Busy, Busy, Busy!

Wow! This has been a crazy week full of appointments for Luke. The good news is, as of now, no more dr visits until March. On Tuesday he had a follow-up with the eye dr and an appt with his neuro-rehab dr. The visit with the eye dr went great. He is very happy with how Luke is using his right eye and mentioned in the far future he may want to try lifting his left eye again....not so sure we will let that happen. The best part is we do not have to go back for two months...we have been going to Downtown Phoenix every two weeks for follow-ups so I am thrilled not to get to see downtown for awhile! The neuro-rehab visit was a disappointment. The first question she asked was if Luke was walking yet...um NO! Glad she believes that he will, but frustrated she has no answers as to how to help him more. The problem is he turns his left foot in so much that he ends up tripping over it. Well...no one seems to know what to do. I think the most frustrating thing is they spend all of 10 minutes looking at him, then pass the buck on down the line. Then they wanted to see us again in two months, um hello for what?? Yesterday, we had an appointment with an orthotic place and with the NACD. Again, no real answers at the orthotic place as to what may help Luke and his left foot...someone has to have an idea. Then we went to our visit with the NACD. The crazy thing is, our insurance will not pay for our visits with them, and they spend the most time of anyone really looking and assessing as to what Luke can do. We were there with the evaluator for an hour and a half. Luke was doing pretty good at showing off for her. She spent some time looking at his left foot, and said she has some ideas of things that could help, but wanted to discuss it with one other person at her office. So at least there is a glimmer of help! Then she said, you know this kid is really smart....yes I know, sometimes I think too smart for his own good, as he knows how to get out of doing things that will help with his healing. He was always better at sharpening his pencil than doing the school work. I have always said it is that stubborn side that kept him here. So, you can imagine the look on my face when she told us we really need to put his right arm in a sling and force him to use his left arm. The thing is, he can use it, but only if he is forced because he has learned how not to use it. So, she wants us to sling his right arm and force him to eat with his left. I am hoping he doesn't just decide to go on a food strike. She is also going to beef up the academic portion of his program for the next session. She really feels he could be talking and using his words more, but again it is one of those things where he has gotten so used to telling us yes or no with his hand signals, that it is easier to do that. Well..we all know practice makes perfect...so he needs to practice talking. She asked me how many words he will say, and I was amazed as I started telling her the words, that it is over twenty and probably even more than that on a good talking day. Overall, she was very pleased with the progress he has made since his last visit, especially when you consider all the issues we had with his eye the last four months. We will continue to press forward using their program as our guideline, because truth be told, that is what has had the most impact on Luke's healing and recovery, and they believe in him!

Now, I have gotten many emails the last few weeks asking for a baby update so here goes: As of now I am almost 30 weeks, the due date is March 22nd. I had an ultrasound this week, and she is weighing in at 2 lbs 11 ozs. She is laying sideways now, so we really need her to move, otherwise they will schedule a c-section at 39 weeks. I am really hoping that does not happen!

Thanks so much for continue to faithfully check-in on Luke. I truly believe the best is yet to come! Believe!