WE'RE BACK!

We have now arrived and settled into our 2nd trip to Ability Camp. I could tell right away that we were returning to a good group when a toy truck greeted us on our bed with a note from 5 yr. old Adam Goodwin, welcoming us back...

Adam would be one of 7 returning children, out of a class of 9 (including one from Trinidad!). I was among familiar faces, 2 moms I had met from our prior visit and another man and his wife from Alaska who had been here for the stroke program in January. It was easy to mix with this crowd and despite the busy halls, kitchen and washrooms (40 of us divided into 14 rooms) our individual stories would spill over in the coming days, and despite our differences, we all shared a common goal. Sharing is an added bonus here and I always find it refreshing to learn from others and to appreciate how people overcome such huge obstacles with such determination and optimism.

The children here are overall quite challenged, Thomas is the only one who is verbal (and limited at that) and with exception of Adam who has just learned to take steps independently, the others have little mobility. There is a 3 year old girl named Kamryn here from Thunder Bay who has survived a near-drowning experience -always a difficult story for me to swallow, yet her bright eyes and smile and the huge progress she has made in the past 14 months illustrate her survivor skills and promise for good recovery. I especially loved hearing the success of the fundraising efforts - her community raised over $100,000 in 4 months, including support from one-time resident Paul Shafer and boss David Letterman – very deserving and will take her far.

The session started on Thanksgiving weekend so Rob and Adrienne joined us for the fist day to witness the class. Parents in this age group are only permitted to sit in during first day and then only invited back to assist with individual programming twice weekly and during snack another 2 times.

Thomas showed his resistance to the class and continued to scream and cry until Friday, when he finally realized that this was not going away and possibly could be enjoyable(?). The first day on his own, I greeted him during snack with a tray of his favourites (cookies from grandma) and his swollen eyes let out another burst of tears. Each day, he would cry less and participate more – including pointing and asking for his walker and to his art on the wall.

He is very popular with the seniors here for the stroke program (3 couples) who greet him in the hallway and during meals and he often points to the oxygen chamber and says “kawa” for Kevin. The chamber is still not a favourite for him and now that he has more words, he points to his hood during dives and constantly requests “off”. Thankfully he has learned to yawn on command, which helps to clear his ears.

All in all it was a rough week for him, lots of change and due to scheduling of the dives, he had to discard his nap. I am however noticing his speech is much clearer already and he is much more forthcoming with conversation. He now sleeps in a single bed and enjoying the added space. On a couple of occasions I have walked in and noticed him wresting with his pillow and ending up at different ends of the bed throughout the night. Our room is small and esp. crowded on weekends but I placed mats in the middle so that he can engage in daily floor play, which helps keep him active. He is initiating more trips to the potty and placing his feet flat on command. Still showing high muscle tone in his legs, and after speaking to parents who have employed this with their kids with success, I am now considering Botox as a treatment when we return home (which up to now I had been closed to).

The weather is still warm and dry so when possible we are getting out to the playground at the back, and some of the siblings join us (there are four). It’s busy yet at times quite fun and Thomas seems to not be missing home, yet.