Saturday!

Don't you love my original post titles? :-) Sorry, but I couldn't think of anything...my brain is still a little fried from Friday, at least that's what I'm claiming while I still can!

Saturday Joel and I were able to go to Six Flags on behalf of Jones Blair, the company Joel works for. They were having a company picnic there Saturday night and gave free tickets to everyone who was able to go. We also got a free sports bottle with free refills all day long. It was great! I love Six Flags and jump at the chance to go any time I get! Most of all if was great to just get away with Joel and have a long date. As tired as I was from Friday I was really looking forward to the day.

Christina babysat Grant and Kate for us. She is great with them and they love "Aunt Nina"! Here are a few pics she snapped while we were gone:

Kate, all on her own, going to bed in the dining room. Of course she didn't stay there long but she did put the pillows and her blanket and her snugglies there. She is silly.

Grant pretending with play food. I love it!

Friday Night!

As mentioned in my last post all my family came over to our house Friday night in honor of my brother Jonathan being home from Iraq. He's home on a 2 week leave and will go back to Iraq October 7. We all had a great time of hanging out and eating tacos!

Jon, Christina, "Nana" Charlene, Daniel, David, and Blair

Kate and Aunt Brendin with their matching dogs! :-) Kate's dog is one of 4 stuffed dogs that she sleeps with every night (and nap). She really is crazy about dogs. Brendin brought Piper over and it is crazy how she is the same as Kate's doggie!

Jennifer, Christina, and me

My mom, Charlene, and Jon & Blair

The Brothers: Shawn, Joel, Daniel, Jon, and David. I can officially say now that all 3 of my little brothers are now my "little big brothers" as they are all taller than me!

Friday's events unfolding...

This post is coming later than I had hoped. Several of you already know the unfortunate events of Friday but you can still enjoy the cute picture of Grant!

Grant, before taking the liquid medicine and 6 failed IV attempts

So here are the events as they unfolded: Friday started bright and early with the three of us in the car by 7am. My mom watched Kate for me so it was just Grant and me going to the hospital. We made it to the hospital in great time and without Grant asking for breakfast. He couldn't eat or drink anything after midnight Thursday. So I was nervous as to how he would do without his banana and water first thing in the morning. He did ask to "ea" and signed "eat" two minutes after he woke up but I simply told him that the doctor said "No breakfast before we go to the hospital." He just listened to my answer and I never heard another word about breakfast!

When the nurse saw that Grant was a little guy she suggested we try a liquid form of sedation first instead of an IV. I thought it was a great idea because I was already apprehensive as to how he would do with getting an IV. The nurse told me if the liquid didn't work then we would have to do an IV. I understood that hoping the liquid would do the trick.

He did not react well at all to the liquid. He was very drugged but very restless at the same time. His body would not be still and since he was so drugged he was very floppy and had very little control over his body movements. So the nurse tried to get an IV started after 20-25 minutes of Grant being on the liquid. She couldn't get it in and in the process Grant fell asleep. Wonderful we thought! After 10 minutes the nurse scooped him up and brought him back to the MRI room.

Five minutes later I hear Grant screaming and the nurse coming back into the room getting the IV stuff and then headed back to Grant, still in the MRI room. I continue to hear him screaming. I can barely see through the doors of the MRI room. I see two nurses and I'm assuming the MRI tech messing with his arm and then his leg. I felt helpless because I didn't know what was going on with Grant and there was no one to talk to at the front desk. And the MRI room says all over the doors "Authorized Personel Only". So I call my mom, and RN, and tell her what is going on. She says to march in there and tell them I want to know what is going on. So I did, well, I didn't exactly march in there but I did get their attention. One nurse quickly came to me and told me I couldn't be in there and I told her I wanted to know what was going on. She said that he woke up in the process of getting him hooked up to monitors and so then they proceeded to get an IV going. She said, "I'm not just saying this but we're pretty good at this. We're trying but his veins keep blowing." So she goes back in with Grant while I'm trying not to lose it.

