Kitty, botox and mytobii

First of all, can you spot the cat? That is Mia. Watching me from afar.

She and Sarah are always watching me. Blue eyes follow me everywhere. Two pairs of them. When my boys are home there are an additional two pairs of eyes. But theirs are green. So then I have four green eyes and four blue ones. It rounds out nicely, don't you think?

Ok now, moving right along...Sarah had botox injections in her hamstrings almost 2 weeks ago. I almost cancelled the appointment because sometimes it helps and sometimes it doesn't seem to. But at the last moment I kept the appointment. And today there were 3 instances where I can say "I think the botox is kicking in!" which for me is very exciting!

Sarah had riding today and she did not fuss when we stretched her over the horse OR when we took her off. This tells me it is much more comfortable for her. Hooray! Secondly, well, when I take her out of the car I use her heels that stick out to push the door shut, but this time, they weren't sticking out, her legs were flat, no bends at the knees! Another hooray! And thirdly, when I placed her in her bath chair, she was sitting straight up, higher than I ever saw her, no tight hamstrings pulling her down into a slump. Woohoo!

So on to the Mytobii. It has been approved by her health insurance!!!!!!!!!! Not her primary, because apparently, they don't seem to think it is necessary for a human being to be able communicate. However, each month I pay a premium to keep her medicaid insurance and this insurance pulled through for us. I am so grateful. I will never grumble about paying those monthly premiums again-lol. So, in about a month we should have the device and I will be in training sessions. Eyegaze is what it will be all about for my girl right now.




The IPad is next, but that will be another post, one thing at a time :)

So that's the good news for our sweetie.

And the icing on the cake? Calls tonight from both my boys checking in on their mamma. They are both doing awesome, I miss them so.

Panoramics? Not in this Lifetime!

Well, we went to the orthodontist to try to get panoramic xrays of Sarah's teeth. Lately, she doesn't have much tolerance for entering a building and then waiting. She seems to figure that if we are going to go to all the trouble of getting her IN that building, then the least we can do is walk around once we get in there. She wants a tour!
So when I pulled up the the office building, my heart sank. There were a lot of cars in the parking lot, meaning, there were lots of people waiting in the waiting room. Which means it will be crowded and the wait will be long. Uggh. I really did not want to do this. When Sarah gets mad, she yells and shakes her fist and tightens her body, thus effectively sliding herself out of the wheelchair. Not good. And then I am trying to get her waist bent back into the chair she is falling out of...it is not a pretty sight.

But in we went. I had one trick in my Vera Bradley bag (gift from Jimmy). I had some books to read to her while we waited.

The doors to this orthodontist are heavy, there is a threshold at each door and they do not open automatically. Grrrrr. So I need help getting her in. Grrr. But we made it and entered the waiting room. It was packed with patients and parents and it was completely quiet. Not a noise. Silent. Oh boy.

But my girl surprised me. She took a look around and was fascinated by the lights in the ceiling. I whipped out 'One Fish, Two Fish' by Dr. Seuss and everyone in that room was treated to the story as I read aloud to keep her entertained. Oh well, it worked.

Eventually we made it to the panoramic room and she was watching us carefully as we set up for her xrays. However, as soon as the machine started revolving around her head, she started bucking like a bronco. She yelled, shook the fist and basically told us where to go. I stopped the procedure and that was that.

No panoramics for Sarah. Next step: the oral surgeon next week to see what he thinks about pulling a permanent tooth right behind her front teeth. It's pushing the front teeth forward. Not good.

So glad that is over and I am curious to see what the oral surgeon thinks.

Where I have been

On. The. Couch. With a pinched L2 nerve. Ow. It's been 11 days now and the steroids are starting to make a difference. I am back to work. Yay! The interesting thing is that even though I could not sit or stand without a lot of pain, lifting Sarah was painless. How weird is that?
I haven't even picked up my camera in all this time. And, seriously, how weird is that?

It's all strange. All I did was lean to my left to pick up the TV remote off the couch and I had a searing pain in my left lower back. And it took up residence, for days and days. The pain made me nauseaus and pretty much, I was good for nothing.

But, thanks to an awesome doctor and the almighty steroids, I am doing much better. Five more days of those bad babies and I should be all set.

So, I'll be checking in soon, with something more interesting to talk about.

Her chair

This is 'Sarah's chair'. An old-fashioned, probably antique, rocking chair. This is where she sits, when she is sitting. This is her third one.

For Sarah's 3rd birthday, I got her a little orange and purple canvas rocking chair. It was cute, tiny and she loved it. She loved it right away. I remember her huge smile when she realized she could rock it herself. That little chair lasted about 2 years before she outgrew it:



(Seriously, how cute is john here, the dimples, the ears, the teeth? Oh my)

And then it was replaced with a larger pretty white rocking chair with flowers painted on it:



This chair lasted even longer, until she was about 10 years old. And now she has her black rocking chair. It was given to Sarah by one of my girlfriends. It had been her mother's, before she passed away. She said her mother would have loved for Sarah to have it. And Sarah loves her chair.

I like it, rather than putting her in a wheelchair. Sarah can shift her weight forward and backward as she rocks, which helps in preventing skin breakdown. I do tuck a pillow under her right arm to keep her from leaning to the right.

So that's why a lot of Sarah's pictures are of her in her chair. In case you were wondering :)