back to territory life

8 weeks after Mia's birth we eventually left Adelaide for Alice Springs.

We were put into isolation to make sure we didn't bring any bugs with

us from Adelaide. Here we met the Paediatrician who would be taking

bath tine in hotel in ALice

over Mia's care. He was excellent and was always willing to listen to my

concerns, silly questions etc. He also gave Mia the chance to prove

herself and never told us what we should be doing. Of course he

advised us but then let us decide and try other ways first.

He ended up leaving Alice to take up a job in Melbourne, for us that is

a great loss, but a gain for the families in Melbourne.




sleeping in hotel with sister JOrdan!

We returned to Tennant Creek to show Mia off and to pack up the house.

Josh had his transfer to Alice and I decided to take 6 months off and

concentrate on Mia. I was linked in with the local health clinic and the

children's services team there. We started seeing the physio, occupational

therapist and speech therapist regularly each fortnight, and continue to

do so to this day. I have seen Mia get stronger with her legs and her

neck. Still we don't' know what she will do in the future whether she will

walk or not- but now that doesn't matter. It's funny that the first question

people ask when they find out Mia has Spina Bifida is "will she walk?"

People place such importance on that. I know it certainly helps in life but

there are many people who have lost that ability and have gone on to be

successful and enjoy life . When people ask me this question I am

tempted to say "who cares? If she does, good, if she doesn't it won't stop

her doing whatever she wants to in her life". That is how we are bringing

her up. She will try and do all the things we do. Her first camping trip was

when she was just 3 months old and hooked up to oxygen. I'd love to see

her conquer all the things people say she can't, shouldn't or wouldn't be

able to do.

our special friends Mon and Mel with baby Cooper

staffroom at tennant creek high for morning tea

our last dinner with dear friends before leaving tennat for good

Mick and MIa

I found a support group for Special Needs kids in Alice and decided to go

along. This was one of the best things I did. It was so good to meet other

mums and kids going through similar, if not worse situations than me. We

all had sad stories to tell, and yet all of us were so happy with our

precious little ones, no one felt sorry for themselves. I feel sorry for Mia at

times when I think about the future at school. Being a high school

teacher I know how mean kids can be. I hope she can find a way to

overcome this if it happens to her. At this group each week we got to

talk, the kids played and there were guest speakers, we did baby yoga

and there was also an Occupational Therapist there to work with the kids.

I really miss that group now I am back at work. I will never forget one

trip we went on as a group to visit the local special needs school- Acacia

Hill. This school and the staff are amazing. But what really got to me that

day and has stuck with me ever since is that for all the problems these

kids have they are always so happy. They have every right to mope and

feel sorry for themselves and complain about life, but they don't. I get

annoyed now when my students are too lazy to put pencil shavings in the

bin as their legs are tired, I try to make them realise that at least their

legs work. Mia has made me see things from a completely different point

of view now.

JOrdan and MIa at the special needs playgroup

We met some great nurses and doctors in Alice, Mia ended up in

hospital 2 times for respiratory illnesses and once for feeding

observation. Again, there are the nurses who really take an interest in

Mia who I feel most comfortable with. I don't understand why some

nurses work in Paeds when they can't seem to even say hello to the

children. It takes a special person to work on a kids ward and we met 3

who really stand out in my mind -I will always remember Crazy Mary,

Jayne and Claire, nurses who actually took the time to get to know Mia

and myself and made her feel loved, wanted and normal. If we saw

them out in the street they would always stop and talk to her, ask how

she is. That's the caring attitude a parent needs around their special

child.

Mia also had special team who worked with her every second Friday in

Alice. They were her physio Raf, OT Jane and Speech Pathologist Megan.

All these people have again made me feel like everything is okay and

they are so positive and loving towards Mia. Mia has worked with Raf

since we moved to Alice and its funny to watch them together- I am

sure Mia knows its time to work when she goes to physio and sees Raf,

she all of a sudden decides it is time to rest! She could be chatting in

the car driving in, but as soon as we go into that therapy room and lie

down on the mat, she thinks its sleep time, and lets us know when she

thinks she has enough of her workout as she lets out her big deep

sigh!

I'm hoping Mia will be with this team for a long time yet and they see

exactly what she can do in the future. Staff turnover here in the Alice is

high, so who really knows. But I owe alot to this team and thank them

immensley for their hard work with Mia and for teaching me what daily

exercises she needs to develop to the fullest.

dad and Mia

mia in her bumbo playing

elsa, jordan, mia and ella



loves her bath time

happy baby



special needs playgroups christmas party in Alice Springs