10 minutes later the nurse brings Grant to me and says, "We couldn't get it. We tried 4 times." Actually it was 6. It was a rather tense 15 more minutes as I was trying to keep my cool while man handling Grant. He was crying, drugged, restless, and there was nothing I could do to help him other than try to keep him from hurting himself by flopping around everywhere.

During those 15 minutes I found out:
- every time they tried to start an IV Grant's veins would blow (still not exactly sure what that means except that it prevents the IV to work)
- IV sedation is what they do in most cases for MRI's
- Grant had a "bad reaction" to the liquid, a reaction no one could know without trying it 1st
- at the latest, the medication would be completely worn off by the next morning. "Great," I thought sarcastically to myself.
- we would have to reschedule the MRI for when an Anestisiologist could sedate him
- they don't have an Anestisiologist right now because they normally don't need one for these type of procedures
- that we were in for a long and hard time until this medicine wore off
- caffiene will help offset the medicine so we gave Grant as much coke as he would drink. It did help some.

So we finally make it to the car. I loose it. I was drained emotionally and physically. I call Joel and he can't talk because he just had a major spill. That's when I really loose it. I call my mom and can hardly talk. She says to go home and she will bring Kate to me. Somehow I didn't loose it when talking next to my good friend Tammy, who called earlier just after the nurse had brought Grant back to me. I wasn't able to take the call obviously.

We get home and before bringing him in the house, as he had fallen asleep for most of the way home, I put his mattress on the floor then bring him in. He woke up and would not go back to sleep. He is still in the same state that he was since 9:20am and it's now after 11am: drugged, restless, whiny/crying, eyes half open, talking asking about Kate and asking for me to sing his favorite song to him. My mom was here by now and I am so thankful she was there with me and that Kate was taking her nap. After an hour of being at home still man handling Grant, I decide to drive around in the car with the hopes of him falling asleep in his carseat. That worked for 35 minutes. By the time we came home we could tell the medicine was starting to wear off and by 3pm we were closing the door to his room as he was falling asleep on his own in his own bed. Praise the Lord!

Joel came home and my mom left taking Kate with her. I had the best nap ever while Grant slept until after 4:30! When he woke up most of the the medicine had worn off. The only thing was his balance was still a little off. We had several close calls of him hurting himself very badly by falling or bumping into something. We were on hard core "Grant watch".

So no MRI on Friday and he is scheduled for Dec. 10 with an Anesthesiologist present. That day they will put a mask on him that will knock him out and then they will get an IV going to keep him knocked out while the do the MRI. The medicine given through the mask will make his veins swell a little so the IV that day should not be a problem.

December 10 seems like a long time from now but Tammy said that it is good: We will need that much time to recover from Friday. That's perspective for you. When I was talking to her on the way home from the hospital I told her, "I have all my family coming over for dinner tonight in honor of my brother home for a 2 week leave from Iraq!" She calmly said, "Good. That's good." And it was very good! Having them here getting my mind off of the days' events, enjoying family, and letting them love on Grant was what I needed.

I know many of you were praying for Grant on Friday. Thank you for your prayers! I know they really helped in me getting through the day and for the medicine not talking until the next day to wear off! I'm not really sure why things happened the way they did but I will share one more thing and then I am done with this post - I promise! - Throughout the whole day on Friday what kept going through my mind was this "I am not in control of anything but rather He who holds all things in His hands." When Joel's sister Sarah and her husband Lance went back home to Mexico they had some unexpected events happen on their way home that were rather inconvenient. In their email letting everyone know they had finally made it home that is what they said and it really stuck out in my mind. Now I know why.

God is in control and I am not going to let Satan have victory in the midst of an awful day. I am thankful for the sweet time I had with Grant before 9:20 and thankful for all of my faithful friends and family that God has surrounded me with to uphold me during times like this. He is a good God and with that comes much peace and comfort, especially during an awful day like Friday!

Friday!

Grant is scheduled to have an MRI this coming Friday, Sept. 25. Please keep him in your prayers that morning if you think of us!

Fun with Friends at the Zoo!

