Appointments

We've had a LOT of appointments this week. Hope's feeding issues were discussed with Dr. Remple and we decided to start using a pump to deliver formula slowly, trying to avoid the vomitting by having less in her stomach. We've also switched her to a stronger antacid. So far it's helping.

Ashley had appointments for her stander and wheelchair adjustments, she's grown again. We'll have to have more appointments to build a new head support for the stander (her head is bigger than when it she was 2yrs). We'll also have more appointments to have a new back support created with gel foam and a special wedge. She's so skinny that her bones are sticking out and she gets red marks very quickly in her chair. We worry about pressure sores when this happens. We also adjusted Ashley's feeding to see if we could plump her up a bit, but we'll have a follow-up appointment to make sure she isn't getting to plump!

You can see Brodie dancing with Ashley in her stander, if you click on the video above. The video was taken about a year ago. We also had some special foot splints adjusted for Ashley to give her ankles more support when she is in the stander (her feet are looking quite twisted). Then we had the stander adjusted with more straps to hold Ashley in proper position. Her right leg is shorter than the left and it appears that her hip may be coming out of its socket because of all the twisting to the left that she does. On top of that, Ashley has developed a rather large blister on her thumb, and we have no idea why. So, she's been measured for new hand splints.

Brodie had to have some fun this week too! He had his follow-up eye appointment and he has surpassed his goal. We are officially done patching. His vision in the right eye started at 20/200 (he could only read the big E on the chart, WITH the strongest lense to assist), and now he can read the 20/30 line with his glasses on. Very impressive. He was rewarded with a membership to Club Penguine, and I've never seen him so excited.

I had my appointments too of course. My neck is still improving. I'm seeing Chiropractor and massage every week, and doing my stretches and excercises. I'm lifting the girls for parts of the day now. My neck still has limited range of motion on the left side, and I'll keep working on it. I had my 'Back to Work' meeting yesterday, and I'll start back with modified hours tommorrow. I'll start with a 6hour shift and work up from there, as long as I don't make the injury worse.

With all that said, you would think I would get a rest, but NO! There will be an unbelievable amount of appointments in the next couple months, but it will be worth it to get everything taken care of by summer. Luckily I have some fantastic respite workers who have been generous in their availability. So, we are well taken care of, and still finding time to rest and have fun.