Hi everyone – my name is Brittany and I am Jacob’s speech-language therapist who works with him 1-2x a week helping him become more proficient with his talker.
When Maria first asked if anyone working with Jacob wanted
to write on the Miracles for Mito blog I was a little hesitant. What would I
say? I’ve only known Jacob for a few months and there is still so much about
mitochondrial disease that I don’t know about or understand. However, after a
few minutes of thinking, so many thoughts came to mind. Here is a little
glimpse of my relationship with Jacob and what I do know about mitochondrial
disease.
I started working with Jacob in the beginning of June. I am
a new graduate who specialized in school at working with individuals with more
complex communication needs who required AAC (talkers) to communicate. I never
in a million years thought I would get the opportunity to work with so many
COOL kids who use talkers. Jacob, along with many of my other clients, is one
of those amazing, brilliant, and extremely cool kids. When I first met Jacob I
had no idea what to expect from him – how will he communicate? What can I do to
help him? Will he be able to use this talker? Boy was I surprised. I quickly
learned that he was not only able to use the talker proficiently but he was
using it in so many FUNNY ways! By the second session he had told me he loved
me. Now usually I will run away from a boy who says those words after only 2
meetings, but with Jacob I welcomed those words with open arms. I frequently
get an “I love you” each session. Another phrase Jacob loves to use with me is
“All done”. The first time he said it I was only at his house for about 10 min
(I usually stay for an hour). I, along with his nurse, cracked up laughing
saying, “Jacob, I am not leaving yet! I just got here.” I told him I
appreciated the fact that he was advocating for himself but I was staying
another 50 min whether he liked it or not. It’s become a ritual now for him to
say “All done” about halfway through the session – I think this is more as his
little joke with me rather than he really wanting me to leave. At least I hope
it is. When I can tell he’s becoming a little tired with the session I pull out
one of his many iPad games that he enjoys playing. He’s really good at them,
especially bumper cars, and usually beats me even when I am trying my hardest.
Boy when he wants to he can be pretty accurate with hitting that switch.
In August I did a race with Jacob. It was an
early Saturday morning and I was so excited to be able to run with him. ‘He’s
going to love this’ I thought. He always wants to go outside so I thought this
would be fun for him. The race day wasn’t too hot and although I was pushing
him in the stroller it wasn’t too much of a struggle to finish. I couldn’t wait
to ask him what he thought about the race when I saw him next. Well to my
surprise he said “Bad” “No” when I asked him how he felt about it. Maria, his
Mom, still thinks he enjoyed it so maybe he was just giving me guff like he
frequently does J
I look up to the individuals, families, caregivers, and
friends who have been affected by and are helping to increase awareness of
mitochondrial disease. I feel extremely blessed to work with these individuals
and get to see inside their world for a few hours each week.
Brittany
P.S. Jacob didn't get out of the PICU today...he started having excessive diarrhea, and everyone agreed that the floor is not as good about making sure that Jacob's fluid intake is sufficient when his stool is out of control. We are hoping he can leave the PICU tomorrow. Unfortunately, Jacob will miss Gemma's wedding tomorrow...
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