Bloorview is Life Rehabilitation
When Ian’s mother Claire speaks about her son’s recent stay at Bloorview Kids Rehab, she says, “I especially appreciate the sense of community throughout all the programs at Bloorview—it helped us stay positive in spite of the tumour.”
Four-year-old Ian had motor skill and speech deficiencies after brain
surgery to remove a tumour. When he arrived at Bloorview he couldn’t speak or walk. But after months of receiving physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech language therapy and recreational therapy, he was able to walk home and was talking a mile a minute once again.
The last week before surgery, Ian was losing motors skills by the day. He wasn’t walking, or sitting up. His mother Claire recalls the terrifying moments leading up to the trauma, “Then, Ian projectile vomited and screamed in pain, ‘my head, my head!’ That’s when we took him to ER, that’s when we knew. After the MRI, the doctor gave us the diagnosis. Only surgery would save him and it had to be done very quickly, or he wouldn’t make it through the night.”
“But just because you fix a body, doesn’t mean you give someone a life,” says Claire, “Bloorview is in the business of giving quality to life, getting kids and their families well planted in some way or another. You come out better prepared, better anchored and more stable. That’s why therapeutic recreation was the key. It’s like medicine—it’s preventative.”
Ian loved the therapeutic play programs generously funded by CIBC Children’s Charity. The therapeutic playroom is an innovative early childhood educational, recreational and leisure environment for children and their families. The Bead Program also played a large part in transitioning back—it allowed him to explain where he’d been and document his story.
“Bloorview is a life therapy. It’s a place for people whose lives have been turned on their heads, says Claire, “It heals the soul and helps you come to terms with major trauma. It helps you adapt to the body and then your new life. It teaches you how to advocate for themselves and get access. Bloorview is life rehabilitation. Bloorview sees the potential.”
Today, Ian’s in Sr. Kindergarten, on schedule, starting karate in October, hockey and basketball for his self esteem and anxiety.
“Everyday is something new, because he’s a different kid, more gregarious than before, says Claire, “He’s finding his way again within the family, he’s really bossy, cracks jokes. His brother Johnathan, 8, and his sister Katelyn, 9, are more engaged with him now, because we seem to value each other more since our time at Bloorview.”
