Big Steps Forward

 Wanted to post an update on Sam’s journey with Functional Neurological Disorder. This girl is a fighter and has been resilient and brave with each step.

She has continued going to OT twice a week and working hard at home. She loves her OT Sarah and reached a big milestone last week of going back on her own with Sarah for therapy. Throughout this journey having me along has helped her to be successful and we knew it was important for her to gain the independence and confidence to go back with just Sarah. Last Friday she did it! 

She has been doing really well at school. This week her friend’s mom took her to school two mornings! This was a huge accomplishment coming from where we were a month ago too! She has been able to jump on the trampoline at therapy and has been climbing and using her body more! Things that used to come naturally are now major wins! She has been working so hard. 

Today she had her PT evaluation with Miss Shelby. She worked so hard and used a lot of muscles! Miss Shelby is confident she can help her get her strength, coordination and muscle movement back again. She will start going to PT weekly.

 

 Her goal is to get back on the soccer field again. She just wants to be able to run again! 

  

Throughout all of these trials, Sam has been such a hard worker. We are so thankful that for the last month we have seen her shine again and she has been her kind, funny and silly self. Now we just have to get her body where she can use it as she wants again!

 

She has a lot of work ahead of her still. Now 3 days a week of therapy, sessions with children’s and pediatricians. She is determined and she will get there!

! Praying for strength and perseverance for our girl!  

18 Candles 🎂

 It is surreal to think that it has been 18 years since we welcomed Anna into this world.

18 years since the easiest, most blissful pregnancy and delivery. 

18 years since we became parents. 

18 years since a pudgy baby with a button nose changed our worlds forever. 

There aren’t enough words to explain how lucky we are to call this incredible human being our daughter.

This person Daddy and I have always said we can’t take credit for, because she was born this way. 

She is absolutely gorgeous inside and out.

 Smart, funny and so talented.

 Since she was a toddler she has had the gift of walking into a room and making people feel better. 

  She has a presence that makes people feel like they belong. 

She is sarcastic and funny, those Caito genes are strong.

 She is smart and charismatic, 

dorky and silly, 

beautiful and artistic. 

She is the perfect combination of procrastination and getting things done. 

She is a philanthropist, an advocate and a champion. 

She is a resilient survivor. 

She is just a really freaking awesome kid! 

We can’t wait to see how the rest of Senior year goes and to see all she experiences and accomplishes in her future. 

Happy 18th Birthday to our “Peanut” 

Big Decision time!

 Senior year is full of so many unknowns. So many choices and huge decisions. 

Anna has known she wanted to be an Art major for the last year. 

 

Her talent goes without question. 

She has taken nearly every Art class offered at OHHS and besides knitting a scarf, has truly loved them all. 

She applied to the Fine Arts program at Mount Saint Joe, 

Drawing and Painting at the Art Academy and 

Fine Arts at DAAP, University of Cincinnati. 

After months of waiting, sending in portfolios and waiting some more she has heard back from all 3. 

She was accepted into Mount Saint Joseph with an offer for admittance with distinction. She received a 4 year scholarship worth over $40,000 and an offer to join the Honors Program. 

She was offered entrance to the Cincinnati Art Academy with two separate 4 year scholarships. One based on the strength of her Portfolio, The  Satterwhite Noble Entrance Scholarship. The other is the Teacher Award. The total for 4 years is over $66,000. 

Most recently she was accepted to DAAP Fine Arts Program at the University of Cincinnati. Today she received word she has been chosen as the recipient of the Cincinnatus Century Scholarship renewable over 4 years! This is $10,000 towards her education at UC. 

  What an Honor!!! Accepted at all 3! 

Her choice was an easy one. 

We are so excited to officially announce that Anna will be a UC Bearcat next year!

DAAP is the dream!

 

 Her number one choice all along

As a huge Bearcat fan who has been a part of Bearcathon with a children’s Miracle network since she was in 6th grade, she loves UC!  

With one of the best Art schools in the country and an amazing group of philanthropic students she is excited to become a part of the Bearcat community! 

Can’t wait to watch this girl shine !! 

Ooohhhh, ooohhhh, ooohhhhh👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻UC❤️🖤

.

Two steps forward….

 Wanted to post an update, for those who have been keeping up and for myself. FND (Functional  Neurological Disorder) is a tough diagnosis. It has symptoms emotionally, physically and cognitively. It doesn’t have a “cure” or easy fix. It takes time and therapy and work. Sam has been putting the work in, but it has been hard for her and she is still struggling. Thank God nowhere near where we were in December, praying we never go back to that. We have seen some incredible gains. Her personality is back most of the time and she is doing so good💗

But, it is hard. Anxiety is so hard. Being fearful that every ache and pain will lead you to the bad place you were. Trying to relearn things your body once did easily is so hard. Sam has been doing amazing. We are so proud of all of the steps she has taken dealing with FND. It is hard. It feels like it has been an eternity for her and there isn’t really an end in sight. This can be frustrating for all of us, but especially for Sam. 

She has continued to work so hard in therapy. Working through her fears, imbalance and deficits in her strength. She is usually a little fearful going into OT and proud and strong coming out. She is proud of the work she is doing. We are beyond proud. 

She has had a few setbacks. The anxiety and fear have crept back in a few weeks ago. Recognizing this mom has tried to have her talk through it, but she is just like her mama where talking it out usually means avoiding it. She has been working with her OT, Sarah, to acknowledge and work through the things upsetting her. She has some papers we go over and I’m proud to see her trying different ways to calm her mind and body. 

I don’t think I realized how often she was struggling over the years. Things that I didn’t know were anxiety and sadness coming out differently as behaviors. She is talking about this now and I am so proud of her for sharing with me and so incredibly happy she is feeling better about it now. 

We hope she can have her physical therapy assessment in the coming weeks. As her mind struggled with fear, her body fell in line. Her gait seemed a little more off. She wants so badly to run. She wants to play soccer again. A few weeks ago being a “coach” for her teams was fun, now it is not a positive in her life because she just wants to play. I told her we will get there, but I can’t tell her when or how and that is hard on both of us. 

 OT has given her the gift of confidence, working on balance and using her mind and body. Twice a week she works to get back the skills she needs. She will continue therapy at her pediatrician as well as start with Children’s telehealth. She will start PT.

We had a check up at her pediatrician and she is down 8 lbs. we imagine that is less of a loss  than where she was in mid January. we know that is from the time she wasn’t eating, but hate that food may become a problem and pray that she continues eating and enjoying her food. ARFID is an awful disorder on top of everything else and we pray she is able to eat without fear as time goes on. 

School has been going great. 

So thankful for her friends who have been her saving grace.

So thankful for an empathetic principal and teacher. 

 So incredibly thankful for a school nurse who Sam absolutely loves. 

. 

This girl has been through so much. The fear of sickness and “getting worse” is her trigger. Feeling like she can’t do the same things she did when she “got sick” because it may happen again. We are working to know that we are not in charge like that, I am trying to teach myself as I help her understand. Medical Anxiety is awful. In a family like ours where some really bad stuff has happened, it’s understandable. I never knew that it would help me to see things differently trying to help my girls see the light. 

This isn’t an easy fix. Our girl needs prayers for perseverance and a positive attitude to get back to where she wants to be again. We pray every day we will get there. Please keep the prayers coming!