FRUSTRATION IS UPON US!

Frustration, it hits only every now and then with Joey. Our new normal is well established now. Life is moving at a good pace right now, however my kids are growing up to fast.

This time of the year is probably the hardest for me when it comes to Joey. This is when all his dr. appts. are, when all the paperwork for all the services he has is due.

• The appt. I dread the most is his Orthopedic. Is there the beginning signs of scoliosis? Are his hips subluxed at all? How bad has his tendons in his calfs gotten? Are his abductors pulling in to much? Do we need to botox and serial cast AGAIN? This appt. is so stressful. Even though Joey is very healthy and happy I will for the rest of his life struggle with dealing with the orthopedic side of his injury.

• Then we have the Neurologist appt. Does he need medication? This is the question that is always asked. Usually though it is not that stressful.

• And what about the Opthamalogist. Can Joey see any better? What can we do to help his eyesight.

So my first thought is "Am I doing enough for Joey". Do I add more therapy? How much more can he or I take before it pushes us over the limit? So the answer to my questions are, yes we can do more, but just a little more. I am going to enroll him in speech therapy outside of school. Over summer and the first half of fall I took JOey to a clinic at CSUN to help him with an AAC device. Lets just say that they are not ready for a child like Joey yet, it didn't work good. He can't use his arms well enough to use a switch to communicate and his eyesight is not good enough for him to see what to touch or to even use an eye gaze device. So that leaves us with speech. We need to get Joey to TALK. That is going to be his best form of communication. So start TALKING Joey.

Then in January or February I will take Joey back to AZ for more therapy there. This usually helps him cognitively and hopefully wll help his tone in his body to keep him for having to have more botox. I need to keep up on this therapy and try and do it every 3 months or sooner.

Well that's it for therapy.

Joey loves school. He takes the school bus every day. I think this is his favorite part of school. He is a very happy boy and is growing up fast.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!