Matthew's New Wheels

 

 

The day I have alternately been looking forward to and dreading finally came--Matthew finally got his wheelchair.

 

I say looking forward to because the kiddo isn't a tiny little man anymore and my back is killing me. Thanks to the Ketogenic Diet he is on to control his seizures, he is weighing in at almost 30 pounds and he is outgrowing his stroller and high chair by leaps and bounds. At the same time I have been dreading this day for so long. The wheelchair is a big, bright red reminder that Matthew isn't able to walk, or run, or chase around his big cousins like he wants to. For us, it means we have to accept that  yet another dream we have for Matthew will be different than what we thought it would be.

 

He wants to get up and move around so badly. He rolls all over our living room, he tries to sit up and has even stood up on his own when sitting on a bench in therapy sessions. His last physical therapy evaluation showed great promise and twice weekly sessions have been recommended for him. Right now we're just waiting on an opening with a therapist at our rehab center or his school, all of them are fully booked with the new school year starting.

 

I am choosing to look at this as a positive thing, even though there are moments in this that hurt like hell. This chair will give Matthew so much more independence and freedom than his stroller ever did. Already his posture has improved, he is using the wheelchair tray to weight bear through his arms and hands, he is able to see his iPad better which will help when we start using our new AAC program, and he is loving that he is able to look around and see things that he hasn't been able to see before. I can't wait to see how he adjusts to the wheelchair and accepts it as part of his new normal.