Go ahead and pour yourself a cup of coffee. It’s time for another Oleg story. To recap, Oleg is a boy in the hospital who’s been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy and Microcephaly. (I remain skeptical about the Microcephaly) He’s about two years old and has lived his entire life in the hospital.
I’ve can honestly say I’ve spent more individual time with Oleg than any other child in Ukraine. We see each other twice a week. I’ll see him today. He’s way behind developmentally, partly because of his physical problems, but also because of the lack of stimulation.
We work on several areas. Oleg can’t sit up on his own. He doesn’t really roll, but can move about when he’s on his stomach. He’s experimented with solid food, but doesn’t really care for bananas. I’m even working on trying to get him to speak.
Normally, you can use a toy as motivation for babies, especially in teaching them to crawl or walk. They need a reason to leave their comfortable position. When they see and want the toy, they pursue it, and that moves them along the developmental path.
Oleg doesn’t seem respond to those kind of things. Oh, he’ll laugh and smile and likes to be tickled. He’s happy to look at whatever I present him, a bear, a spoon, or a mirror. Sure beats watching the ceiling all day. But he just doesn’t try to take the toy. It’s almost like he approaches life like watching TV. He’s easily entertained by it, but only as a spectator, not a participant.
That is, until this week. Because we didn’t have many children at the hospital, I was able to focus almost exclusively on Oleg. We have a regimen. Stretch and massage his legs and arms. Move the legs and hips in a way that encourage him to roll around. We practice sitting. I even make little noises for him to imitate, trying to get him to “talk.” All kinds of stuff.
But that big goal is still to get him to reach for things instead of watch them. I placed Oleg on his back. I shook a toy that’s part rattle, hour glass, teething ring, and squeaker. I moved it back and forth and he tracked it with his eyes and head. I brought it close to his face and far away.
“Go ahead, Oleg. Grab it. You can have it if you grab it.” It’s the same thing I’ve done for months and months. I touched his hands with it first and then moved it away. I did my best to advertise it as the coolest toy ever, shaking it, rattling it, turning it.
Then surprisingly, Oleg started shaking for a second. Not like he was convulsing, but like he was trying to work himself up to do something, like a boxer moves as he enters the ring to face his rival. All at once he reached and grabbed the toy! “Hooray! Good job Oleg. Maladyets! (“good job” in Russian.)
Again, I took the toy and coaxed him on. “Go ahead and take it. It’s yours if you want it. Listen to that noise. See how it moves? You want it? You want it?” And again he shook as if trying to wake up his arms and grabbed the toy again.
One more time. “Here it is. It’s over your head. It’s to the right. To the left. Can you get it? Do you really want it?” Like Gulliver escaping from the Lilliputians, he pulls up slowly and whacks at it. And there was rejoicing throughout the hospital room.
Clearly my “Epic Adventures” aren’t about parachuting or white water rafting. I’m not eating bugs or dodging poisoned spears. But I’ve seen Oleg take another major step after days and weeks and months of trying. And I saw him fight to do it. You know what this means? The fight is in him. His body might not cooperate yet, or maybe he doesn’t know how to make it cooperate. But I saw the desire, and if you have the desire, you keep going forward.
I hope you too have the desire and keep moving forward.

¶ 5:31 AM

 Calyn said...
Hi, Markus. You don't know me, but I was in Ukraine a couple months ago and I went and visited the very orphanage that is home to little Oleg. He and Roma were so sweet and when my friend Lori sent me the link to your blog I couldn't believe that you had pictures up there of them! I'm so glad someone is there to spend time with them and share Christ's love with them. Thank you so much for what you do. Praying for you, Calyn Reber  

 Markus said...
Thanks you guys for your prayers. Please pray for me, as my housing situation has changed and I need another roommate to help pay the bills. Story soon to follow.  

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