The House of Doo

The House of Doo

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Day 1 of PT

Yesterday was Colt's first day of physical therapy.  It was at 8 am and I was pretty convinced it was going to be a disaster.  Some days, Colt wakes up in an absolutely brilliant mood.  Others, it is the total opposite.  I suppose that is anyone, but anyway, I was just hoping it was a good mood day.  Luckily, it was.  Jeannie is the physical therapist, and she said he did great for the first 30 minutes.  The second half, he started to get a bit rambunctious, but hey, he's a two year old boy.  Their attention span is only so long.  About halfway through the session, Jeannie came out and got a tiny little step-stool out of the bathroom and took it in the room with them.  They were working on stepping up without holding anyone's hand.  They have steps, but Colt couldn't use those, so she took in a smaller one.  The smaller one is only about 3-4" tall.  After a while, she said he stepped up on the small step without holding her hand!  It sounds silly to you, I am sure, but Colt has never been able to do that!  He still would not step off without holding on to something, but I am positive they will get there soon.  Eventually, he'll be able to do the steps without sitting down and sliding down on his butt, I am sure of it.  I also excited about them teaching him to do things like jump, pull up and down his own pants, and helping him work on his balance, so he can run and jump and play like the other kids.  I mentioned before, he tests about 18 months behind so this is much needed.  Oh, how I wish we had been able to do this sooner.  :) 

After therapy, we had breakfast at the high class establishment known as Waffle House.  Colt ate an entire waffle and a side of bacon and then wanted more!  He's a fan, just like his mommy.  ;)  We also got in some quality time at the playground, right before I twisted my ankle so bad I was in tears.  Today it is nice and blue.  Bah. 

Tomorrow has been one month since we saw the geneticist.  I am oh-so-anxiously awaiting that call.  In the next week or so, we should also be hearing from the school system.  They will be arranging to test Colt and see if he "qualifies" for preschool.  No doubt he will due to the severe speech delay.  He is steadily catching up, which is wonderful, but is still behind.  Eventually, when he catches up (assuming there is nothing else holding him back) he can "test out" or graduate from the special ed preschool.  So, that is where we stand today.  Thanks for keeping up with our wild boy!

 My Waffle House buddy!
 All smiles at the playground.
My little Picasso loves to draw!

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Life is a Rollercoaster.

I haven't posted much about my stepdad, Allen, lately.  He was going to Emory for his cancer treatment and wasn't very happy with his doctor there.  They had pretty much "written him off."  The doctor didn't seem to want to fight for Allen and I really think that's a darn shame.  This past Thursday, he had his first appointment at Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Atlanta.  He had appointments Thursday, Friday, and yesterday (Monday).  He had lots of tests and blood work and also a PET scan.  This is a scan that can see cancer pretty much anywhere in your body.  Yesterday, he went back to find out the results and his treatment plan.  I mentioned a while back that there was a spot on his lung.  They confirmed that this spot was indeed cancer.  However, the good news is that the spot is only on the outside and can be treated.  There are two other tumors, both already being treated at Emory.  These two are the difficult ones.  They are in the cavity left by the 90% of his pancreas that has already been removed.  They also are wrapped around other organs now, including his stomach, liver, intestines, and what is left of his pancreas. They decided to administer chemo through pill form and they will also do radiation.  At Emory, they refused to do radiation because they were afraid it would damage his organs too much.  At CTCA, they have a "state of the art" machine and they can "dial down" the radiation, so as not to damage the organs, or do very little damage.  That all sounds like really bad news, but really, there is good news.  Most pancreatic cancer does not respond to chemo, however, Allen's is responding well.  At Emory, his last blood test showed that his "cancer numbers" were VERY low, almost normal.  37 is normal, his was 44.  Well, he has been off chemo (because they were going to change the form of chemo he was getting) and in those couple of weeks, the cancer number went up to 120.  This is good news because the chemo is working.  Hopefully this time, adding in radiation may be just what he needs to jump start the cancer killing even more.  It may not ever work to the point of getting rid of it completely, they say, HOWEVER, I know God is still in the miracle business.  So, please, please, please keep Allen and mom in your prayers.  Also, tomorrow is his birthday and he will spend it getting fitted for the radiation machine.  :/

Tomorrow, Colt starts his physical therapy.  The ONLY spot they have open is at 8 a.m.  I don't foresee this going well.  ;)  I will let you know.  Ha!  He has gotten to be quite the chatterbox recently.  Granted, many times, he repeats the same word over and over but it still sounds lovely to me.  The most exciting new "word" for us is that Colt is trying to say his own name.  We have been trying to get him to say it for months!  His version of his name is "Gut."  BAHAHA.  Before when you would ask him his name, he would point at his cheek.  That is his way of saying "Colt," almost like his sign for himself.  He still points at his cheek, but now will say "Gut."  It is seriously adorable.  This morning, the first thing he did was stand on his stepstool, look at his face in the mirror, point at himself and say "GUT!" Ha.  I love it.  :) 

WARNING!  PARENTAL TMI TO FOLLOW.  ;) We've also been getting consistent #1 and #2 in the potty.  He is doing great!  The problem is that I can't get him to tell me BEFORE he needs to go #1.  We were using M&Ms as rewards and I saw somewhere to stop giving them every time they go, but to only give them when they TELL you they need to go.  That is my next plan of action though he doesn't seem to understand when I explain that to him. Does anyone have any other suggestions?  I don't think the sticker chart will work for Colt, he isn't quite "there" yet. 

