Please or to access all these features

SN children

Here are some suggested organisations that offer expert advice on special needs.

support/information sharing thread for parents of children with Cerebral Palsy

999 replies

inhibernation · 03/11/2011 12:59

Hi, was wondering whether you might find this useful? I've got a 2 year old dd with CP and have received many messages of support on my own thread (previously ladylush) but would find it useful if there was a general thread that anyone could pop in and out of - so wondered if you might too. Sometimes I have to wade through pages of the SN board to find anything that relates to CP so it would make access easier.

Let me know your thoughts.

TIA Smile

OP posts:
HairyMaclary · 02/02/2012 10:35

Hello all - lots of new messages and people, nice to see you all!

We now have a confirmed date for DS's SDR on 21st February, not long now. Getting excited and apprehensive at the same time! I have started a blog really to keep a record of our journey and let family and friends know how we are doing while we are away. I'm reluctant to post the URL on the thread generally, at least at the moment while I get my head around this blogging thing, but if anyone is interested in what's happening I send you a link by PM.

inhibernation · 02/02/2012 11:01

Ooh Hairy - how exciting Smile I'll PM you.

xt - so glad your dd is doing well Smile Yes initially dd's walking with kaye was better than without (hand holding) but just lately now that she is doing some independent walking her gait is better than when she walks with the walker. If you PM me I can show you a youtube video of her walking. Standing has been more difficult for her but she is just starting to do it for a few seconds. Sitting sounds v similar to your dd. Back still bit rounded but increasingly she is managing to sit with legs stretched out straight in front - always sat with knees drawn up before. Also just lately she has started to wriggle her toes and flex her feet Smile

surviving - agree with xt, who writes these days anyway?! Honestly, my handwriting is atrocious these days. I so rarely write! Your dd will probably be the envy of her class mates as she'll be so tech savvy Grin I can understand you feeling sad ......... but at least times have moved on so much and it many people keyboard more than they write.

Welcome whydoesitalwayshappentome Smile We are all friendly here - though sometimes I rant about dd's physio therapist so if I'm getting a bit negative please do tell me to snap out of it Grin

OP posts:
whydoesitalwayshappentome · 02/02/2012 15:47

inhibernation please feel free to rant all you like. I reckon I could get an A level in ranting these days.

Thanks for the welcome everyone I feel right at home already.

sneezecake · 02/02/2012 18:29

researchgirl can I suggest quiet toys, DS used to jump and cry at every unexpected /loud noises, it got to the point where he didn't want to play with toys bacause they made him jump! he's much better now loves rough and tumble, and the throwing him around stuff!
Also things which are easy to hold, DS doesn't have the best grasp and found heavy/awkward toys hard to pick up.

Poor DS has been poorly since sunday, on the mend now but had a temp of 40 and was lathargic was worried for a little while, still not sure what caused it, he keeps pointing to his ear so I'm assuming its that but the Dr had a look in there and said it was clear so who knows. The worst thing about it is his extention pattern has gone into overdrive, he wouldn't even cuddle up to go for his nap, and had to cry himself to sleep Sad Ihope its something which will resolve again when he is over his infection!

xtwinmummyx · 02/02/2012 22:22

outofbodyexperience thats lovely that your little one did dance...my little girl loves a good old boogie and would enjoy doing something like that! :) and thanx for the recommendation of the r82 croc...just had a look on the internet and yes they do look alot better and sturdier than the Kaye walkers, ashame thats not whats prescribbed by the physios and O.Ts!
hairymaclary thats fab news...but understand you apprehension at the same time! I would love to follow your journey, will PM you :)
whydoesitalwayshappentome glad you feel very at home already :)
sneezecake :( your poor DS! I really do hope it resolves itself and he is on the mend and back to himself very soon! :)

inhibernation · 03/02/2012 13:47

sneezecake - hope dgs gets better soon. dd was ill last weekend with a horrible cold but I think she escaped the worse of a nasty virus doing the rounds. I had it last week and I felt very sorry for myself indeed - must be very hard for the little ones.

hairy and xt - will pm you later. Just popped in briefly between physio and nursery.

