We visited our neurologist today. We're going to increase Lily's vigabatrin dose a little bit, and then we are having an MRI on Friday to make sure that the side effects she experienced last time on vigabatrin are not present this time.
We probably won't do an EEG unless we stop seeing spasms. Sigh. That seems so unattainable to me, and it's hard not knowing if Lily still has hypsarrhythmia or not. But, there's no reason to go through the pain and inconvenience (and believe you me, they are inconvenient) without some change in her seizures.
I mentioned that Lily has these "eye seizures" where her eyes dart down & to the left during a cluster of spasms. His explanation is that it is probably an ictal or post-ictal response, not a different kind of seizure. He said that after spasms, the brain is still in such chaos that the firing happens along the same pathways and it's just a "symptom" if you will of her brain calming down. So depressing.
We also got referrals to the dental clinic and the ophthamology clinic.
Other than those things it was massively uneventful. I suppose that's good, but it's also hard to be in this "Well, just keep plugging along" mode. It feels like giving up on finding out and fixing the cause of the seizures, and just "accepting" that this is Lily's lot. That she's stuck with it forever. Suck.
Oh, I did ask about having a muscle biopsy (to rule out a mitochondrial disorder) done during the MRI, and Dr. S thinks that we don't need to do that. He thinks we won't find anything and wants to wait until they have this fancy-schmancy gene array stick thingamadinger that is significantly less invasive but will yield better, and faster, results. Ok, whatever.
The other stress going on is just about money. You may have noticed a few posts regarding fundraising for Lily's therapy. Well, we've tapped out all our resources for Lily's therapies & medications, and the well is dry. She has benefitted so much from ABA therapy. Despite having (arguably) the best insurance in the country, our ABA therapy is only covered about 60%. Hippotherapy is not covered at all, and vigabatrin has to be ordered from Canada (though this is about to change).
All told, we figure we spend about $1,500 a month on therapy and medication for Lily. So we are frantically pursuing any and all kinds of grants, state & federal aid (which there is basically none) and trying to be creative in ways to save money and make money. It's stressful and hard.
In good news though, tonight we went to the Open House at Lily's preschool and she was SO HAPPY to be back! She went ALL over the room, squealing and waving and just generally being happy. It was really wonderful to see her remember her classroom and teacher, and be so excited to be back there. Next Tuesday she starts back and she'll be taking the bus like a big girl on Tuesdays & Thursdays with her brother Hank. They'll be part of the inclusion program together. Wed/Fri I will drive her, but I'm excited to see how the bus goes. I'm also excited to have three hours all to myself on Tue/Thurs!!! What a novelty!
Showing posts with label Little Bit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Little Bit. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
Woefully behind
I am woefully behind updating Lily Bean's blog. In June, Lily completed her first year of Developmental Preschool! She had a fantastic year and we were so blessed to have the teachers and staff that we did. Toward the end of the year, I started talking with the program administrator about developing some parent groups. I began an email group right at the end of the year, and I hope to expand on that, hopefully into a PTA of sorts specifically for the developmental preschool (not just the school at-large).
School starts up in about three weeks, so I'm really looking forward to this. Also exciting is that they are piloting an inclusion program this year! Hank is going to get to go to school with Lily two days per week! I'm am absolutely over the moon about this! I've wanted an inclusion program for them since I knew Lily would be in special ed, but it would've meant moving ot a different school district. We got really lucky with our program admin because he really believes whole-heartedly in inclusion. He says, "Children who learn together, learn to live together." I couldn't agree more. I can't wait to work with him more on some projects toward this goal.
We are having a revision IEP meeting in a couple weeks. We knew that Lily would meet some of her IEP goals over the summer doing ABA therapy, and we were right!!! ABA has been absolutely INCREDIBLE for Lily. She consistently requests items from a field of two using PECS, and we're beginning to expand to a field of three. Soon, we hope to generalize that so she can request items wherever she is. Also, she has learned how to point!! When we began this program back it May, Lily did not have any of the fine motor skills to even form a pointed finger. But look at her now!!!!
We had four year old portraits done of the twins by my dear friend Susan of Whimsical Photo Design. Susan is a friend from Husky Band days, and we'd lost touch over the years. We recently reconnected on Facebook, and when I learned she was a photographer, I was thrilled to have her come up & take these pictures of the kids. They are absolutely stunning, and I am just over the moon to have had her come take them.
