Heavy Feet! 18 Month Update
Josie is now 18 months old. Here's an update...
First, the most exciting news:
At the last weigh-in with Dr. Wilkens (pediatrician), we finally saw the curve on the growth charts move up! Josie gained one pound and her head circumference increased by one centimeter! One lb./cm might not sound like a lot, but this hasn't happened in nearly 9 months! I would stand by that scale like a contestant on The Wheel of Fortune afraid of landing on Lose a Turn. Month after month, I'd wait for the digital number to hold steady and when it finally does, it always read between 16.8 - 17.5. How was this possible? Pat Sajak shakes his head like, sorry dude.
Well, she is now 18.7 pounds, 30 inches tall, and her head is 43cm. That is still below the charts for weight and head, but seeing the line on the chart move diagonally upward and not horizontal is all that matters - we're in the game - on our way to solving the puzzle. For height, she is actually on the charts - about 8%. Supermodel.
We're staying the course with Wanda's regimen. I just feel good about it. We're halfway through phase one, which concentrates on removing the diphtheria from her system. I don't know if her weight / head gains are due to the new regimen, but she's been on it for about a month and this all occurred in the past month.
Jojo is showing some other improvements, still minimal, but significant. She is reaching and grabbing more. She loves to grab my face, which reminds me to keep her nails short. She is kicking her legs so much more. She just really wants to move. While sitting assisted, she can pull her body weight up when she leans forward (See picture below). She can even sit unassisted for a few seconds at a time. She follows us with her eyes around the room. And when we hold her, she holds her body up very straight. She used to always rest on me.
Right now our team consists of:
Our regular therapists through Early Intervention: Michelle (PT), Jan (Special Educator), *Mary (our new Speech/Feeding Therapist), and Joanne (Vision Therapist). Stacy, (OT) just had a baby girl so we'll see her again in a few months.
We're still seeing Amy and Erica (intense PT) at Keep Moving Forward. I'm looking forward to seeing them more once we've completed Wanda's detox and remove the toxins that are preventing her from thriving.
Josie has been seeing Jodie Galler Collins in Plainview once a week. Jodie does CranioSacral Therapy as well as energy healing. She was also a PT for Early intervention for many years. I can't quite tell what Jodie is doing for Josie, but I believe it's part of the formula to help her. She came very strongly recommended from some of the other moms who have seen their kids recover from various neurological/toxin related issues.
A few weeks ago we started seeing a chiropractor named Michael Cindrich, who happens to practice twice a week right from our town! The other days he is in NYC. He does CranioSacral on Josie as well. On the first visit he said her neck was very tight. There were blockages preventing her cerebral fluid to move down her spine. Over the past few weeks, he opened them up and today he was so blown away how open her pathways were - there were no hard blocks. He said "I can play ping pong with her cerebral fluid." That's a good thing. He even told me not to pay for the visit since he didn't have to do anything. His words: "she's on her way back to us. She will be rolling and sitting up soon." He is very hopeful that things will change once we get through Wanda's homeopathic regimen.
Also part of the team is Matt DiLorenzo, a spiritual healer who lives in Italy. I've mentioned him briefly before and I plan to write more about him in a separate post. It's very hard to explain what Matt does and any skeptics out there might consider it crazy. I don't have energy to focus on that kind of thinking - or any negative thinking come to think of it. He's pretty fascinating and encouraging and I believe he is helping Josie - and me and a few other people I've sent his way recently. More to come on Matt.
We are attacking this from every angle, from western docs to spiritual healers. We're open.
Oh so what's Heavy Feet you ask? The music reference in the title is a great song on the new Local Natives album called Hummingbird. I just saw them again at Governors Ball on Randall's Island. They're just such a good live band with tight harmonies.
*Mary is our new Speech Therapist because Debbie moved on to a new job. We'll miss you Debbie, but we will absolutely keep in touch!
First, the most exciting news:
At the last weigh-in with Dr. Wilkens (pediatrician), we finally saw the curve on the growth charts move up! Josie gained one pound and her head circumference increased by one centimeter! One lb./cm might not sound like a lot, but this hasn't happened in nearly 9 months! I would stand by that scale like a contestant on The Wheel of Fortune afraid of landing on Lose a Turn. Month after month, I'd wait for the digital number to hold steady and when it finally does, it always read between 16.8 - 17.5. How was this possible? Pat Sajak shakes his head like, sorry dude.
Well, she is now 18.7 pounds, 30 inches tall, and her head is 43cm. That is still below the charts for weight and head, but seeing the line on the chart move diagonally upward and not horizontal is all that matters - we're in the game - on our way to solving the puzzle. For height, she is actually on the charts - about 8%. Supermodel.
We're staying the course with Wanda's regimen. I just feel good about it. We're halfway through phase one, which concentrates on removing the diphtheria from her system. I don't know if her weight / head gains are due to the new regimen, but she's been on it for about a month and this all occurred in the past month.
Jojo is showing some other improvements, still minimal, but significant. She is reaching and grabbing more. She loves to grab my face, which reminds me to keep her nails short. She is kicking her legs so much more. She just really wants to move. While sitting assisted, she can pull her body weight up when she leans forward (See picture below). She can even sit unassisted for a few seconds at a time. She follows us with her eyes around the room. And when we hold her, she holds her body up very straight. She used to always rest on me.
Right now our team consists of:
Our regular therapists through Early Intervention: Michelle (PT), Jan (Special Educator), *Mary (our new Speech/Feeding Therapist), and Joanne (Vision Therapist). Stacy, (OT) just had a baby girl so we'll see her again in a few months.
We're still seeing Amy and Erica (intense PT) at Keep Moving Forward. I'm looking forward to seeing them more once we've completed Wanda's detox and remove the toxins that are preventing her from thriving.
Josie has been seeing Jodie Galler Collins in Plainview once a week. Jodie does CranioSacral Therapy as well as energy healing. She was also a PT for Early intervention for many years. I can't quite tell what Jodie is doing for Josie, but I believe it's part of the formula to help her. She came very strongly recommended from some of the other moms who have seen their kids recover from various neurological/toxin related issues.
A few weeks ago we started seeing a chiropractor named Michael Cindrich, who happens to practice twice a week right from our town! The other days he is in NYC. He does CranioSacral on Josie as well. On the first visit he said her neck was very tight. There were blockages preventing her cerebral fluid to move down her spine. Over the past few weeks, he opened them up and today he was so blown away how open her pathways were - there were no hard blocks. He said "I can play ping pong with her cerebral fluid." That's a good thing. He even told me not to pay for the visit since he didn't have to do anything. His words: "she's on her way back to us. She will be rolling and sitting up soon." He is very hopeful that things will change once we get through Wanda's homeopathic regimen.
Also part of the team is Matt DiLorenzo, a spiritual healer who lives in Italy. I've mentioned him briefly before and I plan to write more about him in a separate post. It's very hard to explain what Matt does and any skeptics out there might consider it crazy. I don't have energy to focus on that kind of thinking - or any negative thinking come to think of it. He's pretty fascinating and encouraging and I believe he is helping Josie - and me and a few other people I've sent his way recently. More to come on Matt.
We are attacking this from every angle, from western docs to spiritual healers. We're open.
Oh so what's Heavy Feet you ask? The music reference in the title is a great song on the new Local Natives album called Hummingbird. I just saw them again at Governors Ball on Randall's Island. They're just such a good live band with tight harmonies.
*Mary is our new Speech Therapist because Debbie moved on to a new job. We'll miss you Debbie, but we will absolutely keep in touch!
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