Blake went through many tests while in the hospital. The doctors visited us with the results from the tests. The results weren’t good. Blake was diagnosed with Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE). With global damage to his brain, we knew we had a long road ahead of us. Without hesitation, we were going to help our baby in every way possible.
We took Blake home with multiple pieces of equipment. It was a scary ride being on our own with him, but we made it. When we got him home, we immediately started looking for ways to help him. We enrolled Blake in early intervention, physical therapy and occupational therapy.
We never heard our baby cry until the first appointment we had for early intervention. We stopped at a stop light, and he started whaling! It was music to our ears. We laughed, and we cried…it was amazing!
With many goals to reach, Blake had an intense therapy schedule to hold. Blake started speech therapy at age one to help stimulate his sucking and swallowing reflex. When Blake was two, we started looking into alternative therapies. Equine assisted therapy was the alternative therapy of choice. Even though it was expensive, we knew he needed it, and he would benefit from it. We put in a pool for Blake’s water therapies and relaxation. Home modifications were in the planning process for his future. Blake started school on time at age five at Heritage Elementary School. He continued his therapies while in school reaching for the goals set for him.