By Peter Kranenburg
Colby Christensen smiles as she does her favorite exercise, knowing someone in the room will have to do twice as many sit-ups as she does.
Colby is a 5-year-old girl with cerebral palsy, a chronic disorder that impairs a person?s control of movement. The condition is caused when motor areas of the brain are damaged or fail to develop properly. Colby was born with right-hemiplegia ? paralysis to the right side of her body.
?The trunk strength helps so much,? said Tracey Christensen, Colby?s mother, speaking of the sit-ups. ?They are always weaker in the trunk. It helps them be a lot more stable and she virtually does not fall now.?
The Christensen?s insurance does not cover costs for the intensive therapy treatments Colby needs to develop motor skills with the right side or her body. Last year, the Christensen family started selling Christmas cards to raise money to pay for Colby?s therapy.
The family is selling Christmas cards again this year to raise money for a trip to the University of Alabama?s Pediatric Neuromotor Research Clinic for their ACQUIREc Therapy program. Cards come in packages of 12 and sell for $10. The cost of the program is $15,000 plus travel and lodging expenses.
Colby visited a clinic in Poland in February and another clinic in Atlanta in October, thanks to donations and money raised from the sale of her Christmas cards last year. The Christensens are hopeful they will be able to raise enough money from Christmas card sales this year to pay for the trip to Alabama.
?It?s a very humbling position to be in,? Tracy said.
When Colby travels, her intensive therapy goes for six hours a day, six days a week, and lasts for three weeks. Colby also works with two BYU students who visit her at her home three times a week for an hour at a time.
Luke McCausland, a senior majoring in exercise science, has been working with Colby since her return from Poland. He said Colby is making great progress and that he loves working with Colby every week.
Tenley Cutler, a senior from Boise, Idaho, also majoring in exercise science, has been working with her since April. She said it?s hard sometimes because 5 year olds obviously don?t have a very long attention span.
She also said they work with Colby through creative therapy, having Colby play games like picking up toys and carrying them to her bucket only using her right hand.
?There?s been a big improvement, especially since she got back from Georgia,? Cutler said. ?She?s gained a lot of balance since I first started working with her.?
Cutler also said Colby learned how to ride a bike during her therapy in Atlanta. Colby was unable to even ride a tricycle before going to Atlanta.
?Most 5 year olds are able to ride a bike in some form or another,? Cutler said. ?For her to catch up to that, it?s huge.?
The Christensen family would like to open up an intensive therapy clinic here in Utah valley and are currently looking at locations in the Provo-Orem area.
?We think it will be just full of Utah kids, and we think families from the West will come.? Tracy said. ?We are excited about that. We are tired of traveling.?
Local artists and graphics companies donated the art, paper and printing for the Christmas cards. Christmas cards can be purchased from the Christensen?s Web site, nowican.org, all year round, or students can stop by Joel Christensen?s office in D-208 ASB.