I guess it's been a while since I've actually written anything on the blog. Before we left we had a lot going on.
We had discussed doing the Nissen Fundo surgery to help with Ella's reflux, but are currently deciding against the procedure. Ella had a 3rd swallow study so that she can begin VitalStim at Our Children's House (OCH) at Baylor Downtown. They are EXTREMELY backed up in their schedule, but we are on the waiting list. If you know of anywhere in Dallas or North Dallas that does VitalStim let me know, I might be willing to travel if we can get in!! The VitalStim is Ella's feeding therapy, it's one of the reasons that we are postponing the surgery right now. Since the Swallow Study Ella has been cleared to eat 2 oz of baby food (thickened to pudding consistency) just to get her back in the swing of things. We are scheduled to start Speech Therapy THIS Thursday at 9am...it will be at OCH.
We also had a consultation with a second pediatric opthomologist, Dr. Stager, and he suggested the corrective eye surgery for Ella's "lazy" eye. Right now we are dilating her left eye (the "good" one) instead of the patch...which she easily removes and places directly in her mouth. We are going to postpone the surgery until we feel that it's necessary, and right now we just don't feel that it's crucial.
Ella is making GREAT progress!! She is holding her head up better and loving facing forward in her car seat. Joe has claimed that she will be crawling by my birthday (July 6th...in case it isn't already on your calendar!) and so we worked with the Physical Therapist today to get exercises to get her there.
As always ask questions so I know if I've left anything out!! Joe wants me to mention that she gets cuter every day...I think he likes her, A LOT!!
7 comments:
Ella is soooo beautiful.!!! God Bless.. Aden, Jr's aunt Donna
I think Joe's right... Ella does get more beautiful every day! I think holding off on the surgery for the reflux is a good idea... Kinzie has reflux really bad too, but our doctor said she only needed the surgery if her spit-up becomes projectile... like hitting the wall. E-mail me (nwcsoftball@msn.com) and we can talk about the reflux. Has your doctor given you any suggestions to help her with it?? Love you guys!! Ashley and Kinzie
I found this link. Hopefully it will help. http://www.vitalstim.com/
BullseyePro/search.asp?section
=patient
I inserted hard returns after .com/ and section.
If you need help with it, please let me know and I'll resend it to you.
I have a friend whose daughter is also receiving VitalStim therapy. I emailed to get her information. She said they take theirs at Presby Plano. They were also on a waiting list for about 4 weeks. She said their therapist was wonderful and gave me her name and the number.
Robynne Elkin
972-981-8185
My friend's name is Terri Beauchamp and her website is http://www.snickerdoodles.net
Hope this helps.
Kristi Cooper
So many things to say here.
Robynne Elkine at Plano Presby is awesome. totally recommend her.
I actually use her best friend Jennifer Meyer and she comes to my house! She's private and used to run the feeding clinic at TWU. You can go to her house and have private therapy if insurance pays for it and if she's taking clients.
The Nissen: Well, we decided against it and almost lost our child. But...our son aspirated both ways. (this is a huge deal on P2P website) might be worth posting to get everyone's opinion.
We ended up going back and doing it and have never regretted it.
I know....you'll hear it all.
ANYTIME ANDREA...call me! K?
email direct and let's talk.
HUGE HUGS!!!!
A
Ohh, one more thing.
VITAL STIM at OUR CHILREN's HOUSE IN ALLEN, TX.
Kinda far....but they have it as well!
Hi Andrea and Joe and Ella!
I try to keep up with what's going on with you guys via the blog. Congratulations on the news of little Mitchell number two on the way!! (Perhaps a Valentine's Day present is in store?!) :-)
Anyway, I was reading that you may need to do surgery for Ella's lazy eye and I wanted to encourage you. My youngest sister had to have that same surgery as a child. Actually, she had it multiple times over her growing years (the eye muscle will grow stronger again as Ella grows). Unfortunately my parents waited perhaps a little too long to do it the first time. My sister (Andrea, BTW) has always had trouble getting her brain to integrate the images her eyes make into one clear picture. To really have it work right, she still needs prisms in her glasses. So, depending on what exactly the docs are telling you, earlier is often better in order to train the brain to integrate info. correctly. Well, that's just the two cents of info. I have on things - hope it can be of help!
It is always encouraging to see you all doing so well and growing so much! The Lord surely has a great testimony in your sweet family! We keep you in our prayers!
In Christ,
Ione (& Jeff & Gwyneth) Wise
:-)
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