Sunday was the 18th birthday of my awesome nephew, Tucker.  I cannot believe he is 18.  Today was the first day of his senior year of high school.  Wow!  The same day, our dear friend and "adopted son," Trey, turned 20.  Also that day, Ryan drove Trey back to college in Atlanta.  I will miss his smiling face around the house and pray that he has a good and successful second year of college at Georgia State. 

I mentioned in the last blog that we "leased to own" our house.  I have already regretted that decision and am sick about it.  However, I love that we are not having to pay that mortgage anymore.  I pray that it will get better because the first two weeks or so have already become a miserable nightmare.  If you want to know what I mean, just drive by and look at my house.  Oh my gosh. 

Life is a rollercoaster for sure.  A great big freakin' rollercoaster.  I will end this blog with some of the highs of said rollercoaster. 
 My boys, ready for church!
 Birthday buddies!
 Our family.
 Colt FINALLY acknowledges Claire!
My dear friend Maggie stopped by to see us, all the way from Indianapolis!

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Answered Prayers.

We have had quite a few prayers answered recently that I am excited to share!

I have mentioned before that Colt is finally starting to talk!  He is saying (or at least attempting to say) so many words I have lost count!  One of his favorites is lawnmower.  Ha!  I mean, when this kid tries, he tries 150%!  He can say just about anyone's name.  He still will not say his own name or even try to say it.  Some of his new words include: outside, Arby's, gosh (not my favorite), pool, Roxie, shoes, dogs, more (probably my favorite, it is so cute!), please, cheese, doctor, eye doctor (specific!), and on and on.  I am so proud!!  His little voice is so cute!  He still signs a lot and sometimes signs and says a word at the same time.  I love that.  He has started to sign "thank you!" without being asked and at appropriate times.  This boy has manners.  ;)  Anyway, this is a HUGE answer to prayers!!!

Also, we've been praying to sell our house for months.  Well, we haven't exactly sold it, but we have accepted an offer to "lease to own."  It is NOT what I wanted to do at all, but I am super excited to not have to pay that mortgage anymore!  We have a two year agreement with this couple and hope it works out so that they can buy it.  If not, we got a big enough deposit that it will be okay if they don't.  ;)  If they buy it, they get the deposit back to put towards the down payment on the purchase, if they don't buy it, we get to keep it.  They are a retired couple from Michigan and seem to be excited to be here living in the house.  I know they will take good care of it.  Either way, with the bills we continue to get from all of Colt's medical testing, we are thrilled to not have to make that payment anymore. :)

Speaking of, we are 10 days shy of our one month mark with the geneticist.  I am hoping the results come back a bit early, but if not, we will continue to wait.  So, that's where we stand these days.  I hope this blog finds you happy and healthy.  Thank you for sending up prayers for us!  They work!!  :)

 Just a swingin'
 Friday night date with Mommy!
 Sunset from Pawpaw's farm.
Colt seems thrilled with our date. 

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Positives.

I haven't posted a positive post in a while and wanted to catch you guys up on the new and exciting things that we are hearing from Colt. 

He still isn't saying words together yet, however, he is saying MANY new words!  Granted, they might not sound like much to anyone but us, but we are counting them as words!  Colt can say almost anyone in his family's name, especially the simpler ones.  He says mama and dada (and sometimes mommy and daddy!), mimi, moomoo, nana, gaga, Amie, Tucker, pawpaw, gigi, papa, lo-lo (Lauren), o-dee (Jody), ee-ahh (Leah), booboo (this is both Daniel and Tanner) and he says eee! for his aunt Chelsea and babysitter Chelsey.  He surprised us the other day and said "more!" without being prompted.  He says peepee (yay!), boo boo, baby, bottle, bubble, "oool!" for school, eat (surprise!), and please/cheese (they are very similar!).  He says oon for moon, bye!, and makes all kinds of animal noises.  I feel like there are more, but now that I am trying to think of them, I am blanking out.  He will say the alphabet with help, and I videotaped him this morning on the way to school.  He does his best talking in the car. ;)  Oh!  This morning, I was putting him in the car and he pointed and said "BIBLE!" plain as day.  He was right, my Bible was in the floorboard.  (don't judge me!)

His little voice is the most beautiful music I have ever heard. 

I mentioned a while back that we had an Occupational Therapy/Physical Therapy evaluation done.  Yesterday, I got his scores back.  He is 33 1/2 months old (specific, I know, but that is important here.)  For Occupational Therapy, he scored as a 27 month old should.  That is a little behind, but nothing terribly concerning. 

Now, Physical Therapy has two different sections - stationary age and locomotion age.  Stationary age is his ability to maintain his center of gravity/balance while stationary or not moving.  His locomotion age is the same, but while moving and doing things like climbing steps/walking/jumping and the like.  Now, for his stationary age, he scored 21 months.  that is about a year behind where he should be.  For his locomotion age, he scored 18 months.  He is over a year behind there.  So, obviously the problem is with his balance.  I think that totally makes sense seeing as for the first two years of his life, he couldn't see things the way they really were.  For many months, he had double vision even.  Cross your eyes and see how easy it is to walk up stairs.  Makes sense to me that he would be behind.  On top of that, he has chronic double ear infections which can also mess with your balance.  So.  That makes a lot of sense.  He has been prescribed Physical Therapy, but we must wait for the program to get a "Doctor's Orders" to make it official. 

Still no answers from the geneticist, but we are only a week out from the test and she said about a month.  I just wanted to share some of those things with you guys.  :)  I'll also share some pictures, you know I always do.  :)