Preparing for a “Leap” year
Dec. 7, 2009
For our family 2010 will be a Leap year. Before you go checking all of your calendars, February will still only have 28 days but January 2010 may be one of the longest kickoffs to a year that we could imagine. All of the pieces are officially in place for Nathan to undergo intense therapy at Leap Beyond Therapy down in Cincinnati.
The best definition can be taken right off of Leap Beyond Therapy’s site: “Intensive therapy is an individualized three-week session consisting of physical therapy three hours a day, five days a week. This intensity allows the child to strengthen the muscles they need to increase function faster than traditional therapy...”
We had our evaluation in November and got to see the belts, ropes, pulleys, weights and all sorts of resistance equpiment they will use to help develop muscle control, strength and flexibility which have been hard to develop upto now. We got so see how he’ll work in their “cage.” 
It’s a four-sided area (left, right, top and back) where they will provide balance and resistance that are hard to duplicate any other way. During the evaluation, they even put a harness around his torso and another around his waist and suspended him from the top of the cage allowing him to “fly” swinging front to back and side to side.
On their website, there are several pictures of kids in a Therasuit that will be used with Nathan as well. This is one of the items of controversy especially with insurance companies. The suit will give subtle reminders to particular parts of the body, or particular muscles to encourage use during activities and exercises. The needs are unique to each child, which is why there’s no one solution for all kids. The suit will be used similarly to how we used kinesio tape during the early stages of our OT 2+ years ago. (And for the record, we were using kinesio tape before Kerri Walsh did in the 2008 Olympics.)
For 15 days in January, we’ll be packing up the car and hitting the road shortly after 6 a.m., driving the 2+ hours (in good weather) down to their facility. Then Nathan (who we’re hoping will get a little more sleep in the car) will be worked out from 9-noon in ways his body hasn’t really been worked thus far. Then a quick bite to eat and head home, only to do it again the next day. As they said, it will be 5 days a week (Tuesday-Saturday) for 3 straight weeks. There is the potential for make-up days the following week should the weather get too rough, which will take a little pressure off heading out at times well before the sun would make an appearance.
We had thought about staying down there, and it’s not out of the question for us to forego the drive a night or two if we know bad weather is coming. The thought of having to pack up for a week at a time, with Nathan’s picky diet, extra needs, diapers, and such is just overwhelming. Then throw in meal expenses for Annette and myself, and financially it’s just easier to make the drive.
We’ve always joked about Nathan being our rock star, so I guess this is the first leg of his tour. We also talked about how the minivan will become a tour bus and from what it sounds like, we’ll actually have groupies joining us on different days.
We’ve invited a PT student shadowing our family to join us, as well as our best babysitter (also a PT student). Nathan will love the company and the attention, providing he stays awake in the car. If history says anything, I’ll enjoy the company as well as Annette sneaks any chance she can get for a nap. (Sleep is a rare commodity for her these days.) We were also pleasantly shocked to learn that the OT and PT at Nathan’s school are interested in possibly travelling down as well for a session to see what he’ll be doing and see if there’s any tricks they can borrow to keep him working once he gets back. The work they’ve done lately with Nathan is also evident in his recent skill spurts.
With all of the recent success that he’s been making, we’re excited to see what comes of this experience. We’ve called this our “Leap of faith” financially as well. As you can imagine, 45 hours of therapy doesn’t come cheap. There’s not enough research backing intense therapy, which means our insurance won’t cover the cost of any of it. Normally, our insurance has been very good, but we decided that we wanted to strike while Nathan was surging ahead and we’ll find a way to pay for it later. We are not in the desperate shape some families are today, but for those who always wanted to offer support in the past, now it wouldn’t be turned away.
So look out Cinci, here we come, again and again and again. For so many different things we’ve tried with Nathan, repetition is the key. Hopefully the 15 trips in three weeks will leave a lasting impression, which keep him moving even farther forward in the year to come. And of course we’ll take the video camera to show all of his fans the new things we can do. Remember folks, in his videos Nathan does all of his own stunts.
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