IPTI - Day 5 of 13

July 9, 2013

Day 5 if intense physical therapy was so AMAZING!

Here Hunter is int he spider cage with Sergio.  Look how straight, tall and balanced he is standing with such little help.  Hunter started with all of the bungees on and Sergio removed them one at a time until he was standing there with no bungees and very little assistance!!

Hunter is now working on pelvis stability and narrowing his base. Watch this video and see how awesome he is doing! He has completed 5 of 13 days....I am so excited for him.

NEED TO UPLOAD THE VIDEO!


So proud of you Hunter!  Look at your progress in just 5 days of therapy!!

IPTI - Day 4 of 13

July 8, 2013

Day 4 of intense therapy went well. Not much to report other than he made it an hour an a half before needing a movie to keep him going and happy. That is a huge improvement from the normal 10 minutes! .I think today was a day to get him back into routine from a long weekend. I really enjoyed watching him in the spider cage today for some reason. Today he worked on stairs and more walking. He did lots of squats too! Awesome job Hunter!

It was a nice break to get away for a few days and spend some time at our favorite camping spot...Ophir!  Now back to the grind of therapy.

Ophir 2013 - Clark Family Reunion

July 4-7, 2013

Ophir is one of our very favorite camping places.  Every July we go with the Clark Family.  It has become an annual tradition.  The funnest part about it is the Triple F (Fabulous Family Fun) that happens each and every year!

Kennedy, Jared, Sadie and Sydney on the swings.

Grandma Nancy and Hunter.

Justin and Hunter

Cy and his smile

Tyler

All the kids LOVE the sandbox

Fisher building in the sand

Swinging is Hunter's favorite place to be.

T-Shirt Ninjas!! We made ninja masks out of t-shirts.  

Cedar, Cy, Weston, Jeff, Justin and Brody

Fisher and Justin with their best Ninja moves.

Watching the horseshoe tourney!

Brody and Megan

Cy and Jody

Jeff and Lacey

Mattix, Justin and Zara

Kennedy and Sydney

Horseshoe Tourney! Big Jeff, Little Jeff and Lee Bob

Justin and Fisher just kickin back. Even Ninjas have some down time.

Uncle Scoob and Cael

The water slide was a hit this year!  Of course with the water slide we had to have a water fight!  It was the best water fight yet..... Tyler, Lee and Little Jeff got pounded by the kids.  It  was a blast!

Justin taking aim

Ophir has the best bike riding space ever! Fisher got a lot of practice on his big bike.

Hunter and Tyler going on a walk around the loop.

Brody in the sandbox

 Hunter played so good. He just loves to be outside

Justin on his scooter!

Connie's crew.... Brenda, Trent, Jayden, Trevor, Lester and Troy (Micheal didn't come this year).

Tyler and Hunter

Crafts, crafts and more crafts.  This year we made knit headbands.

Look at all those boy cousins!  Ray, Cedar, Cy, Jack, Justin and Brody

Little boy cousins who should have been in this picture: Mattix, Fisher, Hunter, Dean, and Cael.

Justin LOVED making and selling snow cones.  

Justin's selling pitch: "All snow cones $1. The first 10 are free!"

Fisher really got into helping Tyler set up the trailer.  Justin not so much.

We LOVE Ophir!  We hope this family reunion stays around each and every year!

IPTI - Day 3 of 13

July 3, 2013

Day 3 of intensive PT has been good. No crying today! Hunter's balance is improving so fast! Today he was able to stand in the spider cage with only 4 bungees rather than the regular 8. He sat on a bench by himself without falling off and his feet were dangling. His favorite part of the day is the stander because he gets snacks and iPad time. He is looking so big to me! I am so proud of him!

Sergio working with the Neurosuit.  Hunter has finally decided that therapy isn't so bad.

  Hunter working in the squat position....and sucking on the Neurosuit ties.

The stander soon became Hunter's favorite time.  He had snack, drink and iPad time.  He is wearing a hat so that he gets used to the sensation of having something on his head.  When when Sergio uses Hunter's head to help support him while walking  Hunter gets so preoccupied by what is on his head that he forgets to focus on walking.  We hope the hat will help.....if not, at least it is cute.

Cage time again.  I think this is the hardest for Hunter.  The bungees help his muscles compensate for the opposite side of his body being pulled on. By having that force on both sides of his body he strengthens muscles and feels what proper balance should feel like. 

 We get a break tomorrow and Friday and then we will be back for day 4 on Monday!

IPTI - Day 2 of 13

July 2, 2013.

Day 2 of intensive therapy for Hunter went awesome!! He improved his static standing (standing in one spot without help) from 7 seconds on Monday to 20 seconds on Tuesday!! His balance has already improved so much. He also took 8 STEPS!! He consistently took 4-5 steps but did hit 8 one time! So proud of little Hunter.

Hunter will start to work on trunk control, responsive behavior (putting out hands to catch himself when falling), lowering his center of gravity, and narrowing his base (keeping his feet closer together instead of so spread out) to allow for weight shifting.


Here he is working with Muriel in the Neurosuit and watching his DVD.  The DVD helped him to relax and not fight the movements.

 Here he is with Sergio in the spider cage.

Here Sergio is having Hunter walk out of the spider cage.

Hunter did not like this position but it helped him feel upright while walking and help create the proper center of balance.

Here Hunter is taking steps on his VERY OWN!

So proud of the little guy!

IPTI - Day 1 of 13

July 1, 2013

Day 1 of intense therapy went well. Hunter cried pretty hard at first but the good old iPad brought him out of it. 

Here are some pictures for today!
The first thing Hunter did was some stretching and position holds and then he got fitted with the Neuro suit. This suit helps align all of his joints and muscles in the proper position. It has bungees all over it! Sergio is an amazing therapist!  (That's Reese in the background working with Muriel).

 The next thing Hunter did was stand in the stander. This allows gravity to work on his hip, knee and ankle joints all in one exercise with gravity doing its work. This is when he got a snack and a drink.

The next thing he did was get in the spider cage. This is where they put a belt on him with bungees in 4 directions. This helps him do things "on his own" without falling one way or the other. He didn't  love this activity but he warmed up to it.

 

He was one tired boy. I am learning as I go and all of this will become more comfortable for me too!

Day 2 of 13 tomorrow!!

IPTI - Intense Physical Therapy Institute

 July 1 - 19, 2013.

Hunter did some pretty intense physical therapy at Intensive Physical Therapy Institute.  This therapy was 4 hours a day, 5 days a week for 3 weeks in a row.  He did a 15 day session (he actually only did therapy for 13 days because he was off for the 4th and the 5th for our annual Ophir trip).  We went to therapy everyday to the afternoon session from 1:00 - 5:00 pm.

Prior to starting therapy, Hunter could not stand unassisted for more than 2-3 seconds and could only take 1-2 steps before collapsing to the ground.  Goal in therapy is to improve!!

Justin and Fisher were great to go to different tenders and had fun playing with cousins.  Hunter and I went to therapy everyday.  Tyler took Hunter one Friday and I took the Justin and Fisher to the movie.

This was a good experience for Hunter and for our family.  Hunter made good progress and gained a lot of strength.  We made some really good friends while at therapy.  There are only 2 kids in therapy at a time and we were lucky enough to pair up with Reese and his mom, Carla.

I will be posting pictures of each day with a little about that day.