Isn’t West Jet great! I mean, for a reasonable price you can get a flight to almost anywhere…in North America. You get to check 2 bags for FREE, (as opposed to Air Canada). You even get a free beverage with your choice of cookies or bits and bites. The service is good, the seats are padded and you get free TV. ($3 if you want to hear it).
BUT THEN….you go on an international flight on Virgin Airlines (do they exist anymore?) And you find out that you get a free 3 course meal, TV, movies, and even a little goodie bag of anything from a toothbrush to socks. Woah, woah, woah, west jet is looking a little cheap now…
Yeah, that is how I feel about Ella’s treatment. The community of DS blogging mamas in the states is VAST to say the least. There is a tonne of them, and all connected. They have fascinating stories, attractive blogs and a tonne of information. They make me count the blessing we have in Ella – the fact that she is sooooooo healthy so far and has caused really, very little heart ache, but I also read about how their PT’s, OT’s, SLP’s come to their houses at least once a week, if not more.
So yesterday, I brought this up with our PT. By the way, I love our Physiotherapist. She is a believer, works so well with all of the kids, knows her stuff (specifically about Down Syndrome) and invests invests invests. She takes all of my questions seriously and never makes me feel like I have invalid concerns.
She explained that funding (obviously) keeps the DS clinic at Calgary from doing that weekly model with all the kids, but they do as much as they can. And they do. If we wanted to make the drive in 5 days a week for treatment we probably could, but we don’t (6 hours on the road a week is enough for us). But what about Three Hills? Is this available in Three hills? No. We initiated contact with our so-called speech therapist from Big Country Outreach in mid to late August and finally, after many messages and cancelled appointments (on their part) we finally get to meet her tomorrow. Who knows how long it will take to get another appointment. There is no PREP program or similar in Three Hills and there aren’t even any private organizations that we can go through to pay the extra money for someone to INVEST in Ella. Can you tell its a sore spot? What will it take to get health care professionals to CARE, to INVEST? Isn’t that their job?! The only solution I see at this point is to find a developmental aid for Ella. Someone who I will invest in and teach all I know about DS and what Ella needs and get them to help me. These aids are available through specific agencies in the city, but out here it is a different story, so I don’t even know if they exist. I wish I was better at doing all of Ella’s OT, Physio and speech exercises everyday but when you are into the city twice a week and running between preschool, lessons, work and everything else, there are days when the only time we have at home is used for cleaning up, cooking meals and general maintenance. Why is so important you ask? If you knew that your child, who was said to be mentally retarded and wouldn’t amount to much, actually had the potential to lead an independent and fulfilling life, would you keep them from it? Ella has this potential and I want to maximize it.Thus, I am in a very large conundrum. Thoughts?
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