Better than expected

LJ has been a real champ with his night splints.  I figured it would be a battle each night to get him to keep them on, but he has surprised me.  He doesn't wake up during the night and take them off.  I'm so proud of him.  Wednesday we are supposed to pick up his SMOs.  Hopefully he'll be as good about keeping those on.

I snapped this pic at Mom and Dad's this past weekend.  

PT and Splints

LJ has been seeing Jim Capps in Thomson for several weeks doing PT.  He's stretching his leg muscles and hips and strengthening his core muscles.  It's tough to remember to do the stretches everyday and some days he just doesn't want to do them.  I haven't been as diligent about it the last couple weeks  as I need to be. 

Yesterday we picked up his night splints.  Allen, the Orthotist from Hangar Orthotics, suggested night splints to help prevent plantar flexion during the night.  LJ was also casted for SMOs to wear during the day.  We are going to slowly transition into using the night splints all night but we started out small yesterday.  He wore one splint on his left foot for about an hour while he worked on his homework and then put it on when he got in bed.  He ended up falling asleep just fine with it on and when I woke him up, it was still on.  Hoping this means that he will cooperate with the process.  We are supposed to pick up his SMOs next Wednesday.  Then we'll have to find shoes that will fit over them.  That wasn't such an easy task when he had his AFOs. 

New struggles for LJ

The other night I was sitting on the couch.  LJ was looking out the front door and was up on his toes.  I told him to stand on his heels and when he did, I noticed that he was pronating.  He stand on the arches on his feet.  I've never really noticed it before.  You can see it when he walks flat footed if you're looking for it.  I've been wanting to get him back into PT and this was the push that did it.  I called Dr. Cannady and he saw us yesterday (6/20)  He asked when he met his milestones and if he had any complications during the pregnancy or delivery.  He mentioned that toe walking could be from autism/sensory processing or it could be from things like CP, MD, or tethered cord.  He wants to do either an ultrasound or an MRI to check for any complications with the spinal cord or brain.  If those come back normal, then we're looking at intensive PT.

I'd kind of like an MRI done to completely rule out any issues with his brain given his autism/developmental delays.  The only thing I'm worried about is that they'll put him to sleep to do it.  I'm guessing we will be looking at serial casting if we just venture back into PT.  The previous PT had mentioned casting before we quit going.  We would definitely do that during the cooler months.  It would be pure torture to do it during the summer.  Especially since it's already almost 100* during the day and it's only the 1st day of summer today.

He's a little nervous about the MRI.  Not knowing what it involves but I keep assuring him that he'll be fine.  That he'll be asleep and he won't know what's going on.  And I'm a little nervous that they might actually find something else going on with him.  After the mention of CP and MD I started Googling and started worrying.  Having that much information at your hands and days to wait to hear from the Dr. isn't a good combination.

The Dr. said I would hear back from him on Monday so we'll see what route we will be taking.  He was supposed to find out if the radiologist thought he could do just an ultrasound to check for tethered cord.

Easter

After so much time looking, we finally found a church in town that we all feel comfortable in.  Thomson First United Methodist.  LJ is in the Cub Scout group there so I've gotten to know several of the members.  The girls know a lot of people there, both kids and adults, from school.  And Andrea tells me that Taylor attended the Youth group when she was younger and absolutely loved it.  I have to check into that for the girls.  We are attending the Cafe Praise service.  It's their contemporary service.  I can't get Joe to go with me.  He says it's because he likes a traditional service, but I think it's just his excuse.  

The girls are in their room resting now and LJ is watching TV.  The service starts at 9:15 so they didn't like getting up early on the weekend.  We are heading out to Mitchell to celebrate Easter with Joe's family at Steph and Reid's house.  The sun looks like it's starting to come out so I'm hopeful for a beautiful day.  The past 2 days have been cold, rainy and gloomy.

Day of with Alyssa

After Alyssa's appointment last week we spent the day hanging out. We went to the mall and she picked out some new summer clothes. We had lunch and a milkshake for dessert. It was really nice to spend some one on one time with her. I plan to do this with each kid once a month. Next month the girls want to pick an outing instead of just hanging out. Alyssa wants to go ice skating and Trinity wants to go roller skating. 

Hard Times

Some things are going on.  I'm worried and stressed.  I've reached out for help and we have things in motion.  Praying hard and praying often and trying to remember that God is in control. 

Fun Weekend

Hannah G. came to spend the night with Trinity on Friday and I took the kids to see Divergent.  Leah met the girls there and they all sat by themselves while LJ and I sat elsewhere.  The movie was great and it was fun to hear all the excitement and laughter from the girls after the movie. 

On Saturday we just hung around the house for most of the day.  I went and picked Alyssa and Alexis up and then took all 4 girls to a classmate's bonfire birthday party.  Those crazy girls got in the pool.  It was cold last night!  Had to pick them up at 10:00---past my bedtime.  But more giggles and excitement on the way home.  I let Hannah stay another night.

I love to see my kids excited and not so gloomy and bored.  But everyone has to leave before lunch today.  I have to clean the house up and paint the kids' bathroom. I'm itching to see it finished so I can decide what to do about decorating it.  If there's enough paint left over, I think I'll use it in the laundry room as well.  Or I have another gallon of a similar color that I may use.  I'd love a pop of color in that awful room.  :) 

I only work 2 days next week so I'll have plenty of time for Home Improvementing.