If you're happy and you know it . . .

Who would've ever guessed that I'd find tremendous joy in hearing a Care Bear (Sunshine Bear, to be exact), sing?  But I did.  Just yesterday.

A couple weeks ago, we started a new kind of therapy for Viv.  Craniosacral therapy.  Cranio- what?!?! you may ask...and I wouldn't blame you.  Before a month ago, I had never heard of it but did a lot of quick learning.  If you're interested, you can check out a few helpful links below.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,999712,00.html
http://upledger.com/content.asp?id=61
http://www.angelphillipscst.com/my-services

The long and short of it is that the craniosacral system (that we all have but few of us know about) is centered around the membranes and fluid that surround your spinal cord and your brain stem.  The system is also directly related to your central nervous system and thus has a flow or "pulse" throughout your entire body.

Angel (yes, that is her real name), Vivian's CS therapist, describes it to Vivian as the energy that flows through her body that helps her body do everything is needs to do to grow and function.  If there are roadblocks in the CS system, there can be roadblocks to the growth, development and function.

We discovered at our first visit that Vivian had major roadblocks.  The very first thing that Angel did with her was have her hold the paw of a stuffed Care Bear that had sensors on its paws.  The idea is that if someone else holds the other paw and the two people join hands, the Care Bear will sing because of the connection of energy.  When Vivian held Angel's hand, the Care Bear sang.  However, when Angel put her hand on Vivian's forehead as opposed to holding her hand, the bear couldn't get past an "I, it, t, it, it, i, i, it" stuttering.  When she touched her cheek, same thing.  When she touched her chest, nothing.

After her first treatment two weeks ago, they tried the Care Bear again.  Hands, forehead and cheeks sang.  Chest still did not.  Yesterday when we went back for her second round of appts (third real appt), the Care Bear sang right away everywhere Angel touched...a slight hesitation on the chest, but not much.

That was great to hear.

If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands.

Vivian's body is accepting the CST very well, and we are in awe of this new type of treatment.  Angel is very kind to share her knowledge and while sometimes what she does seems a little "out there" and hard for us to relate to, the rest is very scientific and has caused me to really think "why not?!?"

Vivi is a puzzle.  Always has been.  And while we've made progress on helping put the puzzle together, there's still a lot of work to do.  I think Angel will be an important puzzle master for us. 

Angel came to us rather non traditionally through a recommendation from friends of our neighbors, and as she lives in Minneapolis, it's not exactly next door, but so worth the 3-hour drive (and thank you thank you thank you mom for all your help).   A reminder to always be open an accepting to new opportunities and options.  And grateful that you have them. 

No matter what, Angel will help Vivian's body work better.  I have NO doubt about that.  What Vivi's body decides to do with that information remains to be seen.  It will take time, but I feel a kind of hope that I haven't felt in a long time, and I know that God has sent us yet another "Angel" to help us along our journey to health for Viv.

Vivi van Gogh

A short time ago, Vivi had a seizure.  Before she was fully recovered I tried to convince her to lay on the couch.  She was quite against that idea and instead insisted that she be able to go to her desk and draw. 

At that point, she could barely hold her colored pencil with her still shaking hand, but she set right to work on her next masterpiece. 

Through all of Vivian's challenges, one thing that has remained constant is her interest in her art.  While her drawings are a bit more abstract than they've been in the past, they never lack in meaning. 

Last Friday during break, our friend Lance drove up to spend an artistic day with Vivian, and as it turned out, her friend Lydia.  Lance knows very well of Vivian's challenges, but I was still concerned about how things would go since she's usually resistent to doing anything that's not her idea.  Plus, "being instructed" during art is something that usually doesn't go over well.

As usual, when I underestimate Vivian, she proved me wrong.  Lance simply let the girls have fun while gently showing them a thing or two (or three or four...) along the way, and the result was Vivian's best day of her break. 

Which also made it mine. 

Did you know that Vincent van Gogh had epilepsy?  He did. 

Perhaps someday someone will be looking at a creation by a newly acclaimed artist and ask "Did you know that Vivian Erickson has epilepsy?" 

You never know!  Because you never can underestimate Viv.