be a problem, so we've decided that Josh will stay with JF for at least the next week, while we figure something out regarding transport.  We will get another x-ray in 3 weeks to see if things are on track...

Sore back!

On Saturday at the ABR workshop, I carried Josh from my car into training upright (his legs pointed down, and chest against mine).  I do carry him like that occasionally, but only short distances.  Because of how stiff he is, I was extremely conscious of my leg pushing against his every time I took a step, so I was actually doing more of a waddle like a heavily pregnant woman.  And now, still, 3 days later, oowwww! My lower back!   How limiting is it!?

I'd asked one of the trainers yesterday whether ABR is beneficial to anyone anyway, and for sore backs,  and he said yes!  I think Ill have to show my big girls ABR...

Advance Biomechanical Rehabilitation (ABR)

There is a truly remarkable boy named Samuel who drowned in July 2005 after falling in to a canal, had CPR performed for 40 minutes and received 6 dosages of medication to stimulate his heart (Josh also had 40 minutes of CPR and 4 dosages of meds).  

Last November, JF went to a meeting to find out more about a therapy called Advance Biomechanical Rehabilitation, or ABR for short, which is something Samuel and his mother are currently doing. They have a couple of short videos on their blog showing the difference in Samuel before and after ABR.  Inspiring!  Of the therapies we'd been looking at, this seemed to make the most sense, with positive outcomes. To explain the process however is difficult.

  

ABR therapy (part of it anyway, and very basically) looks like is here; a pile of towels on a chest with someone pressing down on them.  But as explained, theres obviously more to it than that! You can apply ABR manually, and also use a machine to achieve the same results.  It does not hurt, and Josh just has to lay there, while we apply gently pressure to key areas of his torso to build up strngth deep within his body.

A team from Singapore came for the weekend, and so all of Good Friday, and a few hours on Saturday and Sunday were spent learning more about ABR, the techniques (manually and with a machine), and having an assessment done of Josh so that when they return in 3 months or so, we can hopefully note some positive changes.  We really want to avoid surgery for Josh as much as possible (particularly for his hips and legs) and I'm confident we'll see results with ABR.  Its is not difficult, just ongoing, most likely forever, but is less demanding physically than other therapies on each of us involved. 

The trainers were lovely, helpful, informative.  When they said "move your knee here", or "put your seat a little higher", I did it.  It was too easy to race ahead, and apply a little more pressure than needed because I thought that more must be better, or to roll the ball in longer strokes and a bit faster, because surely that must be more beneficial.  Sometimes, you have to trust those that know.

There were 3 other families who attended also, and it will be great to keep in touch to see their progression.  We also met another family who helps coordinate the meetings in Sydney for ABR.  Her son had had an hypoxic brain injury at 6 months, and was apparently stiff all over, like Jojo.  To see where her son is at now, after doing ABR for 4 years, was a fabulous way to finish the weekend.

This is the ball used for manual ABR - an Overball, thats soft with air let out to make it a bit squishy.