OP posts:
thereonthestair · 03/02/2012 16:34

Hello again everyone

sneezcake hope your ds gets better

everyone else are kayewlkers really that dodgy. Ds has got one this week and so far just used it in nursery - I am still trying to work the walker and the bike bit out to get it to and from nursery. His key worker says he loves it some of the time and hates it the rest fo the time. She also said that he runs with it. i shall have to wait to see it myself.

As for toys, my ds liked all the usual ones, especially loud and noisy ones. I guess that it all comes back to all children are different

inhibernation · 03/02/2012 18:49

What do you mean by dodgy thereonthestair?

Re toys - same here, didn't notice any difference. Maybe it depends on how much fine motor skills are affected and whether there are sensory issues too.

OP posts:
bizzey · 03/02/2012 19:45

Hello everyboby, I am new to mumsnet and your thread so i hope you dont mind if i chat .I found you by accident and iam hoping you can help! Before i start i will appologise for my appaling typing and lack of little symbols .Cant do them or paragraphs YET!!!!!.

Oh just done it! Any how i will give you a quick(!) run down of my situation and may some canyou can tell me if i am on the right page or not.

My lovely ds3 is 7 and this is his story......(i will bullit it to keep it short!)........term water birth but needed oxygen and mild resus after ....slow weight gain after and poor feeding very slow on breast so ended up on bottles ..still slow weight gain and height ..SKINNY short with long limbs,toes feet(think clown!)..never wanted to weight bear ,no bouncing on my lap at 6/7 months..ref to pead dx hypermobility in ankles and feet ,,unstable..walked at 18mts just if 3 steps count as walking!...jump to 3yrs..physio, piedro boots,nursery asking if he had SALT as he woulnt talk(to them) walking very slow needed hand or wanted to push the pushchair(more stability)....lets now jump to age7(now)serious delays in learning and processing information...basicly yr3 and cannot read write or maths above rec/y1 and that is me doing half his h/w reads numbers backwards 14/41and loads more.

Still has walking,gross and some fine motor skills(can dress himself but cant write,but can use computor and x box really well!)

Now for the bit that got me onto this thread in the first place..my dad and younger brother both 3rd child like ds has a condition called spastic paraplegia whitch i suppose is why i check him so much. They are disabled by this condition now and i am interested if any knows if this comes under cp,as the word spastic has come up alot in other messages.

Gosh everyone ,sorry this is a tale ....hope someone will talk to me. Btw he is under sen,salt at school(when she turns up !) and due to see (another)new physio soon and would like to go armed with some info to try and get OT and pead involved many thanks

inhibernation · 03/02/2012 21:20

hi bizzey - welcome Smile Has your ds had an MRI?

OP posts:
xtwinmummyx · 03/02/2012 21:29

Hi Bizzey, of course you can join in the chat! :) Its nice to hear other peoples stories ad journeys.
Ive heard of spastic paralegia before, but wasnt aware it is a form of CP no...from what i have heard about that condition is that it is hereditary, which CP isnt...CP usually occurs at or around the time of birth and is usually caused by lack of oxygen to a part/parts of the brain, leaving that part of the brain to not work properly and not send the correct signals to the parts of the body that is affected by the CP.
My little girl has a form of CP called 'Spastic Diplegia'... the Diplegia bit of her disability referes to where the CP affects her, so in her case all four limbs, however her legs are affected more... the 'Spastic' bit referes to spacticity of the lower limbs (stiffness). I dont know alot about spastc paralegia...but from the little i have read that also affects the lower limbs and causes stifness, so is where the word 'Spastic' comes from.

Hope i have helped a little... or if not, you do find the answers you are looking for :)

xtwinmummyx · 03/02/2012 21:32

sorry for wrong spelling there...i meant Spastic Paraplegia Confused :)

survivingwinter · 04/02/2012 10:45

Hi Bizzey and welcome - I'm no expert at all but would sound more like dyspraxia/dyslexia to me from the difficulties you describe? I guess it would come down to whether there are specific difficulties with muscle tone where it could be a CP dx. My dd similarly has more difficulty with fine motor skills than gross (although her balance is affected by her brain injury) but would all be encompassed by a CP dx iyswim.

As inhibernation suggested - an MRI might (or might not) provide some answers.

