Eric, Caleigh and I went to a Network Spinal Care doctor the other day. Our Feldenkrais practitioner suggested we try another therapy to compliment hers. She suggested Homeopathy, BodyTalk or Network Care. Her thought is that our bodies are holding in all the stress of the past year and a half. If we don't get rid of the stress then it will be difficult for Caleigh to move forward past her pain and trauma. Any tension that Eric and I are holding in will be transferred to Caleigh and she feels that from us. I'm stressed, I know, so it made some sense to me and anything that is relaxing at this point is worth a try. After reading about all of them we decided to give Network Care a try. It is done by Chiropractors and seemed to be the most 'medical' of them all. Here's a brief summary.....gentle touches along the spine that help release the tension. It uses your bodies own energy to heal itself. You can look at the associations
website, but let me tell you, it can't explain what happens and what you see.
So let me try to make the long story short. I called the doctor two days before. He tried to explain the process. He let me also talk to his partner, a woman, that is supposed to be great with children. I told them about Caleigh's history and we made the appointment. Flash forward to Thursday as we walked into their office....There wasn't anyone in the waiting room but as I looked around there was a row of shoes along the wall. There was some calming India type of music and a room in the back with glass french doors. The doctor came out of that room to talk to us. Behind him a business man in a nice suit came out and began putting his shoes on. A little bit later an older gentleman with a cane came out too. So we started talking to the doctor, he was a little socially awkward but who isn't in healing alternative medicine, right? We filled out some forms and while we did this a younger woman in her 20's with two little girls came in. I'm guessing she was their nanny. She went back into the room. Another woman with a limp came in and she went back as well. The doctor came to get us because he wanted us to 'see' what he does and what happens when he does 'it.' So we went back to the room. The back wall was floor to ceiling windows and all you could see was trees. It was beautiful really. The room was full of massage type tables all lined up. We sat on a table right next to one of the little girls. She was probably about 6 yrs old and laying face down on her belly. The doctor explained that after a series of 'gentle touches' that we will see the little girl take a deep breath and then her body will start to make a 'wave' motion. Eric and I glanced at each other and then he began his touches on this girl. He would draw his arm up high in the air and then come in and make a tiny touch and then step away. It was funny. I had to control my laughter. He repeated this several times. All of a sudden she took a deep breath and then her body started making a wave, dolphin like motion. I SWEAR! I could hardly hold in my laughter. I just wanted to giggle, but it looked painful to me! Totally involuntary. The weirdest thing I have ever seen! He then moved over and worked on the nanny. Same thing except she was crying quietly and making the wave motion more intensely. Caleigh started to fuss a bit so I told him that we would go back in the waiting room.
Eric looked at me and said "where on earth did you bring me?" A VooDoo Doctor??? We were both freaked out and confused at the same time. So he finished up with them. The woman came out and asked if we were thinking about coming regularly. I asked her if it hurt and she said "oh, no just the opposite." Everyone we saw there 'looked' normal, whatever normal is. Eric swears they paid actors to come in......So everyone left and he came out to talk with us some more. We talked about Caleigh. He told us some 'miracle' stories. Told us that this was a "little miracle shoppe." He said "I'm good at this, I've done this all over the world.......I'm not gonna toot my own horn or anything." Ummmm.... isn't that what he was doing? We were still waiting on his partner to come. You know the one that is supposed to be great with children? So he asked Eric if he would come back and started on him. I stayed in the waiting room with Caleigh and then the woman came in. She was so excited...bent down....and started kissing Caleigh all over her face! I almost lost it! I don't know her, I'm a germaphobe, AHHHHHHH!!! So she stands up and ushers us into the back room. She was a small Filipino lady...spastic but seemed nice. So she started the touches. Caleigh immediately started crying and arching her back. It was a different cry, tired and sad. My back was killing me from holding her while she was arching so bad. I looked over at Eric still on the other table and he wasn't budging. No wave.
