Summer Snapshot

SNAPSHOTS: In the hopes of being transparent and helping others feel less alone I'd like to share with you updates on my girls and their health. Our family tries to be as open as possible about our struggles in hopes to making these things have less power. We also hope to empower those who feel alone in this thing called life. I'm not always perfect in how I word things so know that I am open to questions and thoughts.

CATINA: Catina has felt so much freedom now knowing she struggles with her senses (Sensory Processing Disorder). It has helped us understand her more and have more compassion of what she has to push through. She has been open about sharing her struggles and even shared it in a fact about her in the middle school hallway board. Here is a look at Catina's appointments this past summer.

• Orthopedic surgeon: We found that Catina has scoliosis last year and she just recently started wearing a brace. The combination of her SPD and wearing a brace has been hard but we are so proud of how she is pushing through to help her body become more aligned. 
• Ophthalmologist: We also had her annual check up for her eyes and each year they have gotten worse. We are hoping this will be the last change in prescription for awhile but she did get a cute new pair of glasses!
• Allergist: Catina has had to avoid dairy, almonds and hazelnuts for three years now due to an allergy we found. We decided to have her retested and found that she has outgrown those allergies! We did find she has some environmental allergies but knowing is half the battle in regards to those.

JUNE: Children with hearing loss may struggle with speech. They don't always hear the correct way to say the word so are often taught how to place their mouth to have the words spoken correctly. June has had speech therapy up until Kindergarten. After that school felt she was within normal range and no longer provided it even after a hospital evaluation that states she needs it. We have found hospitals and schools have different standards of what is needed. Schools measure if the child has access to life at school. If that is hindered they will work with your child on specifics to help them gain access. June was able to communicate well enough to pass out of speech at school. This summer we decided to have June evaluated and she qualified for a couple months of speech. We were proud of how hard she worked and she was able to pass out of speech.

ADA: Ada had a great summer at special needs camp. She attended for six weeks, four days a week. It was so amazing for her to have a good routine and for her sisters to have the freedom to be out and about with me and my focused attention. This all happened with the her regular routine check ups.

• ENT: Ada was out of school 5 1/2 weeks last year and most of this was due to sinus infections. Because of this Ada will be having adenoid surgery in November. Circumstances with doctors did not allow for that to happen this summer.
• Endocrinologist: Ada's levels were higher than they had hoped. She has been on a drug for her thyroid so in a few months we will draw blood again to test to see if she needs to have her meds upped.
• Orthopedic surgeon: As some of you may know we had quite the scare last year with an emergency MRI due to Ada's neck having AI. This is a neck instability that if moved the wrong way could severe the spine and kill you (not to sound dramatic or anything!) The doctor felt hers was severe and wanted to follow up to see if she would be in need of surgery. She has been restricted from jumping on trampolines, gymnastics or horse back riding. I spent hours and hours on the phone trying to get appointments scheduled and working on obtaining a supplemental insurance through the state to help pay for the MRI and x-rays. She ended up having an MRI last summer and again this past spring. The doctor wanted to see her after the last MRI and I don't know what to say other than the fact I had a gut feeling we needed to get a second opinion. Of course, there is so much more to the story but here is the kicker! We decided to see the orthopedic surgeon who is seeing Catina and after he reviewed all of Ada's tests he didn't understand why she had to go through the MRIs. He didn't understand why she was being restricted. He also felt she no longer needed the braces that have been on her feet. I'm so grateful I had my husband, Greg, go with me to this appointment because it was almost as shocking as finding out Ada had AI to find out she didn't! We had restricted her from field day at school, fun parties all summer and any carnival fun! Whew, it was such a relief but then the anger kicked in. WHY THE HELL DID WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH ALL OF THAT? So much to say but...don't want to take up too much of your time!

So, there you go, our snapshot of medical stuff for the summer. This does not share all the good times we had and how easy our summer really felt. We never wanted it to end and I have to say a lot of that had to do with me putting aside many tasks for later and being fully present myself. I'm so glad I didn't miss it!