Team Ethan Philadelphia

"Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured." yoga guru B.K.S. Iyengar

This quote was shared with us at the end of a yoga class I took a couple of Sundays ago at the JCC. I try to attend this weekly class as a way to begin the new week with a fresh approach and to strengthen my inner core for the long, exhausting week which lies ahead. That Sunday was no different, yet when I processed these words, I felt myself reaching a new level of peace. Scott and I had just made the decision to seek treatment for Ethan’s increasingly complex and changing back. We had been given the name of a center outside of Philadelphia that performs intensive sessions of myofascial release. We have been somewhat off-the-radar with postings about Ethan recently and there is good reason for that. All of our extra energy (that seems like an oxymoron) has been spent attempting to keep Ethan comfortable. The situation with Ethan’s back has only been months in the making, yet the quick progression and resulting level of discomfort he now feels has brought us to a point of leaping into the abyss of faith and trying something completely different. Myofascial release—we pray—will be the therapy that will improve his level of comfort and allow him to continue on his journey. Realistically, we are not looking at it to completely reverse his tremendous curve and rotation of his spine (although we’d be over-the-moon if it did!); yet we are hopeful that it will help to “unlock” his current position.

As we pointed the van in yet a new direction, we traveled as a threesome. We are not alone. The amount of help needed to make a trip like this possible in such a short amount of time has pushed the limits of all involved. Yet as with all of our other mounting needs over the last 16 months, every request for help has been met. Not only in Cincinnati, but also in Philadelphia. Yes, before we even set foot in the City of Brotherly Love, we were welcomed with open arms. Team Ethan Philadelphia was working behind the scenes in the days before our arrival and they are amazing! Airport transportation, meals, access to medical assistance; done, done and done! We feel the loving arms of this community embracing us and helping us feel less like strangers and more like we are at home.

Staying strong,

Alexia