Seconds later, she tosses the stuffed animal and scrambles over to a small table covered with art supplies.

But a bevy of bouncing balloons overhead steals her attention and she races across the room, eager to capture one of the colorful floating balls.

Alaina’s energy and spunk betray her earliest days, days when she was born 16 weeks premature, weighed barely a pound and endured countless surgeries before her first birthday.

Today, Alaina runs and plays, giggles and bounces like a typical six-year-old.

What’s not typical about this little girl’s daily life is the round-the-clock health care she requires.

Due to her extra-early arrival, Alaina suffers from severe chronic lung disease of prematurity. She had an anoxic brain injury in February 2007 due to an RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) attack causing her to go into respiratory failure.

She is not currently enduring an infection with RSV, her mother reports, adding that "RSV is an infection that can be serious to fatal for young children, especially those born prematurely."

“She needs nebulizer treatments, pulminary percussion treatments... she’s lost all of her gross motor skills and she’s feeding tube dependent. So she needs lots of special care,” said Alaina’s mom, Amanda Walbridge.

For Alaina and her Coon Rapids family, that special care comes in heaping helpings from health care and patient care workers on the roster at Accurate Home Care, LLC.

“The (Accurate Home Care) staff is like a second family to us,” Amanda said.

“We wouldn’t have been able to bring Alaina home from the hospital without (Accurate). I wouldn’t be able to go to work. I wouldn’t have a date night with my husband – ever.”

From Aug. 18 to Sept. 3, Accurate’s “Drive to Thrive Tour” takes place across the state.

Aug. 20, the road show stopped in Coon Rapids and Anoka where founder and chief operating officer Amy Nelson and her employees visited clients and hoped to increase awareness of the services Accurate offers.

“We want to help others who are homebound or living with complex medical conditions who maybe don’t know about home care services or don’t know where to go to get these services,” said Accurate Home Care spokeswoman Libby Hager.

“Home care is a cost-effective health care alternative and it’s much more convenient than being cooped up in a traditional medical facility.”

Accurate’s home health care services are available for all ages and Accurate is a trusted Minnesota-based provider, Hager said.

The Walbridges signed on as Accurate clients shortly after Alaina was released from the hospital at the tender age of 19 months.

Amanda says “without the nurses, the progress we’re making wouldn’t be possible.”

In fact, Amanda credits Accurate nurses as playing a “big part in Alaina’s rehabilitation.”

“I don’t know how we could do it without them,” she said.

Accurate’s primary goal, according to its Web site (www.accuratehomecare.com) is to “maintain and improve our client’s level of independence, while ensuring their utmost satisfaction.”

“We support our clients and families to thrive at home with the assistance of our devoted and trustworthy employees. Accurate strives to consistently provide an unsurpassed level of care,” Hager said.

Accurate Home Care offers private duty nursing and waivered services up to 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Accurate PCA Services, LLC (a sister company) offers personal care assistant services around the clock as well.

Hager further described the work done at Accurate.

“We specialize in servicing the complex medical needs of pediatrics and adults,” she said.

“Our nurses have extensive ventilator, tracheotomy, IV and gastrostomy tube experience. We provide an unmatched quality of home care services.”

Those services include the following:

• Helping clients to attain their optimum health and to continue to enjoy and remain independent while living in the comfort of their homes.

• Enabling both clients and employees to have a choice in selecting caregivers and employment.

• Ensuring that family members understand and feel comfortable with all services provided.

Accurate Home Care, LLC is licensed with the Minnesota Department of Health as a Class A licensed home care agency. 

Accurate Home Care, LLC and Accurate PCA Services, LLC are licensed to service clients throughout the entire state of Minnesota.

To learn more about Accurate, visit www.accuratehomecare.com .

Sue Austreng is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it