Hope little sneezecake is better now?

thereonthestair · 07/02/2012 11:07

Another bad day here. Ds is now being referred for tests for epilepsy. I feel like we are collecting diagnoses.

I thought DS was just breath holding and that it was just toddler behaviour. He only really does it in nursery though so its really hard for me to see what the concern is. From talking to his keyworker DS falls (because his balance is off because of CP) gets in a state then stops breathing for anything between 5 and 30 seconds he has never fainted or gone blue. Occasionally he holds his breath because he is refusing to do something (like put his coat on). He doesn't do it at home and as far as I can tell can usually be got out of it with cold, ice, blowing etc. His key worker says he normally just gets himself out of it, then is lethargic and clingy. I didn't see any reasons to be concerned. I just wasn't worried about it at all and no once again I am doubting myself.

Anyway they apparently want to rule epilepsy out. I just want it all to go away. Not sure how much more I can take. I am fed up with feeling like I can't trust my judgement. I sort of think that they have just referred DS because of his history (prem, chronic lung disease, spastic diplegia cp, hypermobile) but then wonder who I think I am kidding and surely I am just in denial.

sneezecakesmum · 07/02/2012 18:31

Do hope everthing is OK thereonthestair. We know what you mean, CP yes we can cope with that its all the other issues that trail in its wake, poor weight gain, nakky teeth, delayed speech. DGS had vacant episodes in his first year, but all EEGs came back clear and he seems to have outgrown them (fingers x!) so hopefully your DS is also OK. Sometimes denial is a nice quiet little corner of your mind with rainbows, butterflies and babbling brooks..so dont fight it!

Little sneezecake is getting cheeky again, no exercises for a week when poorly and thinks he's going to get away with murder still! We can outwit a 3 year old...just! He seems to have regressed a bit with his extension pattern coming more to the fore, but maybe he's using the high tone to compensate for muscle weakness caused by fever and puke? It is easing back again so only a minor setback we hope.

Had 2 lots of ABM today and one of physio. Amazingly he has never cried at ABM chap (everyone else though). He seems to do a snake sneezecake charm act, and the little tyke just lays there like one of those hypnotised chickens. Very wierd, but that invisible right arm is slowly coming to life!

papierplatz · 07/02/2012 23:00

Hi there, just wanted to join the chat, so relieved to find a cp specific thread! My ds is 6 months and we are on a steep learning curve. Also trying to come to terms with the loss of his twin brother while being told not to expect much from my little one because his brain injury is so bad. How did you get through the early days? Any advice would be greatly appreciated...so lovely to read your stories, it has given me a bit of hope for future!

survivingwinter · 08/02/2012 10:17

Hi papierplatz. I am so sorry for your loss - you must have been through such a lot Sad Has your ds been given a CP dx? The first year is definitely the hardest with not knowing what to expect but I hope things will improve for you when the picture becomes clearer for your ds. You might find the HIE and Newborn brain cooling boards on FB a help if you haven't found them already?

Glad little sneezecake is on the mend now Smile

Hope all is ok with your dx thereonthestair?

sneezecake · 08/02/2012 10:29

welcome papierplatz, we nearly lost DS due to being starved of oxygen at birth, and were also told that if he did survive, he would never come off the ventilator, or if he did his future would be bleek.
I love prooving dr's wrong and so does DS!
The truth is that they don't know the future anymore than the rest of us,I've heard of children with quite sever brain injury but are really quite mildly affected.
Do you have any one who is good for support, we were like you in the dark about CP for a long time but my mum ^ did a lot of research and helps with DS's physio, which has been the most important thing for DS. he has come such a long way (still a long way to go) but I feel we are getting there little by little.
What got me through the early days was just taking every obstical as it came, and tried not to worry about the what ifs, you will feel better as things normalise around you.
Have you thought about any councilling? it really helped me put my fears behind me and get on with my life and enjoying my beautiful DS

sneezecake · 08/02/2012 10:34

thanks survivingwinter I was really worried for a time I thought the hightened extention pattern was here to stay, he wouldn't go to sleep, wouldn't be cuddled, seemed like he couldn't relax. thankfully it is getting better and he is back to his cheeky self, its so draining when hes not well only wants me, he was up from 1am and I had to do a 12hr shift that day! the lovely girls I work with kept me going!

