Daily Recap Take One

It's been all too easy for me to get frustrated with our new speech diagnosis.  To think of how he used to be.  To wonder what will come. 

I think I need to take some time at the end of the day to write the positive....

• I put in a request for the medical records from Loyola to be sent to Lurie Children's Hospital in preparation for a second opinion with their neurology team (not yet scheduled - the team is looking into Liam's case to decide which doctor would be best for us to see.)
• Liam was throwing much better with his right hand today while we were outside.
• He continues to climb and swing.
• We went to the library and picked out some Elephant and Piggie books.  We were able to "read" these together just as before the stroke - with Quinn being one character and Liam being the other.  (I would read what the character was saying and Liam would repeat - he's still good at this and was smiling while we were reading.)
• We played Candy Land together and I was able to consistently get Liam to use his right hand to pick up his cards.  (I won two out of three times!)
• I also picked up some books for me that will hopefully distract my mind after the kids are in bed.
• Mike was grilling and Liam said to him, "How many more minutes?" all on his own.

and also what's frustrating me....

• It takes 10-14 days for medical records to be shared.  Of course, who knows when we'll get in?
• I still have unanswered questions now piling up for the neurologist and speech therapist and only one more session of therapy this week
• We're going on vacation next week, which, yes will be fun, but we'll miss therapy.  Also - it's a big family vacation, which, yes is always fun, but I'm worried that Liam will be overwhelmed and embarrassed.  I'm trying to think of a way to keep this at a minimum.
• There's a ton of information on the Internet concerning strokes.  Most of it is about strokes and recovery in adults.
• There's a ton of information concerning aphasia - but again - mostly talks about adults.  None of it is all that positive.
• Liam repeated me and asked the librarian if he could play on the computer.  She asked him his name (a question he's been able to answer correctly many times post-stroke) and he told her the last name of our babysitter.  This is one example of when I saw aphasia's ugly results today, but probably the most heartbreaking, because talking to the librarians was something he's always done and enjoyed.  And now it could easily become a time of frustration and embarrassment.