Some time ago I mentioned intense therapies for Piper, one in particular sought after world wide, people have travelled with their brain injured children to America and Britain to undergo training to help their child through brain
stimulation, in order to make new connections, helping to restore past information retraining the brain as such.
This method teachers the parent to become the therapist with the use of daily sequencing five to seven times a day, it's
gruelling, its said to be too much on the parent, it requires many hands and much work, although the results tend to speak for themselves, quite obviously not everyone is a success story, as every child is different, every brain injury is different! Although
for many children the hard work has given them a chance for a better quality of life, and whilst we can't predict the future and we know it is assumed Pipers condition will most likely be degenerative, still it's an assumption! Why not set our little girl
up for a better life, why not give her the opportunity to experience the things we take for granted, no one knows her capabilities, and although we've witnessed Piper's deterioration in the past and we've watched our little girl slipping away, we've also watched
her come back stronger when it was predicted she would indeed continue the other way! So once again it can only be assumed. we don't have a name for this condition, we don't know what tomorrow will hold, but while we have today we'll make it count! our little
princess has already surprised specialists so who's to say she won't be able to speak, walk and play.
It's happened! many children in this program have reached many milestones! some even entered into mainstream schools and university's
all because their parents refused to accept... they will not! for an answer.
If we can just aim to have Piper sit or crawl then that's a massive achievement, or gain strength in her hands to be able to use sign language! A whole new world
could open.
The therapy I speak of is run by Chad Timmerman in Australia.
It is known as The Australian Institute for the Achievement of Human Potential.
Chad was on sixty minutes some weeks ago introducing
a therasuit to assist muscles and enable children to walk, it was the story of a child with cerebal palsy and his determined family who had
traveled to America and raised funds to have the suit brought to Australia, that certainly
made me think, anything is possible! and when I heard Chad Timmermans I was quite literally brought to tears! because of the incredible heart to the story, the amazing attitude of the parents, but also because I was sittings beside Pipers hospital
bed with Chads book in my hand, given to me by my mother pleading me to read during our stay, this therapy is costly especially since we are now a one income family as I care for Piper full time. it's so completely unfair that cost should come
into anything that could benefit a child, and as Piper is undiagnosed she is unable to qualify for funding that would assist this therapy.
I hope to god one day children are assessed by a system that does not check boxes but rather bases itself
on the individual, as at the moment there are children who are able to walk, talk, run, skip, jump and attend mainstream schools who are eligible for funding simply because they are diagnosed, their doctors are able to give them a name. By no means am I suggesting
this should not be the case. I'm merely suggesting that some children are unable to breath unassisted, unable to communicate, unable to move and they simply do not qualify because their condition is rare, undiscovered, unnamed it just does not seem right to
me.
Sorry i've gone off on a tangent yet again :)
Piper has required many trips to Melbourne sometime three to four times a month, visiting specialist and having various forms of treatment, My husbands place of work has been
an unbelievable support during this time, even rallying together to help finance accommodation and fuel for times Piper has been away in hospital, amazing beautiful hearts and we'll be forever thankful for their support, I will always remember the day
Michaels colleague walked through our door to tell us how they'd like to help, I was completely overwhelmed, life is a struggle for everyone and making ends meet is something we can all relate to, this just reduced me to tears, the understanding of this organisation
the many times Michael has had to leave work heading straight for the emergency department or ICU and the answer always the same, family first! followed by calls and visits to ensure our little girl is doing okay, the Mildura Police have certainly become our
family.
Our own family and friends have also gathered together, calling meetings and working towards fundraising for Piper, giving up their time, to find a way to help our little girl, I can't tell you how truly blessed we feel
to have a room full of people we love working towards the goal of giving Piper the best life possible.
We love and appreciate you guys more than you can imagine, thank you for believing in our purple princess 💜