And another month has past without an update; I really do try you know!
Karter is doing really well. He is growing like a weed, one wonders if he will even slow down ;-). This past month he has started to verbalize. It sounds like he says "Ya" and something along the lines of "Hi". We have been asking him questions and we think he is answering "Ya" back at us, purposeful or not, we are thrilled! The other day in the van, I was singing and he started to verbalize along with me, like he was joining in my song.
He continues to roll to the left side, grabbing for whatever it is that he can get. He has become very purposeful in grabbing with his right hand. The other day as I sat at the computer working, he kept grabbing at my keyboard hitting keys. I was Im-ing someone from work and Karter hit the zzzzzzzzzzzz key and before I realized it, I hit enter; the person on the other end thought I was bored with them. He grabs at my magazines and puts them in his mouth and then laughs at me. He has developed quite the little personality as of late. What a joy!
Today Karter started back at riding. We took a break during the Winter session so he has not ridden since late November. I thought it was going to be a total bust because he could not keep his eyes open in the van on the way there. But once he was on the horse, he did really well. No real crying, a bit of whining from time to time, but that is normal for him when he has to work hard. I noticed that he was sitting much straighter this time and that his head was not bobbing up and down as much as it normally does. He was even looking around from side to side instead of looking straight out front.
After riding we proceeded to go to preschool, as we normally do on Thursday mornings. I told the teachers that I would come and get him early since I knew he was tired and did not think he would last for the full class. I returned an hour and 15 minutes later to hear that he was doing amazingly well. I saw him sitting in his floor seat in the front row of the circle time, dancing to the songs and happy as can be. Boy that warmed my heart! Trista, his support teacher did not even need to be in circle with him, he was independently participating with the group - WOW! Earlier in class, I watched as he sat in a group of boys, one of the teachers brought a box of colored blocks over. As soon as he saw the box, he was grabbing for what was inside. I was later told that the boys were all building the tower from the blocks and then M would help Karter knock the tower down. I love how the kids include Karter is their play.
It is truly amazing to wake up each day expecting great things. Karter has done so well these past few month and we are both excited and so proud of his progress. Thanks for keeping both Karter and all of us in your prayers, we feel them each day.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Post Surgery Follow Up Appointment
Has it already been a month? The time is flying by fast each day. Things are moving along so quickly these days that there is little time for the extra things in life; like blogging ;-).
At the beginning of the month, I took Karter to Children's Hospital for a post surgery follow up MRI and appointment. The day went very well. Karter was in and out of the MRI clinic in about an hour - that was a record for us!. We then had four hours to kill so Karter and I did some running around for a bit. At 1:30 we came back and met with the Neurologist & Surgeon.
The appointment was a great one just as we had expected. Everyone was very pleased with Karter's progress and with the result of no seizures. They will see him again in 6 months time for more follow up. Praise The Lord!
Karter has resumed preschool and all his therapies and everyone seems to be very pleased with his progress. The comments we get the most refer to his ability to concentrate and focus. He really pays attention when you call his name and he looks you right in the eye and his eye gaze remains fixed on you for as long as you are speaking to him. It is really great to see.
Karter continues to roll to his left side and his getting his body off the ground quite high as well. His sitting is still coming along, however he is figured out how much work it is and at time will push back so hard that we cannot get him to sit up straight. He did get his Seat2go and he really likes that. He sits in front of the TV or at circle time, he will sit in front of his toy bar and play, it is a whole new world of opportunities that have opened to him because of it. He is blessed!
With the house almost done, we are going to take in some Olympic fever downtown, at some point this week. I will post more about that later.
I will leave you with this new photo that week took this week. It really allows you to get a great sense of how our little guys is growing and how well he is doing. Baby Liam was born this week and Karter had a chance to hold him while we visited the hospital.
At the beginning of the month, I took Karter to Children's Hospital for a post surgery follow up MRI and appointment. The day went very well. Karter was in and out of the MRI clinic in about an hour - that was a record for us!. We then had four hours to kill so Karter and I did some running around for a bit. At 1:30 we came back and met with the Neurologist & Surgeon.
The appointment was a great one just as we had expected. Everyone was very pleased with Karter's progress and with the result of no seizures. They will see him again in 6 months time for more follow up. Praise The Lord!
Karter has resumed preschool and all his therapies and everyone seems to be very pleased with his progress. The comments we get the most refer to his ability to concentrate and focus. He really pays attention when you call his name and he looks you right in the eye and his eye gaze remains fixed on you for as long as you are speaking to him. It is really great to see.
