I don’t even know where to begin.
Marek has been a very VERY busy little boy. We have added even more therapies to his schedule to help him move along in his development. He is now receiving speech therapy through Early Interventions. He will be getting speech therapy two times a month. We also have AMAZING friends who love Marek and have been willing to take time out of their day to help Marek out. Kari Lane and her cousin Katie Speichinger are such wonderful people and have started to co-treat Marek on Wednesday nights. Kari is a Speech Therapist and Katie is an Occupational Therapist. He had his first sessions with them this last Wednesday and loved it. They worked on saying and signing “more”. Marek was on cloud nine since he was rewarded with food!!! I’m telling you the kid can EAT!
We have also started ABM therapy here in St Louis and will also be traveling to Fort Wayne, Indiana to see another ABM therapist. I have had many people ask what ABM therapy is so I included a link to a video to help explain it. We have been at a stand still with Marek using his arms so we have been thinking outside the box to see if other forms of treatment might help make things click for him. He is also going to see a chiropractor next week as well as a nutritional counselor since I haven’t been overly excited with his nutritionist he has been seeing through Early Intervention.
Lastly, Marek has started Music Therapy on Saturday mornings over in St. Louis. This program is offered through his vision service, Delta Gamma. We went to our first session yesterday and I was amazed at how interest and MOTIVATED Marek was during his time there. The kids worked on body part recognition and turn taking and this was all taught through song. Mark’s favorite part was when his teacher handed out the instruments so the kids could play along.
Needless to say Marek AND MOMMY are quite tired when the week ends, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I am hoping that things will start clicking for him soon and he can start putting all these different therapies together to help move him forward in his development.
Since the lovely state of Illinois is struggling so much financially we have been pushing for our insurance to pick up Marek’s orthotics. We finally got approval so Marek will be going to get casted for his orthotics on Thursday. I think this will really help because right now he loves to stand with support but his ankles just roll outward so much that it makes it hard for him to stand for long periods of time. Speaking of the lovely state of Illinois, for those of you not on Facebook, last week was pretty hard on us. Our PT who we love so much gave us her 30 day notice telling us she can no longer see Marek since his Early Intervention is through the state. The state has not paid their Early Intervention therapists since June. I can’t blame our PT, she had been seeing Marek for four months without seeing a penny. Beside myself, I posted on Facebook asking friends and family to please call their local representatives and our governor to push for EI funding. The next day was also a state wide call in day which greatly helped get the message to our government. It was posted that every representative’s mailbox was full across the state. WOW!!! That afternoon the comptroller’s office put out a letter that said that they will start funding EI ASAP. Our PT sent me a message last night saying she is optimistic that she will be able to continue to see Marek. I am hoping that money is dispersed quickly!!!! THANK YOU to everyone that took the time to call in, write emails, and help spread the word, Marek and every child who receives EI is grateful!
Ryan had been traveling for work the last two weeks. He was working down in Arkansas and this was his first weekend back. He will be starting back to work Monday in his OWN local, woohoo. I am so glad he is back. I loved all my one on one time with my little guy but it was a lot of work and I am glad Ryan is back to help out. I have to thank my little sis once again for keeping me company and helping out with Marek while Ryan was gone. We spent this weekend as a family at Eckert's and downtown Belleville at their Oktoberfest. It was great being THREE again.
Last but not least, HAPPY 14 MONTHS to Mighty Man Marek. Keep fighting little buddy, each battle you win gets you closer to winning this war.
