Raising Chickens and Special Needs Kids

[Blooie]

Hmm, recent picture of Kendra smiling, huh? Well, how about her first day at her new preschool?


As you can see, she's putting the weight back on and her smile is back! This was in the van on her way to the first day!



And this was at school right after she got her name tag. Looks pretty doggone happy to me!

 

[FridayYet]

She looks great, Blooie!

 

[Bunnylady]

Oh, Blooie, that's a smile to light up your world! How marvelous!

 

[NotAFarm]

Hmm, recent picture of Kendra smiling, huh? Well, how about her first day at her new preschool?


As you can see, she's putting the weight back on and her smile is back! This was in the van on her way to the first day!



And this was at school right after she got her name tag. Looks pretty doggone happy to me!

Looks like Kendra is happy as can be to be at school!

Way to go, Kendra!

 

[N F C]

Blooie, great photos, great smile...great to hear things are going better for all of you!

 

[Jessimom]

Sorry, been off BYC for about a month now as I dealt with my other life.....you know, the one that takes up too much time and gets in the way!

So now I need an update on how Richard is doing after your last post, Cynthia, and congratulations on that beautiful new grandbaby!! He's so doggone cute!! When I see baby feet the first thought that pops into my mind, always, is "Oh, those feet don't look NORMAL!!" I've grown so used to feet that turn in all the way and have toes tucked under each other instead of being in a nice, neat little row that I have a new normal!

@Jessimom put that guilt right back in your pocket and save it for when you really need it! The new glasses are working and that's all you need to think about! Of course, I guess I'm a fine one to talk......our family has wasted all of June, all of July, and most of August second guessing the decision to have the MACE and Mitrofanoff done on Kendra. They were considered elective procedures designed to make the cathing and enemas easier on Kendra and on us, but not life saving or anything as dramatic as that. Oh, what that poor little baby went through.

Now, a catheterization that used to take up to 20 minutes takes 3. Yep, 3, and that's if I'm slow! Used to be we had to set up for the cath by clearing off the table, putting the mats down, grabbing Kendra and getting her to to lay down, taking off shoes, braces, britches, and diaper, cleaning her well first, getting the cath done, getting everything put back on her, emptying the cath bag, and putting the mats away. Now I tell her "time to cath" and she stops what she's doing on her own, comes in, gets in her chair, I sit her up on the edge of the table, sit in the chair in front of her, put the cath into her belly button, wipe the remaining gel out of her belly button when I pull the cath out, and she's down playing in just a few minutes while I go empty and dispose of the cath bag! She doesn't mind the process one little bit, and the other day she actually grabbed the catheter and helped me thread it down. No fussing, no squirming, one chorus of "If You're Happy and You Know It" and it's done! I haven't done the cath flush yet, nor the enema, but since the kids have no hot water at their house Jenny's been doing that stuff over here, so I'm watching carefully and learning. I do believe I can do it if I have to now. And Kendra doesn't fuss or squirm through either of those things, either. So the end result is what counts, not the process of getting where we needed to be.

Thank you Blooie!! It's nice to see you back! Kendra looks BEAUTIFUL!!! It's so nice to see her smiling!!

Thank you for the kind words. It's been great seeing how much better Jess is doing with her glasses. I"m glad that we got it figured out.

How AMAZING the new cath procedure is!! That is wonderful!!! All the pain and second guessing that you went through for those months have all been put to shame. You absolutely made the right decision - all good things came out of that. You just had some transition pains. Things will only get better!!

Again, it's great having you back!!!

 

[Blooie]

Thanks, my friend! This procedure, for all the bumps at the beginning, has been the best thing for Kendra ever! Now her risk of UTI is the same as anyone else's, as long as we wash our hands well before and after we cath, and who wouldn't do that anyway? I recorded this morning's cath, totally forgetting that with the first one of the day, I have to "punch" through the little mucous plug that forms overnight. So she gave a little gasp and I all but slapped my forehead when I remembered that it goes easier with a little twist until we get past that plug! But she forgave me!

It's wonderful that Jess is doing so much better with her new glasses. Sometimes I think that Hiney-kicking is just part of raising a child with any kind of disability - we seem to spend as much time second guessing our decisions as we do taking care of the kids!

 

[Cynthia12]

Blooie you asked about Richard, that boy is back and at em. Whew.
He has a lot of infection in his lower abdomen that they can ..never..clear up. He isn't even on anti-biotics. Just keeps it as clean as he can. We went through surgery after surgery when he was younger. Nothing..nothing, ever worked to keep that area closed. This worries me more than anything with him. :/

That little Kendra really does look happy for her first day of school! She looks really good.

 

[sdubski]

Hmm, recent picture of Kendra smiling, huh? Well, how about her first day at her new preschool? [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR] As you can see, she's putting the weight back on and her smile is back! This was in the van on her way to the first day! And this was at school right after she got her name tag. Looks pretty doggone happy to me!

She looks great! So glad everything is working now! It totally changes your lives when you can do these procedures less invasively and without a struggle, doesn't it? I've been offline for a while as well. Grace had an all-clear oncology appointment last month, which we're very happy about!

 

[Blooie]

That's fantastic, Sara! Are you still planning a Mitrofanoff in Grace's future? After our initial difficulties, we are now so glad we did it!!