Loved By Many

Being Loved

Maggie Dykstra and Emma Allison:

Their lives with cerebral palsy.

Maggie Dykstra

On Tuesday, November 25, 2014, in Bettendorf, Iowa, Maggie Dykstra 

and her nurse Melody Sereda play at home. Melody helps Maggie get 

into her stander to play with bead necklaces. Maggie also sits in her 

Tomato chair and colors with crayons. Melody lets Maggie chose which 

color crayon to use by putting the crayons on her fingers and letting 

Maggie touch the one she wants. Maggie also uses this way of 

communicating for yes and no questions.  

Melody helps Maggie three days a week. Maggie also has three other 

nurses that go to school with her. A nurse comes, Monday through 

Friday and stays from 7am to 4:30 or 5:00pm. During this time the 

nurses ride to school with her, feed her, give her medicines, do therapy 

and stretches, change her diaper, and watch for seizure activity.

The braces Maggie wears are called AFOs. She wears these while she 

is in the stander and gait trainer, which is a walking device. This machine 

is called a gait trainer because your step is called a gait.

Maggie is fed 230 mL of formula and 80 mL of water every three hours 

through a feeding tube connected to a 60 mL syringe. The feeding tube 

is connected to a MIC-KEY low profile gastronomy feeding tube in her 

stomach, which is replaced every three months. This is called a bolus feed. 

Over night she is put on a feeding pump, which feeds her 60 mL per hour, 

totaling 720 mL per night.

On Monday and Thursday of every week Maggie attends physical therapy. 

On Thursday, the occupational therapist and physical therapist co-treat. 

She also goes to water therapy on Tuesday. The physical therapist 

tries to strengthen Maggie’s core and trunk muscles to help her stand 

and sit. Maggie’s occupational therapy tries to strengthen her neck 

control, trunk control, and grasping with ease on her hands. Her 

favorite thing to do is ride her bike at therapy and school.

Emma Allison

On Monday, December 1, 2014, in Morrison, Illinois, Emma Allison enjoys 

going to physical education and art. Emma says that her favorite subject 

is math. Emma was born 10 weeks premature and had Grade 3 IVH. At the 

time of her birth, the parents were told that she would most likely have 

cerebral palsy. At the age of two the official diagnosis was made.

The walker Emma uses throughout her day is called a reversible Kaye 

Walker. Emma has been attending some type of therapy since she 

was six months old. Today, Emma has a private therapist, but she 

also receives Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy through 

school. She receives all of her therapies are once a week.