Traditional Medicine

So I've been giving chiropractor care a try with Sean to help with his painful and frequent gas and large amounts of spit up. It seems to be working. For one, last time I did his laundry there was only one spit up rag in there for four days... Before beginning care I'd go thru about four rags in one day! Also, he's been sleeping better (most nights). As the doctor was explaining what she felt during her initial exam, part of which was an "unbalance" of the two sides I thought of someone else who would benefit from chiropractor care.

Liam

With the neglect of the right side of his body and the left side being used more often I figured his spine would be out of whack. So I talked with the doc about Liam and then brought him in today.

She was pleasantly surprised with how he presented and said that if she didn't know she wouldn't be able to tell that he suffers from aphasia or has any right sided weakness. She did feel a large bulge on the left side of the neck - it could be from the after effects of his stroke or it could have always been that way. Either way - that's where she's going to concentrate her work. Today she also massaged his lymph node on that side since it was swollen because of his congestion. (This was interesting since this morning Liam was crying because the inside of his left cheek hurt, the sinus cavity.)

I think it's important to find a chiropractor you trust - which is why I'm willing to drive thirty minutes for our visits. She does an excellent job explaining what she's looking at (feeling), how it affects the body, and how she plans to treat it. She also has a great bedside manner with both Sean and Liam. Sean has seen her three times and always gives her a smile and looks like melted butter in her arms. Liam, well, Liam pretty much likes everyone, but she did a great job explaining what she was doing to him!

I'm not sure what results I'm looking for in Liam, but I do believe that his spine has been affected from the stroke.

Flashback Friday - the Transfer

It's been over six months since Liam's stroke and I still find myself having flashbacks of that night and the days that followed.  I'm not sure how to stop this, so I figured I might as well write about them.

I'll try to be a more consistent writer and will concentrate on these "Flashbacks" on Fridays.

So... when the stroke happened I was at my sister's house, about 90 minutes away from home and way west of Chicago.

I remember on the way to the hospital my sister told me, "if they want to transfer him to Rockford Memorial, don't let them.  Go to Madison."

And then after a few hours in the ER of the local hospital the doctor said we had to transfer to a place with a children's hospital.  She gave me the option of Rockford Memorial, or a hospital near Chicago, since that was closer to where we lived.  (He was stable enough for such a transfer.)

I remember talking to our doctor on the phone and choosing Loyola - mainly because of location and because our doctor said we really couldn't go wrong with any of our choices.

And this is the flashback that keeps occuring.  I thought I was doing really well with processing information and making plans, but for some reason I couldn't figure out how this transfer would work.  I clearly remember my sister saying, "You'll go in the ambulance with Liam, I will drive your van home, take care of Quinn, and Rich and I will drive your van to your house tomorrow with Quinn.  Do you need anything from the house before the ambulance gets here?"

I was so thankful then for her clarity of the situation and have almost constant reminders of this part of the process. 

Science Fair

I recently joined a Facebook group focusing on finding and reporting something we are each grateful for each day.

Today was a very easy find.

Over seven months ago I was terrified that my outgoing, energetic, talkative, persuasive, bright, and lovable boy might never talk more than a few words at a time.

I remember posting on Facebook how I missed Liam.

I remember crying to his speech therapist during one of our first visits when she said, "it's just so hard, because I can tell he wants to have a full conversation with me, but he just can't."

And then a few weeks ago he came home from school telling us he was going to do the science fair. He told us his idea (put one plant in the closet and the other in the sun and see what happens), asked Mike to buy two plants at the store, and gave them names.

I'll admit. I was nervous. Would the judges be made aware of his aphasia? Will he be able to explain his project on the morning of judging? Or will his words be hard to find that morning? He has been doing so well in regards to his language, but he still struggles at times. Should I make sure the judges know about his fine motor weakness caused by his stroke? And the aphasia?

I decided to just see what happens.

So we did the project. We learned that the plant in the closet didn't die, but the colors on the leaves and flowers were much lighter than the colors on the plant who got sunlight. We typed up what he dictated to us. We made the poster having him do as much as he could with his fine motor skills.

Then the morning of the science fair came and Liam was more than excited to line up with all the kids, leave me behind, and go wait by his poster for the judges.

I don't know what went on during those twenty minutes, but I do know that Liam was one of the last students to return and came skipping down the hallway with a huge grin on his face.

As soon as he saw me he said, "That was so much fun!" Of course it was, he had the undivided attention of two judges. (One of them happened to be his kindergarten teacher.)

He does still love to hold conversations. His confidence is back and today just proved it!