Update~

Well, Wednesday marked three years since the day Izzy had her near drowning accident. It was an ordinary day, I had a couple of caring friends call to see if I was handling the anniversary okay. I was. Izzy went to school this week and had the usual therapies, along with playing in lots of sand Wednesday... so much so that when Jane came over to help with her afternoon therapy, we couldn't figure out what was on the therapy table. It was sand. She had a bath after therapy! I think I heard on of her teacher assistants named Kathy mention they built a sandcastle. When I picked her up that day she had been outside swinging for a while and was really enjoying the nice weather. It has been beyond beautiful this week. Perfect for swinging outside! Thursday Camilla had planned to put Izzy on the tricycle. I told Iz all morning that she was going to ride the bike Thursday and she did! Niecie and Camilla both said that she helped push the little pedals and that she smiled and seemed to enjoy it even though they spent much of the time trying to keep her properly aligned on the bike. She is very tolerant of all the positioning we do with her. She is actually very tolerant of everything from positioning to accidental hair pulling. She does let us know when we have done something wrong though. She saw Heath Tuesday and Thursday, but was unable to see Bear on Monday. When we arrived in Edmond, Bear had been called away to work on someone who was hospitalized. So we ran a few errands and called to find out he was not back so we will go back this coming Monday. Izzy has been very vocal this week and really interactive with us. We know she is just getting better by the day. I hope to have pics to post eventually of her riding the bike, they did take pictures and I think they will email them to me when they can.

1 Peter 1: 6-7
In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Izzy's Story

Izzy was 21 months old. It was May 16, 2004, a Sunday evening. We had been to church (morning and evening) stopped at the store for a few things, came home to read the Sunday paper and watch Extreme Home Makeover... My son Bailey who was 10 at the time was going outside (the side deck which is away from the pool) to lift weights for fun. Izzy was his constant shadow and he called to tell me Izzy was with him... to which I replied, "okay, but watch her!" I have to pause here to say that Isabelle was terrified of the pool. She even hated taking baths. I had just put her in the pool with Matt a few days before this and she screamed so I took her out immediately. I guess my point is she was afraid of the water and I felt like she would never get into it alone. I was wrong. Isabelle wondered away in a blink and got into the pool. I have replayed this a million times in my mind, the what if's ... what if I had said, "no, she needs to stay in the house." what if I would have glanced outside and noticed she was headed in the direction of the pool... etc. What did happen was I had a weird thought, "isabelle... pool" came into my mind which was odd for the reasons I stated. Amanda was walking by and I asked her to make sure Izzy was still with Bailey (just to be sure), she came right back and said, "Bailey is still on the deck." What about Isabelle? She went back out and before I could get there I heard screaming. Bailey pulled Izzy out of the pool and held her upside down. Matt came second and started giving her breaths. What seemed like hours was only a few seconds and the image I saw was a lifeless blue baby. It was the worst thing I have ever seen in my life and I prayed for a year for God to take that image out of my mind. I still get shaky thinking about it. I called 911, and took over cpr while Matt talked to the person on the phone until the ambulance arrived. I did cpr until a emt took her from my arms. After that I laid on the ground begging God to spare my baby. They worked on her for about 20 minutes in the ambulance. I wasn't allowed near. I sat with the kids and we prayed for her ... We were finally told they were heading to the ER. When we followed, we didn't know walking in whether or not she was alive. We went into the family room and were told they had gotten a pulse but were still working on her. Before five minutes passed there were so many people there we had filled the family room and the hall of the er. They then took her to the Children's Hospital by medivac. We followed again and were told that Izzy would probably not survive the night. The rest of the story would take a week to write, but she is alive... it will be three years in May! She is healthy and making progress and we have learned so much about our faith and about God. We believe that she will be completely restored.

A while after her accident I joined an online support group for parent's of near drownings. I have come to learn that this happens far too often especially to children around 2 years old. I feel compelled to plead you to treat any open water as if it were a loaded gun. It is so dangerous for toddlers because they don't have the rational to know the danger involved and it happens so quickly. I have read parents stories of babysitters, grandparents, birthday parties, koi ponds, retention ponds, it happens everywhere in every way! You cannot be too careful.


Here are a few statistics...

• In 2000, there were 3,482 unintentional drownings inthe United States, an average of nine people per day.(U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)



• It is estimated that for each drowning death, there are 1 to 4 nonfatal submersions serious enough to result in hospitalization. Children who still require cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) at the time they arrive at the emergency department have a poor prognosis, with at least half of survivors suffering significant neurologic impairment. (American Academy of Pediatrics)



• Drowning is the second-leading cause of injury-related death among children under the age of 15. (U.S.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)



• 19% of drowning deaths involving children occur in public pools with
  certified lifeguards present.(Drowning Prevention Foundation)

• A swimming pool is 14 times more likely than a motor vehicle to be involved
  in the death of a child age 4 and under. (Orange County California Fire
  Authority)



• Children under five and adolescents between the ages of 15-24 have the highest drowning rates. (U.S.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
  


• An estimated 5,000 children ages 14 and under are hospitalized due to
  unintentional drowning-related incidents each year; 15 percent die in the hospital and as many as 20 percent suffer severe, permanent neurological disability. (National Safety Council)Of all preschoolers who drown, 70 percent are in the care of one or both parents at the time of the drowning and 75 percent are missing from sight for five minutes or less. (Orange County, CA, Fire Authority)

• The majority of children who survive (92 percent) are discovered within two minutes following submersion,and most children who die (86 percent) are found after10 minutes. Nearly all who require cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) die or are left with severe braininjury. (National Safe Kids Campaign)
  

little update...

Izzy had a great day at school today. When we were driving to school I said to her, "Izzy, you will be walking with Camilla today, I want to hear that you inititiated steps when I pick you up. And by initiating steps I mean you move your own feet when Camilla says to take a step." She vocalized something back.
When I went to pick her up Camilla met me in the hall and said that she initiated more steps today than ever before and did very well in the walkable. She even stayed in extra time because she was smiling and enjoying the walk.
Isn't God good?

Izzy update~

I haven't updated in a while, things continue to move along at a pretty fast pace.
We took Izzy to Bear again this Monday. He is really getting attached to her quickly. He told her she was his favorite client and that he looks forward to seeing her all week. He then offered to babysit with his wife anytime, he had me until he mentioned they had a really big dog (220 pounds!). He is sweet and I think the techniques he uses on her are really helping to relax her muscles.
She fell asleep Wednesday in school while standing in the stander with her foot splints on! They said they heard her snoring... so they took her out. She came home and slept for an hour after lunch too. Today she had a really busy day at school, OT, PT, and ST. After school she had her appointment with Heath (chiropractor).
Therapy continues to go well, she is tolerating the new program better and better. The assisted crawl is also going really well. She pushes along the 20 ft. each time and is beginning to use her arms to pull herself as well.
I think I mentioned that we had her IEP at school, planning for next year. They have decided that she understands so much that they want her to have more input. They are going to start her day in the normal pre-k class each day. She will go in the afternoons. I'm pretty excited about this! The group that works with her are truly a God send. I know that they all love her very much and want to see her do well. I appreciate their love and care so much.
Amanda, Bailey, and Emelia are great helpers with Izzy's therapy. Any of the three can step in to take a spot in her program and do it as well as any adult.
Amanda was inducted into the national honor society Tuesday evening. She will now begin to clock in community volunteer hours. The mission trip she is taking to Montreal will count and so will her hours she helps doing therapy. We're very proud of her!
Isabelle continues to be so healthy and strong. We're very thankful for that and for everyone who prays for her!