“Being around other kids, she had felt like an outcast, but now she’s included at mcrc. she has much more confidence becuase of her time here.”
- sarah, tinley’s mom
In her early days, it was evident that Tinley would face adversities, but just by meeting this bubbly, enthusiastic, eight-year-old, you would never guess the challenges she has overcome. As an infant, she struggled to meet the expected milestones and underwent open heart surgery to have a pacemaker placed. At 15 months, Tinley’s parents were referred to a neurologist who diagnosed her with periventricular leukomalacia and cerebral palsy. This meant that Tinley would face difficulties with her motor ability and would experience muscle weakness. Many specialists that evaluated Tinley saw her as only delayed and were hesitant to provide intervention because she did not show severe signs of cerebral palsy. It was not until she was four years old that Tinley began receiving needed physical, occupational, and speech therapy treatment at MCRC to address her muscle spasticity and feeding challenges. Tinley began seeing her speech therapist, Caetyn, to find feeding solutions after suffering seizures from malnutrition. She also began physical therapy with Brooke, to treat her low-tone body, muscle strength, and core stability. The two, a dynamic duo, have found therapeutic solutions to combat the spasticity in her muscles. “She has worked very hard on that, she has taken the challenge. Not only has she done well in physical therapy, but she has also been in therapeutic dance and a group for toe-walking which all address her tone. She has had a lot of issues with tripping and falling and she has overcome that with the help of therapy,” said Brooke. This past summer, Tinley underwent a surgery called Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy to reduce spasticity in her legs and trunk. Though intensive, the surgery has proven to release the tension in her muscles and she is working toward relearning movements in physical therapy with Brooke and Jami. Brooke shared, “The surgery has taken away most of her abnormal muscle tone. The spasticity was what she was used to for her movement, but now she must re-learn how to use her muscles, specifically in her legs and her trunk. She has always had some weakness in her arms and her shoulders as well, and we are also continuing to work on that as the whole.”
For many children with cerebral palsy completing normal activities can be challenging and tiring. However, Tinley has taken the challenge of working hard to meet her goals and continues to amaze everyone around her. Her mom, Sarah, says, “She’s a lot more confident now, sometimes she would be embarrassed to do things that were competitive at school, but now she feels up to the challenge. Brooke has been amazing, she’s always willing to be there for us, and she’s also willing to put Tinley in her place.” Tinley has been involved in the Unlimited Dance Company at MCRC for four years and hopes to get back to dancing soon after she’s received the clearance from her doctor. We are so proud of Tinley’s hard work, and we cannot wait to see what is in store for her future!