Back to Birmingham!

As most of you know, Maddy suffers from right-sided hemiparesis (or cerebral palsy) the result of a stroke that she had before she was born. The stroke had the biggest impact on the function of her right hand. Three years ago, with the support of so many friends and family, we took Maddy to the Sparks Pediatric Neuromotor Clinic in Birmingham Alabama for a month of intensive Constraint Induced Movement Therapy (CIMT). Maddy's left arm was placed in a cast and for four weeks, Maddy's occupational therapist, Reggi, came to our apartment and worked with Maddy for six hours a day, five days a week. As you can see from the look on her face, Maddy was a little apprehensive at the beginning, but Reggi quickly won her over (I'm sure it had nothing to do with all those Hershey kisses or stickers!)



I was so proud and amazed at how hard Maddy worked while we were in Birmingham, and the results were stunning. Within days, she was using her right hand to eat, grab objects, dress herself, play games. It was amazing, and by far the most successful therapy we've done for Maddy.

This summer we have the opportunity to go back to Birmingham for another round of CIMT with Reggi. We have high hopes for Maddy to gain even more function in her right hand. This time, she's old enough to have some over her own goals, like swimming, playing T-ball and tying her shoes.

Unfortunately, Maddy’s time at the Sparks Clinic is not covered by insurance and the cost for the hundred plus hours of therapy is $15,000. If you are considering making any charitable contributions this year, we’d like to ask you to consider sponsoring a portion of Maddy’s treatment. Every contribution that’s donated in Maddy’s name will reduce her “tuition” dollar for dollar so no donation is too small. If you’re interested in donating, please email me and I’ll tell you how to do it so the money is properly credited to Maddy’s treatment.

As always, thoughts, prayers and well-wishes are also appreciated. I know that a big part of Maddy's success last time was just knowing that she had so many people supporting her, both near and far.

 
Thanks so much!