Karter continues to roll to his left side and his getting his body off the ground quite high as well. His sitting is still coming along, however he is figured out how much work it is and at time will push back so hard that we cannot get him to sit up straight. He did get his Seat2go and he really likes that. He sits in front of the TV or at circle time, he will sit in front of his toy bar and play, it is a whole new world of opportunities that have opened to him because of it. He is blessed!
With the house almost done, we are going to take in some Olympic fever downtown, at some point this week. I will post more about that later.
I will leave you with this new photo that week took this week. It really allows you to get a great sense of how our little guys is growing and how well he is doing. Baby Liam was born this week and Karter had a chance to hold him while we visited the hospital.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Is It Already 2 Months?
Ok Super Aunt, here you go...a new post! ;-)
It is hard to believe that two months since Karter's surgery could have possible gone by so fast. I am happy to report that Karter remains seizure free, Praise The Lord! We are so thankful for this and also enjoy watching the new things happen before our eyes each day. What a great new chapter this has been!
Karter continues to roll to his side to get the toys that are on his mat. He has started to also play on his side at times. At this point he is only interested in rolling to his left side, but we are extremely please with his efforts. He is grabbing for toys more purposefully each day and his right hand has become much more controlled. We are noticing that his left hand has also started to come under much better control. Although he does not use it as controlled as the right one, it is coming slowly each day.
Last week, Karter's entire team of therapists and myself met to put together an IFSP (Individual Family Service Plan). The meeting is meant to get everyone who works with Karter together to brainstorm and input goals, progresses and strategies for Karter at home and at school. It was a great meeting; we are so blessed to have such a great team of people that work together with Karter!
One of the things that we talked about at the meeting and something that I felt was really important, was that Karter have time during at least one of his circle times at preschool, to work on his independent sitting. We strategized about a few ways this would work. One of the things we talked about was getting Karter a supportive seat so that he could sit on his own at circle with his peers. Tuesday, Sandy (our wonderful physiotherapist) visited Karter at preschool and brought a couple seats to try out. He had a lot of success with one called a 'Seat2go'. When I picked him up that day all the teachers including his one to one support and his Supported Childcare Consultant, raved about how amazing this chair was and that it would be great to get him one. That started my quest and research for this chair.
Kurt and I had decided that we would use money from Karter's fund and put it towards the chair, after all, it was something that he will truly benefit from at home and in the classroom. On Thursday, I had an email from someone sharing that the Lord had laid it on their heart to purchase the chair for Karter. I continue to be humbled by the way God takes care of Karter's needs and how the army of people that are around us love and support our special little boy and in turn show their love for us in such unbelievable ways. I am moved to tears and humbled by it daily! So, I will be ordering the chair for Karter and he should have it next week (or as soon as I can pick it up from the US - JW, I am having it shipped to you ;-) ).
Since the New Year, things have been really unsettled and our routine has been non-existent. Karter has been in class only a few times this month. Currently, we are in Vernon because our house renovations are not yet complete. This month has been full of moving, packing and renovations. Karter has been bounced around from room to room, sleeping in closets, on the floor and in many different rooms. He has always been a pretty easy going kid, but all these changes were bound to effect him at some point. For Karter, it has been effecting his sleep. He has been napping little or not at all (which could be just his age and I am ok with that) and he has been waking up between 4 and 5 am. I am doing my best to set up a better routine for him while we are away and work at getting him back to his normal sleeping patterns, but I would ask for your prayers that Karter's sleep patterns would return to normal. The lack of sleeps makes both of us just a tad bit irritable ;-)
Karter will be going in for an MRI on the morning of Wednesday Feb 3rd, followed by an afternoon appointment with the Neurologist and Neurosurgeon. These appointments are routine post surgery follow up. I am both excited and nervous at the same time. Last time, the post surgery appointment was a breaking point for me. I went in thinking Karter was doing so exceptionally well only to hear the disappointment in the doctors voices when he had not reached some very basic stages that they had hoped he would have at that point. Seeing the progress we have thus far, I would be surprised to hear the doctors disappointment, but I would be lying if I did not say it was not playing out in the back of my mind. No matter what, we are thankful for what we see. Quality not quantity. And no matter what anyone says, we are living and watching a real life miracle play out before our very eyes and we are so thankful.
