Day 5: St Louis Children's Hospital Therapy Intensive

Transcript

Marsh Naidoo (00:07):

So welcome to this episode of Raising Kellan Podcast , the podcast to motivate, inspire, and educate parents raising kids with special needs. I'm your host, Marsh Naidoo, and we are heading back home to Dyersburg. Drake Box is with us and Kellan safety buckled in the back seat.

Drake Box (00:31):

Welcome back guys, to our last update of Kellan's Intensive Therapy Week. We had a very good time. It was very different considering the circumstances across the nation(COVID-19), but besides that, we got to the hospital and Kellan did what he had to do every day and he got better each day. And me and Marsh, we learned new things each day, which is always a good thing.

Marsh Naidoo (00:57):

All right guys, so we had an awesome week, as Drake has told you and we are going back home now with the updated program, which will hold us good for the next six months or so. Today is just a really unusual day. We are the last patients at St. Louis Children's Therapy outpatient department is gonna be seen for a while. They will actually be closed for the next two months we were told. So we kind of just stood in there by the skin of our teeth. And

Drake Box (01:34):

So you said, we're heading home right now and this is kind of a new experience for both of us. I've never done a podcast and in a car, but I think that allows people to be able to adapt to new situations and that's one of the things that I learned this week how Kellan was able to adapt to his new exercise each and every day and how he progressed each and every day. And it was very eye-opening for me to see that progress from Monday to Friday. It was very noticeable progress and it made my heart happy to see, to be able to see him really work and try his best to reach his goal, whether it was just to get to that end of that yellow line or just to be able to throw a frog in that basket. So being able to witness that and see his growth and progress each and every day, it just opened my eyes and it made me appreciate where I'm at in my cerebral palsy and where he will be, cuz I know he'll continue to grow each and every day and he'll just become a better him.

Marsh Naidoo (02:38):

So talking about unusual circumstance when we come to St. Louis after our morning therapy sessions, we normally are always out and about either going to the zoo or going to a museum. But this time honesty was back to the hospital, hospital and then back home or to the apartments we rented through Airbnb and then just staying in until the next morning. And just within the hospital system itself, I could see having that type of work experience that the hospital and as well as the employees were just trying to keep on top of the situation. What was different was that checking in each morning, we actually had to go through a screening process of being asked several questions, including, do you have a temperature? Have you been out of the country? Are you feeling well? Any runny nose, things of that nature. And then after we answered those questions with the appropriate answer, we were given a sticker showing that we had gone through the screening process and that color sticker was actually changed with each day, which I thought was really good infection control measures.

(04:07):

Once we got up to the department, again we went through our normal routines, but everyone was precise as to how the infection control was done. Every toy that he used was washed and wiped down thoroughly. Any surface or equipment that we used was wiped and washed down thoroughly as well. So we felt very secure knowing that the hospital as well as the employees were taking every measure to keep us safe. So today was, the last date was a bittersweet goodbye, but I think the therapists were very clued up to the possibility that our kids may be off from school for the next several weeks. So we were given actually activities that we could do at home to promote his function, His OT, Tori gave us a whole set of worksheets that we could work through. So even though we are going back home and even though school will be closed, guys, I just wanna encourage all to stay on top of it with your kids.

(05:15):

I mean, even though we at home, let's make eight to 12 o'clock school time where we doing our learning activities just to keep our kids more so than anything so that they don't forget what they've learned and it's gonna make it easier for them when they return back to school. Having kept that routine, try to just keep things moving along as smooth as you possibly can because I think keeping a routine will give you that security in a uncertain time. Having said that, I think we've talked a good five minutes and you guys know where we at and we will see you all soon. Drake, would you like to see anything, sir?

Drake Box (06:00):

Well, I just want to thank you again for allowing me to come on this trip. It was very educational and it was a genuine good time. I appreciated the time away from Dyresburg. I kind of needed that. And I wanna thank you guys for listening to our podcast because without you guys, this wouldn't be possible. So I just wanna thank you guys and I hope y'all have a great day and y'all stay safe.

Marsh Naidoo (06:24):

So guys, I'm actually gonna do a little write up blog about our experience for this week and we'll put that out on raising kellen.org. It might be a few days before that gets done, but peace keep in mind that the 25th of March is going to be Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day. And what we're gonna try this year and do is actually create an online event for parents and kids that have cerebral palsy to kind of get together virtually. So maintaining that social distancing, but still being able to get together to help to create awareness surrounding cerebral palsy. You'd like any information on that, you can contact raisingkigmail.com. That's raisingkellan@gmail.com. And if you forget that, just hop onto the raising kien.org website and if you look under the contact form, you will see that the way to contact us by Gmail is on there. Wishing you all well for the coming weekend. And kids and parents remain healthy and strong and keep on learning, keep on with those exercises. And as always, remember guys, get to the top of that mountain. This is Marsh Naidoo, together with Drake Box, and we are signing off.