Nolan began speech/feeding therapy along with occupational therapy at 8 weeks old. Utilizing reflex integration, facial patterning for sucking and swallowing reflexes and addressing instability in his body and oral motor musculature, he made tremendous gains quickly.
After spending a little more than five weeks in the NICU, our son Nolan was discharged to home and into our care. Finally, the back and forth stress of caring for his twin sister, Ella, at home and Nolan in the hospital was over. May 29, 2013 proved to be a beautiful homecoming for our boy, with one exception. Nolan brought home with him an unwelcomed guest in the form of an OG feeding tube.
We were no strangers to the feeding tube; after all, Nolan had been on it since birth. Doing more maintaining than gaining any considerable weight in the NICU, it was decided that Nolan would have the best chance of making significant progress at home. After three arduous and painful weeks of removing and reinserting the tube for feedings, a friend introduced us to Family Tree Therapies as a place we may be able to find help.
My husband and I met with Stacy Pulley for a consult, where we had more questions than we ever believed there could be answers for. That consult with Stacy changed our lives and added what we know will be immeasurable quality to Nolan’s. There were improvements to Nolan’s feeding and bodily organization after just the first therapy session. After three visits we stood in our kitchen, holding Nolan, and threw his feeding tube away, for good.
Nolan’s progress has been remarkable. Whether the obstacle stems from being a preemie or from Down syndrome, Family Tree Therapies helped us to better understand our situation. They’ve empowered us with what we need to overcome and help Nolan to hurdle those obstacles, without reservation.
Thank you Stacy Pulley, Terri Zartman and the entire team at Family Tree Therapies.
Sincerely,
Tiffany and Ryan Erickson