Finally, and perhaps most exciting is that Lily has been enjoying hippotherapy since the beginning of June. We travel out to Little Bit Riding Center every week where Lily rides a horse (!!!) for an hour at a time. It is absolutely amazing to see her do this! Lily has incredibly low muscle tone, and we jokingly call her "noodle girl" or "rubber band girl" because she can be so floppy. So to see her sit up so tall, and so strong on the back of a horse is enough to bring this mommy to tears. The video below is from Lily's ASSESSMENT before we ever began therapy. This was her first time EVER on a horse:
Since starting hippotherapy, Lily now climbs up into her highchair unassisted. Climbs onto the couch unassisted. Crawls up the stairs nearly unassisted. Gets down from her carseat unassisted. Gets out of her stroller nearly unassisted. She can (and does!) climb into the bath tub when it's empty, and we're working on shaping that into functional climbing into the tub. Her gross motor development since starting hippotherapy is absolutely astounding. Not only can she do all these things, she does them with complete confidence. And conviction. Oh, did I mention she climbs up on a kitchen chair, and then onto the ktichen table?? Oh yeah, she does that regularly if the chairs aren't pushed in!!!
It has really, really changed our life, and Lily's life for the better. The biggest downside? It's expensive. In fact, ALL of Lily's therapies are expensive. We're fortuante that we have incredible isnurance that covers a portion of Lily's ABA therapy, but all told, at the end of the month we're generally out $1,200 or more for all of her various therapies and medications. (Vigabatrin is not yet FDA approved so we still have to order it from Canada & pay out of pocket for it. A drag, but worth it to see how beneficial it has been.)
School starts up in about three weeks, so I'm really looking forward to this. Also exciting is that they are piloting an inclusion program this year! Hank is going to get to go to school with Lily two days per week! I'm am absolutely over the moon about this! I've wanted an inclusion program for them since I knew Lily would be in special ed, but it would've meant moving ot a different school district. We got really lucky with our program admin because he really believes whole-heartedly in inclusion. He says, "Children who learn together, learn to live together." I couldn't agree more. I can't wait to work with him more on some projects toward this goal.
We are having a revision IEP meeting in a couple weeks. We knew that Lily would meet some of her IEP goals over the summer doing ABA therapy, and we were right!!! ABA has been absolutely INCREDIBLE for Lily. She consistently requests items from a field of two using PECS, and we're beginning to expand to a field of three. Soon, we hope to generalize that so she can request items wherever she is. Also, she has learned how to point!! When we began this program back it May, Lily did not have any of the fine motor skills to even form a pointed finger. But look at her now!!!!
We had four year old portraits done of the twins by my dear friend Susan of Whimsical Photo Design. Susan is a friend from Husky Band days, and we'd lost touch over the years. We recently reconnected on Facebook, and when I learned she was a photographer, I was thrilled to have her come up & take these pictures of the kids. They are absolutely stunning, and I am just over the moon to have had her come take them.
Finally, and perhaps most exciting is that Lily has been enjoying hippotherapy since the beginning of June. We travel out to Little Bit Riding Center every week where Lily rides a horse (!!!) for an hour at a time. It is absolutely amazing to see her do this! Lily has incredibly low muscle tone, and we jokingly call her "noodle girl" or "rubber band girl" because she can be so floppy. So to see her sit up so tall, and so strong on the back of a horse is enough to bring this mommy to tears. The video below is from Lily's ASSESSMENT before we ever began therapy. This was her first time EVER on a horse:
Since starting hippotherapy, Lily now climbs up into her highchair unassisted. Climbs onto the couch unassisted. Crawls up the stairs nearly unassisted. Gets down from her carseat unassisted. Gets out of her stroller nearly unassisted. She can (and does!) climb into the bath tub when it's empty, and we're working on shaping that into functional climbing into the tub. Her gross motor development since starting hippotherapy is absolutely astounding. Not only can she do all these things, she does them with complete confidence. And conviction. Oh, did I mention she climbs up on a kitchen chair, and then onto the ktichen table?? Oh yeah, she does that regularly if the chairs aren't pushed in!!!
It has really, really changed our life, and Lily's life for the better. The biggest downside? It's expensive. In fact, ALL of Lily's therapies are expensive. We're fortuante that we have incredible isnurance that covers a portion of Lily's ABA therapy, but all told, at the end of the month we're generally out $1,200 or more for all of her various therapies and medications. (Vigabatrin is not yet FDA approved so we still have to order it from Canada & pay out of pocket for it. A drag, but worth it to see how beneficial it has been.)
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