The year was Y2K. My daughter, Maia, was 19 months old and she was recuperating from her 2nd surgery for her brachial plexus injury.. Her specialist prescribed the TES nighttime electrical stimulation for her to help regrow her triceps and certain shoulder muscles. I had known about TES directly from the person who brought it to light - I attended a symposium in Houston and met Dr. Pape there and saw video after video of children before & after using the TES and I was convinced that this had great promise.

This is Maia with me holding her. This is the day we removed her post-surgery splint afer her
surgery. The splint came off and just minutes later she clapped for the very first time!

Fast forward, we found a therapist who could set us up with the unit, ordered the unit (yes, insurance reimbursed us for it) and Maia had slept with it a couple of nights and it was obvious that it wasn't going to work unless I found a way to attach it to her body. She tossed and turned in her sleep and the wires kept popping out of the electrodes and she got tangled everywhere. We tried a couple of different things over the next few nights and it was obvious to us that we needed a workable something that would hold it close to her body so as she turned in her sleep - the unit would turn with her.

I went to a seamstress to see what she could make for us and she rolled her eyes at me... she told me to buy an adult fanny pack and that she would shorten the straps. I left disappointed because I really wanted something soft and something pleasable for an almost 2 year old. After all, it was going to be something that she would sleep with for months and maybe even years!

So off I went to the fabric store to see what I could find. I looked through the pattern books for a while and everything was way over my ability level (Button 101) but I found this wonderful soft flannel material with Teletubbies imprinted on it and then I found the cotton batting and some soft velcro and matching threads and my journey to "Fannypack Land" began.

I drew on paper what I thought would work, then tried to cut the fabric to match. I set up the sewing machine (cob webs on it, used only once 20 years ago for about 15 minutes) and sewed a straight line to acclimate myself, but the thread was bunching up in back of the fabric! What was THAT about??? I asked my friends, well I asked everyone I knew and no one could tell me what that was. So I took the machine down to the store and paid my $75 and found out that it was the tension on the thread. Tension? What do I know about sewing never mind tension!! I had to not only learn how to sew but I had to learn a new vocabulary, too.

The first fanny pack looked like a failed kindergarten project (gosh I wish I saved that one so I could show you). Then I kept on at it until I actually got it right! The design I work with today was about #10 on the list of tries. Not bad for a non-sewing person.

The final night finally arrived and I was a bit anxious...Would Maia like it?? Would it work ok? I showed Maia her Teletubby fanny pack and she immediately fell in love with it. We took out the TES unit a/k/a "sticky machine". Maia knew that its purpose would be to feed leftie armie dinner so it could grow stronger. (I had explained to her previously about how when we digest food it goes into our blood stream and feeds all our cells - so she understood the dinner concept.) We said good night and kissed every single Teletubby on that pack (the pattern was one big reprint so there were about 75 Teletubbies on it) and we did that ceremony again and again every night for about two years!

It worked! It was comfortable for her! In the morning, the unit showed that she had used it for 11 hours straight. She had no complaints - she slept through the night! SUCESS !!!!

Things evolved from that night forward. I told all my online buddies about it and put some pictures online and the rest is history. One after another, parents asked me to make their kid a fanny pack. I went out and bought all kinds of fabric and Velcro, etc. All I asked the parent to do was to send me a stamp for Priority Mail so that the postage would be covered. Over the years, I've sewed hundreds of them!

The San Diego Brachial Plexus Injury Network put a box at one of their picnics with a flyer about my project and they filled a box with fabrics and notions. That was incredible. My dear friend from Ohio (her daughter had primary surgery with Maia) sent me a huge box of fleece materials and a hundred or so sets of velcro in all kinds of colors - wow! Another mom sent me a Joann Fabrics card so I could buy some more supplies with it. I spoke with the Velcro manufacturer and they sent me two rolls of Velcro (wish I could get more of that but they won't). Different kinds of donations came in from all over.

The fanny packs soon became easier to make, I could do one in 1 to 1 1/2 hours and the needle breakage decreased from about 3 broken needles to 1. But after making hundreds of them - to be honest with you, I just got burned out! People sent me fabrics and begged me over and over to make them and I just couldn't do it anymore. So here I am 1 1/2 years later and people are still looking for fanny packs and so I've decided to re-open the shop and do it on a larger scale. I hired two seamstresses, ordered fabrics and notions in bulk and we're off and running!

These fanny packs are so fine! They are soft, comfortable and sweet. You don't feel the edges on the unit. The belt is really easy to work and it is self-sizing. There are no buckles to cut into the body. And they last for a long time!

I'm going to have these fanny packs at clinics and picnics and courses. I also have the online shopping cart on this site with payment through PayPal. A portion of the proceeds will be going to the Brachial Plexus Palsy Foundation in Royersford, Pennsylvania.

Tell everyone you know about the fanny packs. You don't have to have special needs to have a special fanny pack! I realized that lots of kids may want one - it's a great pack for an emergency cell phone, for blood sugar testing equipment, for nebulizers, Epi-pens, and more. Any child may want to have one and siblings may want one, too!

Thanks for taking the time to read my story. And if you order a fanny pack or two - I really hope you like them.

Francine Litz
a/k/a Auntie Frannie

E-mail: franlitz@verizon.net