The Day That Kept On Going

I knew today was going to be a whirlwind. I knew well in advance just what kind of day it would be. I had planned for the day down to minutes instead of hours because we had a strict time schedule to make everything. The plan was wake up and get all the kids ready for the day. Breakfast, changing and dressing everyone as well as all the little tasks that need done to prepare everyone for the day.

Next it would be right out the door for Ronan's two hour therapy session. A quick trip to pick up much needed groceries. Followed by 45 minutes to get everyone lunch and out the door for Xander's, Inara's and Ronan's check ups. Immediately following the pediatrician visit we needed to get to Ronan's Pulmonolgy appointment which would leave enough time to run home and get everyone dinner before heading off to my night class.

I knew all of those things would take place and I thought I'd be ready for the day. The day still threw me a few surprises. I expected some surprises because Ronan's check ups always lead to something new and unexpected. The therapy session left the first surprise. His first session is speech therapy. His therapist played games first working on signing. He did really well placing the balls in the tower. He was extra happy and cooperative. His OT came into the room to do her joint session with Speech.

His OT and Speech love to work on feeding together. The speech works on improving the strength and formation of his chewing. OT works on maneuvering his hands properly to feed himself and they throw in new signs along the way. Today's desired task was for Ronan to properly pick up a dis-solvable solid and chew. His speech therapist broke up baby cheetos into fourths. Baby cheetos are similar to puffy cheetos except they are even more dis-solvable and smaller .

The first cheeto piece he picked up with perfect form and his OT was thrilled but within seconds Ronan's eyes went wide and his arms were flailing. Usually the tray on his chair is hard to remove so I don't know if it was his therapist's adrenaline or what but she had the tray off, the straps unbuckled and him turned over in a matter of about 5 seconds. She performed the baby Heimlich as he flailed and his eyes water. He was turning a purple color and time seemed to stop.

Finally he coughed and let out a cry and we knew he was ok. She sat him up and watched him closely. He bolted for me and crawled into my lap. He buried his head in my shoulder and clung as tightly as he could. I calmed him down but he still refused to leave my lap. We ended the session with a trip to the ball pit. The ball pit did a great job of helping Ronan find his smile again. He even started laughing after that he was back to himself. I am grateful to his speech therapist she handle everything great.

On the way back I stopped at the grocery store to get things I absolutely needed. We fed everyone lunch then hit the road again. Xander was having his five year check-up, Ronan his two year and Inara her one year. Inara weighed 20lbs 3 oz. and 28 and a half inches. She's in the 30th percentile for weight and height and 75th for head size. Ronan was 30 in and weighed 24lbs exactly. He was below the charts for height and 8th percentile for weight. Xander was 40 in. and 40lbs and he is only in the 10th percentile for height and 25th for weight.

The pediatrician was concerned over Ronan's growth. She is concerned that his poor growth is due to the fact he is having so many eating difficulties. She checked him over to make sure the he was ok from the choking incident but I'm supposed to get in touch with his GI doctor tomorrow about his growth and choking issue. There was talk about a possible feeding tube because of the fact he can't have too thick or too thin foods. He doesn't seem to be accessing enough nutrition. I already have him on pediasure and vitamins.

The next concern was Ronan has been having random tremors and arm jerking. I'm supposed to keep a diary for the week of when they occur to try and find a pattern. She wants to see if it could have to do with either blood sugar or seizures. If it seems more possibly seizures or other neurological issues then he will probably have another EEG and possibly a head scan.

The doctor looked over Inara's burn and said it was healing perfectly with no signs of infection. She told me to keep doing the treatment plan I'd been doing and Inara's finger should be fine. Inara and Xander got shots. I think Xander cried just as hard when Inara got shots as when he did. He loves his baby sister so much. They also got their fingers poked for hemoglobin and lead levels. Ronan had no shots or blood draw. He does need blood work done but the doctor was a genius and said he could have all his blood work done when he goes to the Endocrinologist so he'll only need to get poked once.

We were late to his Pulmonolgist, I called beforehand to let them know we would be. His Pulmonolgist is very concerned about Ronan having so many airway restriction problems. He tweaked his medicines a little and also thought the feeding tube might be an ideal thing to help with his airway restriction issues. In the end it will come down to what the GI thinks.

We wrapped up the lung doctor visit in time for me to get supper ready and head to class. I had a test tonight and the great thing about waiting in waiting rooms is that time makes for an excellent study opportunity. I was happy to score perfect on the test all about how bones and muscles function. It's amazing how many steps are involved in just moving your finger. Today was scary, overwhelming, and busy, but Ronan is calmly sleeping and thus we end on a good note. Tomorrow starts once again trying to figure out what's best for Ronan.