I haven't said much lately about Addison. So I thought I would give her a little face time today. There's some good news, and some bad news. Let's start with all the good news!
Neurology: Back towards the end of August, Addison saw her neurologist. She has had two brain MRIs. The first one showed some abnormalities. The second one showed no changes. This was a good thing, because it showed that her brain stayed the same and didn't get worse. So this past visit, the doctor just wanted to follow up with her one last time. Her brain will eventually grow and complete its maturation like other "normal" brains. And the doctor said she looked, acted, walked, talked, and behaved like a normal two year old. He said he didn't need to see her again unless something changed in the future. I was so happy! Nothing personal to the doctor, but I never want Addison to see the neurologist again! One less doctor in Addison's little army!
Physical Therapy: Last week we saw Addison's physical therapist. We had stopped seeing her on a bi-weekly basis, and were just going in for check ups every few months. So this visit, the therapist wanted to see how she was doing. Addison has low tone, which has slowed her down a little in her physical development. Her therapist thought she looked really good and said she didn't feel like she needed to be in her care any more. Yay! Another member discharged out of Addison's little army!
Gastroenterology/Pediatrician: Over the summer, Addison's weight had plateaued somewhat. We had seen the GI towards the end of July, with the recommendations that she begin her medicine again that stimulates her appetite. She is also taking some calorie supplements. The good news is she had gained almost 2 pounds! This put her on the growth charts again. Yay for Addison!
Feeding Clinic/Speech Therapy: We started speech therapy with Addison in August. She is doing really well and we can already see improvements in her vocabulary and speech! She is communicating more and more with us and using new phrases, like "what are you doing?" Every time she asks me that, I smile because she sounds so grown up! We also are attending a feeding clinic every Friday. Several therapist work with us on getting Addison to try and eat different foods. They are showing me a lot of tricks and teaching me a lot about why she has such a difficult time eating. Hopefully we can work on incorporating more textures into her diet and more foods, which will mean more nutrition and calories!
Well, now for the not so good news...
Preschool: We enrolled Addison in a preschool for many reasons. We were advised that her being around her peers would help with her physical development and her speech development. She goes twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Well, she missed the first week of school because she came down with a cold, which flared up her asthma. Then she went the second week and really seemed to enjoy it! She was happy when I picked her up, the teachers said she did really well and was very well behaved. But now she's missed the third week of school because she's sick...again!
Asthma: And Monday we went to the ER because Addison's asthma flared up so badly we couldn't get it under control with her normal medications. We hadn't really needed her on a daily asthma maintenance medication. But with our recent trip to the ER, it looks like she will be starting daily medicine to help keep her asthma under control. We also had to take chest X-rays to rule out pneumonia. Her pediatrician said that it wasn't bacterial pneumonia. But that she did want to do a light course of antibiotics, just in case her symptoms were masked and it is pneumonia. Her weight was back down, which is so devastating and disappointing. Her pediatrician said not to panic about this, that it's just because she's sick. We work so hard to get her gaining weight, it's hard not to be discouraged when she loses. Currently, we're in a holding pattern of rest, breathing treatments, oral steroids, antibiotics and more rest until her body heals and recovers from this asthma attack. My hope and prayer is that we can manage her asthma so she can stay healthy and happy. And no more trips to the ER!
I tried both mornings last week to capture her "first" day of school. Each time she just was NOT in the mood for pictures. But here's a couple shots. I tried!
