So, I tried to post this video to facebook, but the video application is all jacked up, so I'm going to try and post it here. It's Will on the couch with me just being Will. He does display some of his speech accomplishments like saying hi, waving bye, and blowing a kiss. You'll also hear his babbling, which I'm convinced we'll find out one day is some foreign language and that he's actually completely verbal. Anyway, enjoy!
I'm a Slacker!
I'm a total slacker, and I'm sorry I haven't posted in almost 3 weeks. I am working in the pediatric ICU this month, and it's an incredibly stressful and busy rotation. I can't even remember what has happened since my last post. Will is going to be having surgery on his right eye next month. Both of his eyes wander, but his right eye is worse. The doctor said it will probably take multiple surgeries to totally fix it. I think he's hoping that the left eye will fix itself. If not, we'll have surgery on it eventually. He had his annual check up and things went well. He's on the Prozac and Tenex, and the combination seems to be working. He definitely isn't calm, but he's better than he was...I think. Cate had her 18 month check up and is doing well too. We were able to cut her asthma medicine back to once a day, and she had some allergy medicine added. She weighs 22 lbs. 13 oz. She's still tiny, but she is growing, and that's all that matters. She is going to start speech therapy so she can catch up with other kids her age. Will is re-starting outpatient speech because he's starting to regress in his speech. We're hoping we can get their appointments together so we won't have to go up there so many times each week. Anyway, I think that's all for now. I probably won't post again until November, when I'm out of the PICU and life returns to some sense of normalcy. Thanks for your patience and understanding. More to come...
Big Bite!
We had our first incident with Cate at school today. While the teacher was changing diapers, a child in Cate's class bit her several times. One bite even broke the skin and caused her to bleed. I understand that kids bite. I'm mad because the teacher didn't call us right when it happened. She told Jeremiah about it when he picked her up. I think it happened close to pick-up time, but I still feel like we should have been called. The teacher filled out a form and put it in her bag. Anyway, I know things like this happen, but I'm just mad because we weren't notified. I feel like when a child has that kind of injury, parent should be called right away. I hope it doesn't happen again, and I hope she doesn't scar. The one on her face isn't too bad, so hopefully it won't. Hope my next post is a little more uplifting.
Brief Update
Will saw his pediatrician today for his 4 year well child check. Everything was good. I was worried Will hadn't gained weight, but he did. He weighs about 39-40 pounds. His weight wasn't exact because they weighed him on the "big boy" scale today, and he didn't stand very still. He is 41 inches tall. On physical exam, she said Will looked great. He has bruises all over from "just being a little boy." He has been sick for about a week, but she said she thought it was probably a virus and that he didn't need antibiotics. He also got his flu shot today. He'll get the rest of his booster shots at his next check up. That's all the news for now. I'm going to be very busy with work over the next month, but I'll do my best to post as often as I can.
Medical Update on Will
I talked to Will's developmental pediatrician Monday morning, and he asked all about what was going on with Will. I told him about how he was more agitated and aggressive than before the medicine. I told him how the teachers at school were complaining about his behavior. They said that they had to constantly be one-on-one with him and redirect him a lot more than normal. When I told him all of this, we asked me if they knew he was on the medicine. I think he was trying to figure out if they were really seeing these effects or if it was just because they knew he was on a new medicine. I told him they didn't know, because they didn't at first. We started the Prozac on a Thursday and told them about it on the following Wednesday after they commented on his behavior.Dr. Gustavson told us to stop the Prozac. He didn't start any new medications at this time. He's going to see Will again at the end of January, and I guess we'll re-evaluate then.
Will has also seen his ophthalmologist since I last posted. We had been patching his eyes because he has strabismus (wandering eye) in both eyes. This was our second round of patching, and it wasn't successful, partially because Will wasn't that cooperative with the patches. Anyway, Dr. Groves is going to operate on Will's right eye in November. He said it will probably take more than one surgery to fully correct it. I guess he's going to wait to do the left eye and give it a little more time to correct itself. I wasn't at the appointment, so I'm not 100% sure on that.
Will has his 4 year old well child check on Monday. Hopefully nothing unexpected will come up. I won't be able to go this one either. That's the sucky thing about being in residency. They only thing I plan on is him getting a new prescription for Claritin and getting his immunizations. I am also anxious to see how much he weighs and how tall he is. He had lost weight the last time we took him in. I don't think his height has been measured in a year. He is so tall and thin, I bet he's grown a lot. I'll hopefully post again on Monday after that appointment.
Will and Cate both have some sort of virus right now making them cough, have a snotty nose, and have diarrhea. I'm also starting to feel badly. Pray for us all that we get better soon.
Will has also seen his ophthalmologist since I last posted. We had been patching his eyes because he has strabismus (wandering eye) in both eyes. This was our second round of patching, and it wasn't successful, partially because Will wasn't that cooperative with the patches. Anyway, Dr. Groves is going to operate on Will's right eye in November. He said it will probably take more than one surgery to fully correct it. I guess he's going to wait to do the left eye and give it a little more time to correct itself. I wasn't at the appointment, so I'm not 100% sure on that.
Will has his 4 year old well child check on Monday. Hopefully nothing unexpected will come up. I won't be able to go this one either. That's the sucky thing about being in residency. They only thing I plan on is him getting a new prescription for Claritin and getting his immunizations. I am also anxious to see how much he weighs and how tall he is. He had lost weight the last time we took him in. I don't think his height has been measured in a year. He is so tall and thin, I bet he's grown a lot. I'll hopefully post again on Monday after that appointment.
Will and Cate both have some sort of virus right now making them cough, have a snotty nose, and have diarrhea. I'm also starting to feel badly. Pray for us all that we get better soon.
Mini Laps 2008
Today was Mini Laps, the big fall fund raiser at The Little Light House. The theme this year was "Once upon a time." All of the kids dressed up as story book characters and got to make a lap around the little track on the school's campus. Will was Prince Charming, and he looked so handsome! He rode around the track with a little girl in his class who was dressed as a princess. Their "carriage" was a tandem bike that was decorated and had a stick horse attached to the front. I think they had a good time, but they were both definitely on sensory overload. I took a ton of pictures and a video of Will and Hunter making their lap. Will ranked 15th in fund raising, out of 64 kids. The kids get to pick a prize in the order of their amount raised. Will picked a CD player, which is exactly what Jeremiah and I wanted to get for him. There was a carnival afterward with food and games for the kids. We all had a great time and are very proud of the kids and the $335,800 they raised this year.
Prozac Update
Well, Will has been on the Prozac for 6 days now. The doctor said that it takes 3-4 months to see the full therapeutic effect, but that bad side effects are usually seen withing the first 3-4 days. These bad sided effects include increased agitation, increased hyperactivity, and increased sleepiness, to name a few. Over the past week, I've felt like Will has more hyperactive and agitated than normal, but Jeremiah said that he was just his typical self. So, I let it go. However, today his teacher voiced a concern about Will's hyperactivity and energy level. Will has been at this school for over a year, and no one has ever mentioned Will's hyperactivity level. This is how I knew that my suspicions were true. They also said that due to Will's recent growth he's getting physically harder to control. This makes me really sad. I had high hopes that the Prozac may be the answer to Will's energy level. The main problem with his high energy level is that he isn't able to focus, even for 2 minutes, and this prevents him from learning a lot of things that I think he could learn otherwise. I called the doctor today to talk about this, but he's out of the office until Monday. So, we're going to continue the medication until we talk to him next week. Please pray that Will will calm down and be able to focus and learn at school. I'll post again when I have more news.