Last Saturday we went to the Dallas Zoo with our good friends Sara and Jason and their daughter Emma Kate. It was a last minute plan on Friday night and we were glad it worked out for all of us to go.

The Girls: Emma Kate, Sara, Me, and Kate. Jason is the crazy guy in the back. ;-)

We went on the carosel for the first time and Kate and Grant would not stop laughing! Emma loved it, too. The kept asking and signing "more" when it was over. Next time...

Of course we had to play in the water area. They love the water and it's so much fun for them to cool off.

The Boys: Grant, Joel, and Jason

Ahh, what a fun day. We love going to the Zoo. Thanks, Sara and Jason, for going with us! We will have to go again soon!

Come On, Horse!

The other day Kate got the idea to "lead" her horse around the living room. It was so cute that I had to snap a picture of her. She loves her pink rocking horse from Aunt Jenni!

Sit 'n Spinning!

I've always thought it would be cool to have one of these for the kids so when I was at Divine Consign last month I picked one up. I have to admit the music is very annoying and won't stop until about 5 minutes after the kids have stopped spinning. There are very few musical toys that actually annoy me so this one is pretty bad. I think next Spring this one will be in Divine Consign and I will look for a non-musical one!

Both of them like to spin on it and I am surprised that Kate new exactly what to do. It's great sensory input for Grant, especially, and I'm happy that he likes it.

Fun with Friends

A few weeks ago we had some friends over. Here are a few pics of them playing dress up. Kate really got into it. Grant really doesn't get the idea of dressing up. Boy thing or just Grant? I'm not sure.

Fireman Kate

Emma the Pirate

Liam, the Cute One

Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children

Today Joel, Grant, and I were at TSRHC from 7:55am til 1:45pm - whew, that makes for a long day! Thank you, Nana, for watching Kate!

We went to the Rainbow Clinic to see a developmental pediatrician in the hopes of finding answers to why Grant is delayed and any further direction in intervention. This appointment was really amazing how it came to be: One day about 7-8 weeks ago my mom happened to be working with a nurse who she normally doesn't work with. They started talking and this nurse mentioned how her husband is a doctor and that he works with kids who are developmentally delayed. My mom was like, "OMG, my grandson is developmentally delayed!" So they continued talking and come to find out her husband is THE director of the Rainbow Clinic at TSRHC! So she said she'd call my mom later and get the info she needed for referring Grant. Since Grant had been there previously she said it shouldn't be too hard for him to get an appointment. Pretty cool, huh?

I knew we might be there for a few hours this morning but didn't quite anticipate it to be that long! We saw 10 different people during the time we were there in this order: nurse coordinator, certified nurse practitioner, dietitian, occupational therapist, physical therapist, Dr. Adams - the developmental pediatrician, (we were in the same room for 4 hours!) then onto family service coordinator, social worker, radiology nurse, and finally Kevin in orthotics department.

While I can't say that we came away with new and profound insight, we did feel it was a worthy trip. Today was mostly Joel and I answering a bunch of questions about Grant, his development, his strengths, weaknesses, current goals, our concerns, his diet, birth, behavior, and more. Basically, anything and everything to do with our little guy. Speaking of which we have had a little fever bug at our house starting with Kate last Thursday evening. She threw up once that night and then had a fever all day Friday. We thought that was the end of it until Grant came home from school with a very low fever on Tuesday and as the day went on it was clear he had something going on, too. I was afraid I would have to reschedule our appointment this morning because he was sick but I really hated to miss it. So I gave him some Tylenol and a decent breakfast (in the car) and off we went - at 6:50 this morning! The Tylenol helped some but he was pretty sleepy and not his usual curious and busy self. If you know Grant at all you know this was a HUGE blessing considering the fact we were in the same patient room for over 4 hours!!! Thank you, Lord, for this timing of illness! :-) They kept saying to us, looking at our notes previously sent in "It says here he's a pretty busy boy but he sure doesn't seem very active!" We kept reassuring them that this isn't "normal" Grant and that he is a little 'under the weather'!

