Kade in 2011

Kade had a good year all in all in 2011.  It started off a little rocky, he had a seizure in February and it took a while to recover from the seizure.  At the beginning of the year Kade had started to make steps on his own in his walker.  We were excited and honored when Kade was asked to be the ambassador for Easter Seals AZ for 2011,  and their walk with me.  By the time walk was here in May Kade was able to walk in the walker for about 1/2 an hour.  We were excited and with the help of all of our family and friends that we raised $14,400 for Easter seals that stayed here in Phoenix, to help kids like Kade and their families.  Over the summer Kade continued with his therapies and we did another round of Oxygen therapy.
At this time we had not pursued any new avenues of finding what exactly was going on with Kade, but had decided it was time to start looking again.  Our neurologist had told us about a doctor in Seattle WA, who specializes in children with undiagnosed developmental delays.  He has a research study and we were hoping Kade would qualify to help find some answers.  After sending all of Kade's medical files to Seattle we have heard back.  The Dr. thinks that we may have an avenue to pursue.  In December of 2011 we have done some blood work and are waiting on the results, we will keep you posted as hopefully this avenue gives us some answers.
Kade started preschool this year and has really enjoyed going.  He attends a developmental preschool and really enjoys being around other kids.  With the help of his therapists at home and at school, they are helping us find the right type of speech device to help us communicate with Kade.  In early 2012 we will have made a final decision on what device will be the best for him.  We have also added glasses to Kades daily routine.  He wears prism glasses for about 4 hours of the day, the prism in the glasses makes the room shift up so Kade needs to lift his head up, and its so nice to see him with his head up and  he now notices the world around him!
We are looking forward to a great year in 2012.  We hope to receive a device that makes communicating so much easier with him.  We hope to find some answers and hope that Kade continues to be successful in the walker and it becomes his main way of getting around!
We will keep you all informed and thank you for following our journey!
Kevin, Kelly, Kaela and Kade Groff