Busy to Busier...

Today was Emily and my youngest daughter, Addalyn's doctor's appointment. Boy did they lay it on today! There's nothing bad going on necessarily, it's just that we are fixing to get a little busier.
First off, let's talk about Addalyn. I haven't talked much about Addalyn because this blog is just mainly about Emily. Addalyn has always just been pretty down to earth and normal. No problems or issues with anything. Well, today, the doctor suggested that we have her evaluated for Speech Therapy. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal, and it's still not really a big deal. She will be evaluated and treated, if need be, at the same place that Emily gets her ST hopefully at the same time on the same day. However, the problem comes when Emily goes to school. Addalyn does talk pretty good. She talks ALOT! Mostly jibberish, which is the reason for this eval. But, am I really going to want to make a 45 minute trip once a week to take her to ST when I'm really not convinced that she needs it? I don't know. I guess maybe I was just looking forward to a "no therapy" time after Emily's therapy starts at school. But, I will do whatever she needs me to do...but I will also make sure that it is absolutely necessary.
Now to Emily. Her doctor is always talking about how good she looks, and I love that. She just brags on her so much. Everything was pretty much the same today. She did, however, mention that Emily's feet were turning in. For this, she suggested that we see an Orthopedic doctor. This would normally be fine...lol...I said that once up in Addalyn's paragraph, too. However, there are only two Orthopedic doctors around. One is in Memphis. This clinic does not take Medicaid, which pretty much marks them off, unless her doctor can pull some strings, which she said she was going to try. The other is in South Louisiana at Shriner's Hospital...we live in Northeast Mississippi. My eyes just bugged out when she told me this. It would probably take us 6 to 7 hours to get to this hospital, if I had my guess. However, (another loop), one of the doctors from Shriner's comes to our area every once in a while. So, yet again, she said she would try to get him to see her here instead of us having to drive all the way to Louisiana. Crossing my fingers for that one...that would be an insanely long trip for all of us. The second thing that is probably going to cause a rough few days is seeing the ENT for her nose. She's always had trouble with her nose and breathing out of it since she was born. Here lately, though, just having a little trouble breathing out of her nose has turned into sinus infection after sinus infection. So, she is recommending that we see her ENT about getting her adanoids taken out. I am fine with this because I want the sinus infections to stop as well as wanting her to be able to breath normally. This is going to be a little more difficult than when she got her tubes put in. I know this because my dad had a similar surgery not too long ago. He has always had issues with his nose just like Emily. I'm just hoping this goes off smoothly. We have about a month to wait on the appointment, so we have time to get ready for it. I'm probably going to push pretty hard for it because I know that nasal sprays and antibiotics have not ever worked for her. I'm just ready for it to stop, and I know she is, too.
Other than those issues, everything went off pretty good. I had to make my oldest daughter, Brooklyn's appointment today for later in June to get her school shots done. I figure that will be a very interesting day. She does not like shots at all. I guess I will have to plan something special for us that day. Anyway, hope everyone has a great weekend!

Good Stuff and Doctor Visit....

I've been so excited all week long! This is Emily's last week to get therapy through EI! Next week, therapy will only be ONE DAY A WEEK!!! I know this may sound bad, but for as long as I can think back, we have been getting therapy Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, which means that we couldn't do anything else on those three days. I'm so ready to be able to say, "Yeah! I can do that Thursday!". lol Emily has also started crawling this last couple of weeks! She is soooo cute! She usually just scoots around on her bottom, but her PT's have been working with her every week on trying to get her to actually crawl. They said that it would help with the walking, too, because she would be learning to alternate her legs. It has just been very exciting to see her start to do this. Also, she has started drinking milk again...whew! I haven't been able to get her to drink milk probably since I took her off of formula. She just hasn't liked it. I've always worried about her calcium levels because of this. I try to give her stuff with calcium in it every day, but some days, it just doesn't happen. She just seems to be growing up on me, and in reality, she is. She will be 3 on Friday. That's hard to believe. It doesn't seem like that much time has gone by since she was born, but so much has happened in that 3 years. Life has completely changed! It just seems like yesterday that I was holding the most beautiful baby girl I had ever seen, and now I am holding the most beautiful little girl I have ever seen. I love looking into those big blue eyes of hers and seeing that smile. I wouldn't take the world for it.

On to another note...this Thursday, we have a doctor's visit. It's just a routine checkup for the most part, but we will also be doing blood work. I dread these appointments so much. She has veins like me...nothing to them. It's so hard to get the blood they need for the complete metabolic tests. For the past year, we have just been having to do a finger stick because they didn't need that much blood, but once a year, I figure we will have to do the complete workup. It's hard on her, and hard on me, as well. I just pray for the nurse to be able to find a good vein. If anybody can, this nurse can. She's the only one that can get blood from Emily, even in the worst situations (like when she got diagnosed with Diabetes and was severely dehydrated). I'm also considering having an extra test done...one that I heard about when Emily had just been diagnosed with Diabetes, but was never done because we quit seeing the hospital doctors shortly after, and it has never been brought up again. Emily was diagnosed at 11 months, and it is a rare thing for a child to be diagnosed that young. There have been some studies recently, and some children have been found to have what they call Genetic Diabetes. If they have this, then they can take their insulin orally...not through a shot. This would just be wonderful! I've never pursued it after leaving the hospital because we've always just been going in to get a small amount of blood, but...no harm in asking if while they are getting a lot anyway, if they can just get a little more to do this test. I'm not keeping my fingers crossed or anything because, just like being diagnosed at a young age like that, it's also a rare thing for them to actually have the genetic kind of Diabetes, but it's worth a shot...no pun intended. Hope everyone has a great day!

Much better...

Yesterday, my husband and I went to Emily's determination of services meeting. It went great! I was so glad to finally see people that I could believe would take care of my daughter and give her what she needs while she is in their care. We also finally got to meet the actual Special Ed director yesterday. The lady that has been handling our case has not been on my good list AT ALL. So glad I don't have to work with her anymore. The therapists were present, along with the preschool teacher, and the principal of the school. It was just great to meet all these people and to see the determined look in their eyes. We will be having another meeting in July because of her Diabetes. We will be looking more closely at what all will need to be done with all of that. Hopefully by then Emily will be on a pump. I discussed this with her doctor at her last visit, and he seemed confident that she would do fine with a pump. OMG this would change our lives. No more shots. May 11 is the appointment, and I am so ready for it. She should be on a saline drip through the pump for a little while to get used to doing the placement and to make sure everything is functioning correctly. Then, I pray to God that it can just be a smooth transition. I'm ready for simple.