The man was working so hard! So the lady says that crying is good, it's a release and that the arching is letting the release happen. Caleigh always arches when she's upset. So that didn't sell me on anything. Then she starts talking about the heat release that Caleigh is having. I was burning up and so was Caleigh. She was crying.....she's gonna be hot. She talked about how loose her spine was getting? Wanted me to feel of it......I don't know what a spine is supposed to feel like! So this went on for awhile. Every time Caleigh would calm down, they would touch her and she would start crying again. So finally Eric was done, nothing happened with him. He did seem more relaxed though. So the man started working on me. I sat down on the table, he did a few touches. I giggled a few times. I don't know if it was from the touches or the fact that we were still there enduring this. What did I get us into???? So I laid down on my stomach he did some touches. I felt relaxed don't get me wrong, but my mind was racing about the whole situation. So then he had me lay on my back. I don't even remember where the touches were but all of a sudden I started laughing.....a lot! Uncontrollably, laughing! Then it turned to tears, crying. WEIRD! In my mind I was telling myself to get control, but I couldn't. So eventually I dried it up. I could tell he was excited and he asked me to lay back on my stomach. I did and felt these huge breathes take over. I didn't do the 'wave' but I felt tingly all over. Did I mention it was WEIRD!!!! So we got done. Packed up, put our shoes on and started talking price with him. Oh yea, the lady, she was gone by the time I got off the table. We left and walked outside. Shook our heads, laughed a lot and loaded Caleigh in the car seat. I sit in the back seat with her, so I went up to the front seat to get medicine out of the ice chest. When I looked back, Caleigh had her hand in her mouth! I said something about it and it startled her so she took it out. She hasn't really done that before! She's really been trying though. So we stopped and ate at Cafe Brazil..mmmmm....yummy. We took Caleigh inside, still in her car seat. I have some toys hanging down from the handlebar. We were sitting there and she started batting and grabbing at the toys. She did this for a long time and this is something she rarely does. I think I've only seen it a handful of times. Eric and I laughed and shook our heads again. What on Earth?
We are both sensible people. Eric is more skeptical than me, but come on!
When we got home Caleigh was babbling a lot more than she usually does. She went right down to bed. Eric and I were in a great mood. We stayed up till midnight laughing, joking and talking about the day. The next day we felt great, lots of energy. I can't explain it. Maybe it was all the laughter? So I think my problem with going back is actually the doctors. I really think our personalities didn't mesh and the fact that things aren't very germ free made me uneasy. So I started looking online and found a lady in Arlington. I talked to her and she only sees one patient at a time which is much better. Her price is cheaper and she didn't feel the need to toot her own horn! We have an appointment on Tuesday and I really hope that we connect.
A little history.....When I lived in Florida, I was having bad migraines. No one knew why so I was on a ton of medicine, had tons of MRI's and CT's. I also went to Physical Therapy. They used some muscle contracting probes and heat. They would put them on my neck and leave me in a quiet dark room. I would cry and laugh uncontrollably. It was weird but they told me that it had to do with my
sympathetic nervous system. This is exactly what I was feeling except on a milder level. It was relaxing nonetheless.
Ok, so that was my short-long story. I'm not sure where we are going to go with this therapy. Money wise we are trying to pick the best bang for our buck and of course the best for Caleigh. I think we will try it out a few more times and see how we all feel. If it helps to relax us as a family, I'm all for it.
If anyone has tried this let me know! We were told it is great for back pain, herniated disks, knee trouble, depression, anxiety...pretty much anything. If you want to try it, I can get you in contact with the right people. More details after our appointment on Tuesday!
On Saturday, I started by giving Caleigh 60ml over 30 minutes on the feeding pump, every 2 hrs. We did the same thing on Sunday. She did so well, even acting hungry right before feeding times. We offered baby food before bolus feeds and Caleigh ate the standard 1 tablespoon which isn't any different than what she usually does. We have been told that this is a great amount for a baby that hasn't eaten by mouth all her life. It's a challenge and takes about 20 minutes to give her that amount. She chews and swallows just like you and I.
So on Monday we decided to up the anti a bit. Caleigh now gets 90ml every 3 hrs over 30 minutes. She does that 5 times during the day and then we hook her up for 10 hours of 33ml per hour continuous feeds. There are only so many ways that we can say how well Caleigh has done with this. It's just amazing!
I love being able to hop up off the couch to get something out of the kitchen and not having to worry about dragging a backpack or IV pole along. It sounds convenient, yes, but until you've done it on a daily basis......well, you know.
So the next step in Caleigh's quest towards progress will be to increase her formula's calorie content. We will keep her at her current path for awhile to make sure things are moving forward.
