Thursday, February 25, 2010

Busy, Busy....

Well it has been quite some time since I have last blogged.  These past two weeks and going into this week have been and will be busy weeks. We have had a few extra appointments than the typical two or three at Children's Hospital every week.  Vinny had a speech therapist come to the house to evaluate him.  They seem very positive that he is in the right direction.  He babbles a lot and has been making many vowel and constanant sounds.  We try to get him to say Dada and he responds to us with "da" :)....which of course makes Tony happy.  Why is it children always say dada first even though its usually primarily mama that is around them?  Oh well, I guess.  I'm just glad he is trying.

Like I mentioned, we spend lots of time at Childrens for Vinnys OT and PT appointments.  He has been doing very well.  For the first time since he has been born, he is starting to enjoy tummy time.  He is really trying to make an effort to get up on his elbows and hands and move around.  I am so proud of him.  He is becoming stronger everyday and it's just wonderful.   I look forward to seeing him advance more and more in the future.  It will take time, but I know he can do it.

Just last week Vinny saw a physical medicine doctor.  A piece of me does not feel comfortable with what the doctor had to say and offer.  I guess it is nothing serious or anything that; I just had a weird feeling about it all.  First the doctor mentioned something about considering Vinny as having CP for "insurance reasons"....whatever that means.  I guess it was just a new term for me that caught me off guard a bit.  When I think of Vinny and his diagnosis, I just think of him having HPE; not HPE and CP.  Anyways, the doctor also suggested that Vinny start taking Baclofen to help with his tone and spasticity.  I'm not too keen on this because I really didn't want Vinny to have to rely on a drug for the rest of his life.  On the other hand, I want what is best for him, and will do anything that needs to be done to help him in any way.  I struggled with filling the prescription until I had gone to mass on Sunday; and the priest litterly said "fill the prescription, it will help" during his homoly.  WOW!  Of course he was referring to the bible as the prescription and listening to the bible will help you.....either way, it was the reassurance I needed that it was okay to fill the prescription for Vinny.  Its amazing how those things happen sometimes.  So Vinny is now on Baclofen.  I will update on how it is going in upcoming blogs.

Also going on in the Kroll lives is a little bit of construction.  Tony (and Jake 3y.o) started construction on the boys room.  It is coming along very nicely.  I can't wait to have them in their own room together.  It will make life much easier and give Tony and I an opportunity to get our together time back to normal like it was before we moved here.  Tony and I like to collect TV sitcoms, such as Friends, and enjoy relaxing on the couch together and watching them after the boys go to bed.  So, I purchased the next season of How I Met Your Mother for us to start when construction is completed.  I am really excited.  I will post pics of Jake and Vinnys new room once completed. 

Also taking up a lot of time these days is my school work.  Since I last blogged, I have started my classes in Medical Transcription.  Everything is going well and am receiving A's and B's as of right now.  It is quite a challenge trying to get school work done between nap times and after the boys go to bed at night....but I am managing.  I am just looking forward to having completed it all and being able to contribute financially to our family.

Well, I hope this is just one of many more blogs to come.  Its so nice to have a place to unload sometimes.

Stay tuned........... :)

2 comments:

  1. Hi Gina,

    I am so excited to hear how well Vinny is doing! I hope he continues to defy the odds!

    I also wanted to mention that HPE is really under the classification of CP. It's not that Vinny has CP AND HPE, it's just that CP is a general umbrella term for movement disorders, and HPE often is accompanied by problems with movement (spasticity, difficulty walking, etc). So don't feel that this is ANOTHER diagnosis for Vinny to carry around. The reason the doc mentioned "insurance" is that almost nobody has heard of HPE, but everyone has heard of CP. So if you are trying to fight for a wheelchair, for example, and you tell the insurance that Vinny has HPE they may not understand exactly what that means, but if you say quad CP then they instantly understand.
    I am not a big believer in labels but I use the CP label a lot more than the HPE label as it's just easier to explain to people.
    Best of luck with the construction and school work!
    Marcela, Nathan's mom
    www.prayfornathan.org

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  2. Marcela, Thank you for that explanation. That makes much more sense to me. I did think of it as another diagnosis for Vinny, but now that you explain it like that, I understand.

    By the way, I love your blog and Nathan is so adorable. He reminds me of Vinny sometimes when I look at his pictures.

    Thanks again,
    Gina

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