Saturday 28 March 2009

How cute is that?!!



Hiya, as you can see from the picture Patrick has his new Mr Bump glasses, he's coping really well with them surprisingly and doesn't seem to bothered by them. He tends to knock them off as he's rolling around on the floor but that's all.

We had a busy week of appointments last week, first one was with Prof Kennedy, Patrick's Neurologist at Southampton. The appointment went well, his EEG results show some improvement due to maturation which is good news although there is still abnormal activity as well. As Patrick is so stable at the moment and isn't having seizures we're not going to change any of his meds, we've adjusted the regime slightly as he has been over sedated, by splitting his meds up across the day and giving him 3 doses instead of 2 it has made him less sleepy during the day and he's sleeping longer at night which is fab.

We went to Oxford to see the Dr regarding the Keto diet, she was really nice and after taking all Patrick's details agreed that would be an ideal candidate for the diet but is not going to put him on it now while he's not fitting. At least it's given us a good back up plan should his seizures return we know we can contact them at Oxford and they'll start the diet straight away. It's a lot less hassle than we had thought as well, we wouldn't need to go and stay in Oxford and there would be no need to starve Patrick for 2 days either, it's all done via e-mail these days!

We also had Patrick's swallow x-ray last Friday, by mixing in some special powder with his food and drink we were able to feed him and watch on the monitor to see exactly what he's doing with it. We were particularly concerned that he wasn't swallowing his fluids properly and thought they may have been going into his lungs. Thankfully though this wasn't the case and he managed to swallow every mouthful! His mouth action is a little disorganised, his co-ordination is all over the place but that doesn't matter, he's getting his fluids and food in properly so no need to fit him with tubes, great!! They were actually very impressed with his feeding, he usually has pureed food as he tends to gag and choke a bit with lumpy stuff, they tried him with a chocolate mousse with rusk mixed in and although he didn't eat it properly, he filtered all the lumps out and just swallowed the mousse, cheeky but clever!

It was a bit chaotic last week having 3 big appointments in 3 different hospitals but thankfully this week has been really quiet and we've been able to concentrate on Isaac a bit. He had his schools Easter bonnet parade this week so there were fluffy chicks and painted eggs everywhere!

The big abseil is tomorrow!! To all those who have sponsored me already, thank you so much. I know money is tight for everyone at the moment so every penny really means a lot. I'm starting to get really nervous now, I didn't think I would but I've been talking to a few other people who are doing it and they're terrified, I think it's rubbing off on me a bit! It doesn't help that the forecast isn't great, it's gonna be windy apparently, not good when you're suspended by a rope 120ft above ground! Anyway, I'm looking forward to meeting Kyron Bracken, Patrick and I will be having our photo's taken with him for the local press!

Anyway, that's the latest, I'll add some photo's of the abseil after the weekend xxx.

Saturday 14 March 2009

8 weeks and counting!



Hiya,

Just a quick one to update on a few things. Firstly, Patrick is now 8 weeks seizure free! He has the odd vacant episode and the odd twitch but that may be the drugs. We're seeing his new Neuro on Monday to get his EEG results and discuss his medication, Patrick is overly sedated at the moment, the combination of drugs really knocks him out, he often sleeps all morning until 1-2pm so we're really keen to get that sorted as it has a negative effect on his development.

I saw his speech and language therapist a couple of weeks ago, she watched him drinking from various different cups and with his syringe and she's concerned that he may be having problems swallowing. This could answer a lot of questions about why he keeps getting chest infections, if he's not swallowing properly any liquid can go straight into his lungs causing him problems. Anyway, he's booked in for a videofluoroscopy next Friday which is a special xray that will show exactly what happens when he drinks and eats. If it proves that he's not swallowing properly he may end up having a 'button' fitted which is basically a tube that goes straight into his tummy. This would be a last resort and we're hoping it wont come to that as I can't help thinking it would be a step back but if needs must... In the meantime we've been advised to give him thickened liquids in a special cup that makes it easier and less messy for him.

I took Patrick for an eye test at Southampton hospital last Thursday, because he's on Vigabatrin which can cause sight problems he has to be regularly tested. It turns out he has a slight squint and is slightly longsighted in his right eye. Bless him, as if he isn't cute enough already he now has to wear glasses! Hopefully as his sight is still developing, wearing glasses now will correct his vision and he may not have to wear them long term, we'll have to see how he gets on. I'm not sure how well he's gonna cope with glasses, he's likely to have problems keeping them on and I don't think he's going to like them but we'll give them a go. He has a spot of eczema behind his left ear so that might flare up with the glasses rubbing, as if he doesn't have enough to deal with! Anyway, he'll get his cute little Mr Bump glasses in about a week so I'll post a photo when he's got them.

We have a busy week next week, Neuro on Monday, Oxford on Wednesday, videofluoroscopy Friday so I'll have lots to update after all that.

On another note, on 29th March I'm going to be abseiling down the Water Tower in Poole raising money for Julia's House, the hospice Patrick goes to for pre-school sessions and toddler group. It's a fantastic charity that really does a lot for all of us so if you could please take a look at my Justgiving site and sponsor me I would be really grateful. If I don't reach my £100 target I can't do the abseil and I'm really looking forward to the challenge. PLEASE SPONSOR ME HERE.

Thanks for all your continued support and interest in our precious little boy.