thereonthestair · 08/02/2012 17:25

welcome papierplatz, and sorry for the loss of your twin. I didn't know DS had cp for the first 11 months as he got away without a bleed, so it was hard to come to terms with to start with and I think I was in denial for a few months while still telling everyone DS had CP. For me I decided it was easier to be upfront so I told anyone who would listen, including now a lot of my clients if they ask whether DS has any effects from having been prem. My sister was my other rock (well as well as Dh but long story there meant he was dealing with his mum who died shortly afterwards) My sister is a social worker who does fostering and adoption and she was much more aware of what a difference good care could make than I was. She also joined in my rants about the NHS which was cathartic. She was also the first person who said well CP is a spectrum, and as such you have to see what DS can do and not what he can't.

After that phase I went into full on find out more mode, and met a friend of a friend who has a little boy who is 4 ish who is hemiplegic. That gave me hope, while also fillign me with dread, as to my untrained eye I stuggled to notice how disabled he was, he seemed like a normalish 4 year old to me. So even though his mum told me what she and they had been through to get to where they were I started to see hope.

Now I take each day as it comes, hope for the best and prepare for the worst, and have good days and bad days (like yesterday) - Thanks sneezecake btw I feel more me today which is good. I try to avoid other children of the same age on bad days, but not so much on the good ones as children the same age spur DS on, if only with frustration.

I also try to see what I can do for DS, so NHS physio, and private physio. I applied for DLA because this board encouraged me to, and then put some fight into getting it at the right level.

And I try to take step and realise how far we have come, in my case in just less than a year. I thought my world had come to an end when DS was diagnosed (again, I thought it had eneded when he was in hospital too) but it really is OK. I don't know what OK means but it is fine. This time last year DS could barely sit, couldn't crawl, let alone stand or cruise or step. He slept a lot and didn't speak. He had also spent all winter with chest infections.

Now he can crawl normally, cruise confidently and bridge gaps, walk with walkers or holding on to hands, play games, speak a little (hiya, bye bye, more, again, cuddle, all gone, bear, chelle - his key worker, mummy, daddy, phone, milk) and most importantly he is clealry happy.

So now I have to work on me!

madwomanintheattic · 25/02/2012 18:25

Quick bump as I lost the thread, and everyone else must have too!

isw · 25/02/2012 22:22

Hi
Another cp lucker here. I tend to read on my phone which makes posting a nightmare! Will introduce muself properly when I am the big computer
I kust wanted to say xtwinsmummy my dds sitting sounds v ile ur dd we just tried a fab new chaired called a strato our ot is now apping for funding. Google it, it may work for you guys too

HairyMaclary · 26/02/2012 07:07

Madwoman (and others) I' m here. SDR has been postponed! We got to the hospital on Monday, the anaesthetist took one look at him and sent us home! He has a cough, no temp or chest infection or anything but the cough is quite bad and as he has to lie flat on his back for 5 days ish they were concerned it would lead to a chest infection or pneumonia very quickly.

It's a bit of a pain (understatement!) as wew were all ready but it was the right decision. So now we are back to waiting for another date, it wom't be for at least a month, probably more.

Will post a link to blog, just realised I didn't PM it to those who asked - sorry, that dropped of the bottom of the pr-op to do list. At least I have another chance now!

madwomanintheattic · 26/02/2012 18:58

Aw, bless you both, what a shame. But no point taking chances. Hope you get the new date through really soon x

wentshopping · 29/02/2012 15:54

Mad we saw a physiatrist for a while, but now see a tone specialist/physical medicine doctor (US names, I guess) - and dd has always had afos, even before she could stand. (the idea being that is her feet were in a good position, this "good" feeling would spread to other parts of her body. Oh my, sounds a bit crackpot as I type it, but it works.)
We see this dr in conjunction with a neurologist, and she also talks about similarities with stroke patients, to the extent that dd takes medication usually taken by stroke patients (carbodopa/levodopa) and she notices a difference in her excessive movements being "dampened".
Oh, and with afos, I have always bought regular shoes/trainers, and taken the insoles out to fit the afos in, in case your dd was stressing about having to wear "special" shoes. (Did buy hatchbacks once but she was only about 4 then)