Meet Noah - a patient who is seen by our multidisciplinary team of experts. Learn more about his journey below.

Blog written by Noah's mom, Amanda.

I noticed early on in Noah's first year of life that he wasn’t meeting his developmental milestones. He wasn't sitting up, using his hands to express himself, holding his head up properly or even communicating like other babies his age.
 
When he was about 10 months old, I looked into Early Childhood Intervention. Other family members had experienced great success with this program, so I figured it would be a great starting point for us. After the very first physical therapy session, his therapist recommended taking Noah to a neurologist as well as genetic testing. She thought Noah probably had floppy baby syndrome (hypotonia).
 
My head was spinning, and I did not know where to start. All I could think of were the countless phone calls, the waiting and the stress of trying to get an appointment with a specialist.
 
My brother-in-law suggested that we reach out to Scottish Rite for Children. I knew they had an amazing reputation and many children have been impacted by their services. I believe that by God's will, we were able to have our first appointment with Dr. Michelle Christie within 24 hours of calling.
 
After that, everything happened so fast. Our initial appointment with Dr. Christie was wonderful. She immediately recommended we do an MRI of Noah's brain and an EMG of his nervous system the very next week. We were cautiously concerned about sedating him for these procedures, but her team put us at ease.
 
In a span of one week, we learned that that our baby was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Thankfully we were at a world-renowned institution. It was a lot to process, but everyone at Scottish Rite took care of us and made us feel loved, just like their own family.
 
I remember Dr. Christie sitting with us in the day surgery room, held our hands and hugged us as we learned about his diagnosis. Throughout our entire experience, we have felt nothing short of love.
 
We now look forward to every visit we have at Scottish Rite. We know we will always be greeted with warm smiles and friendly faces. Every person you pass in the hallway is willing to help or ask if you need any assistance. 
 
One of the hardest aspects of COVID-19 has been not being able to hug our doctor and other health care providers. I feel so much gratitude and love for each and every person who takes care of Noah, that when I leave, I want to give them a big hug and express my love. From our clinic visits with Dr. Christie to Brenda fitting Noah for his wheelchair, I have such gratitude for everyone at Scottish Rite.
 

Each and every person at Scottish Rite is a part of our journey - the health care professionals in neurology, orthotics, mobility, physical therapy – the list goes on and on and everyone has touched my Noah’s life.

I will never forget their faces or names. Noah has two older brothers, and he loves being around them. We do everything together as a family and Scottish Rite has helped Noah reach every milestone and for that I will be forever grateful.

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