A New Hope

Well we made it. 22hrs and 4300miles later we reached our new home for the next month. It wasn't without its problems though. Having rang BA to check that Ava's special dispensation for her medical equipment was in place and that we had special assistance at every airport and they knew the wheelchair was to be brought back to the aircraft door you would have thought tgey might mention that our flight had been moved to an earlier time to London - nope! Luckily Mark had checked so we rocked up at the airport earlier, good job we did. I have never seen Newcastle airport so busy at 4am. It took us an hour and a half to clear the bag drop and security. Once that was done we could relax a little. The flight to Miami passed quickly considering we onboard for 9hrs. Once at Miami it wasn't as bad as the media had made it out to be. We cleared customs in 40mins and got our bags straight away, however my heart sunk when the medical boxes failed to appear. 20 mins later we found the oversize area and to great relief there they were. Mark did really well to steer the tiny trolley which had 6 suitcases, 4 hand luggage, car seat and booster seat onboard. We had to get to the Mia mover, which was a really cool and easy accessed monorail that was to take us to the car rental pick up. We got into line again and an hour later and 32 % tax on top of what we had already paid (ouch) we emerged into the rainy Miami afternoon with our Dodge caravan. If this is on the mobility scheme we may very well consider getting it, as it is perfect for Ava's needs. A short 45min drive later and we arrived at our new home - 4340 Seagrape Drive, apartment 7, Lauderdake by the Sea, 33308. Its 2 blocks from the beach, has a pool right outside our door, has a massive cupboard for storage (bonus), is a 2 min drive or 20 min walk to the therapy centre. Which brings me nicely to the therapy.
I have to say, I am very excited to write about this. Ava's therapists are Paula and Rosanna. They will work with her every week day 1pm-5pm (6pm-10pm English time). The assessment was very thorough and as they assessed I asked questions and got very encouraging answers. I asked what they thought of her left side, for those of you who don't really know Ava, her left side can be very tight and although we have had no diagnosis of cerebral palsy it remains a possibility. I feel that it is hard to know if she does the tightness voluntarily or involuntarily. They said that it will be easier to tell after the month if she is doing it voluntarily or not but on first examination they felt it was a sensory issue and with stimulation the issue would improve and now was exactly the right time to intervene. Having worked with Ava for an hour, her therapist said to me that she questions Ava's blindness diagnosis. She said there was no way Ava is blind! Are you crying yet Marsha, cos I did. Tears of joy.
Ava did really well with the exercises, laughing and giggling quite a lot through it. Of course tears a bit later. They started to put the suit on and Ava fell a sleep. The Pediasuit is designed to support the body, stimulate muscle tone and provide deep pressure to stimulate and fire the brain. As the boss there said "This is not fairydust, we are restarting the brain and it works" Obviously individuals respond differently and at different rates. Some will make progress fast, some will be slower. Only time will tell how Ava responds. Within a few hours Ava had the Pedia suit on and walked with support from task to task. She sat on the ball and squeezed, they rocked her side to side, they put her on her tummy, they put her in the spider cage and did more exercise. She ran 10 marathons yesterday and is only 3 hrs from the next. I won't be allowed to sit in on anymore sessions now but will be in the next room. In the 4hrs of therapy i saw only 1 Tonic clinic seizure and 4 myclonic jerks, could the diet be working finally? Fingers crossed everyone. Oh and for those interested in the weather, we arrived after a tropical storm. Its hot but wet, like having a warm shower when we go out - this is better than the heat wave happening just north of Florida! Till the next time xx