Hard Work Does Pay Off!!

Sorry if we are Facebook friends and you have seen this already!!

A few months ago I went to a demo at Hope Therapy for a new piece of equipment called a TAOS. It's different in that it's considered more of an orthodic than an actual piece of equipment like a walker.  Shannon and I discussed it a bunch, I watched a few online videos and loved that it was forward facing and I loved that it was 'hands free'.  We have tried LOTS and LOTS of different types of equipment with Alex - I swear my house looks like a therapy equipment store.  She's done well in her last walker, but she did quite a bit of hanging in it and Shannon is constantly moving parts and pieces around and adding padding and removing straps and she still has to have her legs blocked so she can shift her weight to take steps. I shared the last video of her walking and you can really see how far she's come with the motor mapping.  We had therapy first thing this morning with Shannon and Alex was not feeling good, she cried and complained for the first 45 minutes of her appointment. She worked hard at school and had to have Motrin twice so I was not sure how her appointment to get her TAOS this afternoon was going to go.

As expected, she was grumpy when they were messing with her trying to fit it.  I fully expected her to protest and continue to get mad BUT once they stood her up, she.....

walked by HERSELF!!!  Look at her smiling - she is so happy and proud of herself!!!!!  As she should be.  I'm SO proud of her.  And happy for her!  It was very emotional and Tammy and I couldn't help but cry.  

Alex is going to be 13 this weekend.  We have been going to physical therapy every single week since she was 13 weeks old.  This has been a l.o.n.g. time coming.  We still have a long way to go, but we've come so far.  

“Don't ever give up. 
 Don't ever give in. 
 Don't ever stop trying. 
 Don't ever sell out. 
 And if you find yourself succumbing to one of the above for a brief moment, 
 pick yourself up, brush yourself off, whisper a prayer, and start where you left off.
 But never, ever, ever give up.” 

~Richelle E. Goodrich