We will see Dr. Adams again in November. In the meantime, he is going to get info from Grant's school, his PT, OT, and SLP both at school and private. He wants Grant to have an MRI done and an extensive hearing exam done before we see him again. We scheduled the MRI for Friday, Sept. 26, a little over a week from now. Also, he got a new pair of orthotics for his shoes! He has had a pair for over a year now and they have helped his balance, even though he still falls a lot. He is about to grow out of his current pair and I was pretty sure we wouldn't be getting a new pair - if I told you how much they cost you might croak! So...we are thankful for this new pair and hope that Grant's feet will respond well to them. We'll see.

Dr. Adams said Grant does seem to fit Dyspraxia, which is what his private PT and OT diagnosed him with last summer. He also said that he doesn't see him on the Autism spectrum, confirming what quite a few people have told us previously. As to the rest, he said we'll talk again when Grant's folder is about 3 inches thick instead of the 1/2 inch thickness it is now, basically, he needs to get some more background on him from the people who have worked with him and who work with him presently, as well as get results from the MRI. So I anticipate next's appointment to be less questions and more directional. They promised it won't be as long as today!

For those of you not familiar with Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, there is no charge for any service to patients. They are supported through donations and volunteers. This is why it really was a big deal for us today, as we really feel priviledged and blessed to have this opportunity. I'm anxious for November to come when we meet again with Dr. Adams. Please keep Grant in your prayers next Friday, Sept. 26! He will have an MRI that morning. I'll keep you posted on how he does!

Back to School!

Grant's first day of school for 2008-2009 School Year!

Grant attends Liberty Grove Elementary in Rowlett to the Preschool Program for Children with Disabilities. It's for children 3-5 years old who are delayed significantly enough for it to be considered a disability. He started preschool in January 2007 right after he turned 3 (12/22). So for him it was back to school, as he started school a year and a half ago. He goes every day, Monday through Friday, from 8am-11am.

He has the same teacher and teacher's aides that he has had since he started. Ms. Patsy is his teacher and Grant loves her! She is very sweet and we are so grateful that we share a common faith in the Lord. This picture was taken at the end of last year, just a few months ago:

The first few weeks have gone great. He is happy to be back in school again. Every day when I pick him up I always ask him how his day was, what did he do, was he a good boy, did he play with Jacky (his little buddy), etc. The first year I didn't get any response from him at all other than him listening to me. But everyday I would always talk to him as if he would talk back. Sometime last year, I think it was early spring, he started nodding his head "yes" to certain questions and would give me some verbal response, although most times I couldn't understand him - but he was trying and he would listen.

This year is so awesome: on the way home from the first day I asked him my usual questions and guess what! He pretty much answered, or tried to answer, all of my questions - and for the most part I understood him! Our conversation went like this:

Me: Grant, did you have a good day?
Grant: nods head
Me: What did you do?
Grant: verbal response but not understandable
Me: Did you have a snack?
Grant: nods head
Me: What did you have?
Grant, smiling: Ta tar! (crackers)
Me: Oooh, you had crackers?
Grant: nods head yes
Me: Did you work with Ms. Patsy?
Grant: nods head yes
Me: What did you do?
Grant, smiling again and gesturing with fingers and thumb opening and closing: ti tors
Me: what?
Grant: ti tors!
Me: color?
Grant: shakes head no
Me: what, say it again?
Grant: TI TORS!
Finally I get it: Scissors??
Grant, happy and smiling: nods head yes

The next day I checked with Patsy if he had crackers for snack and if he worked with her on cutting and sure enough he had! Wow. This has been what it is like everyday since August 25 and I am loving it. You could say this is one of the first times that I have had an ongoing conversation, going back and forth, where we both are understanding each other. It is beautiful and I love talking with my son. Sometimes when I don't understand him I'll say what I think he is trying to say and if I'm wrong he will quickly shake his head "no" and then try again. Sometimes he gets frustrated with me when I don't understand him and says it again in his growly voice (his voice when he is frustrated and not being understood). He is really trying so hard to communicate and talk to me. I am totally loving it!!!