Kade's Begining..2008 to 2010

Kade was born January 23, 2012.  My water broke at 10:00 pm Tuesday the 22nd and Kade was born by repeat C-section in the morning of the 23rd, it was already predetermined we were going to have a C-section it was no surprise.  He looked perfect the delivery was a very typical C-section, there were no complications.  The family was so excited to have a boy (especially his big sister Kaela who was 4 at the time).  We brought Kade home, and we enjoyed the feeling that our family was complete.
As Kade got older we started to noticed he wasn't hitting some milestones.  At six months he was unable to hold his head up, he could not sit up, and he had only rolled over a couple of times.  At our six month appointment with our pediatrician she recommended getting a CT scan due to the fact his head was measuring small for his age.  Physical therapy (PT) was recommended at this time to help Kade get stronger.  Also at this time Kade's eyes were crossing inward and our pediatrician recommended seeing a Opthamologist.  August of 2008 we received a x-ray in addition to a CT scan.  Everything seemed to appear normal despite his head measuring on the small side.  At this time Kade was attending Physical therapy 2x a week for an hour at a time.  He worked hard and by October he was rolling over consistently.  Our goal for Kade at this time was to sit by Christmas so we had a lot of work to do.

In December of 2008 Kade had his first eye surgery to uncross his eyes. He did fantastic and after the surgery his eyes looked good.  At the end of the month we had seen an new neurologist and he suggested a MRI.  Due to his age, Kade had to be sedated for the MRI, so the day after Christmas, Kade has his first MRI at Phoenix Children's Hospital.  It was a long, nerve wrecking few days until we heard the results, Kade's MRI was normal.  Great news!! However, that meant no answers.  Kade continued to have blood work every week for the next 6 weeks testing for various disorders, every blood work came back negative (or normal).  PT was moving slow and our therapist recommended we contact the Division of Developmental Disabilities for more help, she said that Kade needed more help than what she could give him.  We applied to DDD and to receive therapy services, this was not an easy process - it was a fight to start the services and its been a fight to keep these services.  In this system it can take 2-3 months to receive a therapist.  So to get our team in place it took  some time.  During this time Kade was evaluated for Long Term Care which helps pay for services for children who will need services for 6 years or longer.  He was accepted and qualified for 1 hour per week for feeding, speech, physical therapy, occupational therapy as well as a developmental specialists visit.
In June of 2009 we received our Feeding therapist, at this point, Kade was only eating some baby food but would choke on many of the baby foods.  Also Kade underwent another eye surgery ( this time only one eye - his left eye had started to cross in, so they went in to fix it.)  So far this has been the our last eye surgery.  By August of 2009 we had all 5 therapists in line.  Jane (feeding), Rosanne (Occupational therapy), Marla (Speech), and two therapists from Easter Seals/SWHD - Gayle (Physical therapists) and Tina (Developmental Specialist).  Kade's schedule was now about to take over with each of his therapies last one hour a week.
In August of 2009 Kade had been sedated again for another MRI.  During this MRI they did more detailed testing with a spectroscopy as well as a spinal tap.  All results came back normal which was good but still no answers!  For the next several months Kade worked hard with all of his therapists.  He was progressing every day but it was a SLOW process.  By Christmas, Kade was sitting on his own!
Kevin and I felt that we have been chasing the medical doctors and receiving no or little information or help.  So we decided to do some alternative medicine along with his therapies.  In June 2012 Kade started Biofeedback treatments.  With the start of these treatments and allergy treatments we saw a huge change in Kade in a matter of a month.  Kade was more aware of his surroundings, making more eye contact, and just seemed to cognitively change. It was like he came to life.  We were pleased with what progress we had seen so far so we decided to keep down this path and Kade started Hyperbaric therapy. He attended Hyperbaric therapy for 40 days for one hour each day, along with his 5 therapies at home so his schedule was VERY BUSY!!.  With the Hyperbaric therapy Kade seemed to develop more cognitive skills, and he became more vocal.  He showed more age appropriate preferences as well as tempers!  To us he developed so much that summer he showed a personality as long as becoming more social.  Although Kade continues to get better he has a LONG way to go.  We are working hard on many goals walking, talking or communicating in any way are just a few.

Kevin, Kelly, Kaela and Kade Groff

Enjoy

Kevin and I have decided to start a blog to keep our friends and family near and far updated in our lives.  We would like to keep you all updated in our triumphs and hardships, but know that every day brings a new beginning.  We find ourselves very blessed to have two fantastic children and all of you.  Enjoy our page and thank you for being a part of our lives!