It is hard to believe that two months since Karter's surgery could have possible gone by so fast. I am happy to report that Karter remains seizure free, Praise The Lord! We are so thankful for this and also enjoy watching the new things happen before our eyes each day. What a great new chapter this has been!
Karter continues to roll to his side to get the toys that are on his mat. He has started to also play on his side at times. At this point he is only interested in rolling to his left side, but we are extremely please with his efforts. He is grabbing for toys more purposefully each day and his right hand has become much more controlled. We are noticing that his left hand has also started to come under much better control. Although he does not use it as controlled as the right one, it is coming slowly each day.
Last week, Karter's entire team of therapists and myself met to put together an IFSP (Individual Family Service Plan). The meeting is meant to get everyone who works with Karter together to brainstorm and input goals, progresses and strategies for Karter at home and at school. It was a great meeting; we are so blessed to have such a great team of people that work together with Karter!
One of the things that we talked about at the meeting and something that I felt was really important, was that Karter have time during at least one of his circle times at preschool, to work on his independent sitting. We strategized about a few ways this would work. One of the things we talked about was getting Karter a supportive seat so that he could sit on his own at circle with his peers. Tuesday, Sandy (our wonderful physiotherapist) visited Karter at preschool and brought a couple seats to try out. He had a lot of success with one called a 'Seat2go'. When I picked him up that day all the teachers including his one to one support and his Supported Childcare Consultant, raved about how amazing this chair was and that it would be great to get him one. That started my quest and research for this chair.
Kurt and I had decided that we would use money from Karter's fund and put it towards the chair, after all, it was something that he will truly benefit from at home and in the classroom. On Thursday, I had an email from someone sharing that the Lord had laid it on their heart to purchase the chair for Karter. I continue to be humbled by the way God takes care of Karter's needs and how the army of people that are around us love and support our special little boy and in turn show their love for us in such unbelievable ways. I am moved to tears and humbled by it daily! So, I will be ordering the chair for Karter and he should have it next week (or as soon as I can pick it up from the US - JW, I am having it shipped to you ;-) ).
Since the New Year, things have been really unsettled and our routine has been non-existent. Karter has been in class only a few times this month. Currently, we are in Vernon because our house renovations are not yet complete. This month has been full of moving, packing and renovations. Karter has been bounced around from room to room, sleeping in closets, on the floor and in many different rooms. He has always been a pretty easy going kid, but all these changes were bound to effect him at some point. For Karter, it has been effecting his sleep. He has been napping little or not at all (which could be just his age and I am ok with that) and he has been waking up between 4 and 5 am. I am doing my best to set up a better routine for him while we are away and work at getting him back to his normal sleeping patterns, but I would ask for your prayers that Karter's sleep patterns would return to normal. The lack of sleeps makes both of us just a tad bit irritable ;-)
Karter will be going in for an MRI on the morning of Wednesday Feb 3rd, followed by an afternoon appointment with the Neurologist and Neurosurgeon. These appointments are routine post surgery follow up. I am both excited and nervous at the same time. Last time, the post surgery appointment was a breaking point for me. I went in thinking Karter was doing so exceptionally well only to hear the disappointment in the doctors voices when he had not reached some very basic stages that they had hoped he would have at that point. Seeing the progress we have thus far, I would be surprised to hear the doctors disappointment, but I would be lying if I did not say it was not playing out in the back of my mind. No matter what, we are thankful for what we see. Quality not quantity. And no matter what anyone says, we are living and watching a real life miracle play out before our very eyes and we are so thankful.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Life so far...
I have spent the morning updating everything else; our family blog, Facebook etc., it is now time to spend a bit of time here.
Karter has had an amazing few weeks. Each day I see something new in his eyes. A whole new world of wonderment (is that even a word?).
Christmas was so fun with him this year. He spent time opening his own gifts. We would put them on his tray, he would grab them and then rip the paper with his teeth until he got the gift open. It was really cute to watch, and his personality really shone through too!
We went to the train last night and he was able to take it all in, enjoying both the lights and the ride. I love it!
In am not sure if I updated about this yet... Karter had physio last week for the first time post surgery. We worked on moving him to the next step of his rolling. He is rolling regularly to his side to reach toys and each day seems to gain more strength in this. He has rolled completely over a few times, but right now because he tucks his legs up that stops him from getting over. I see more motivation in him than ever before, it is so exciting to watch.
During the physio visit, we tried sitting as well. I was absolutely baffled when I realized that Karter was able to sit on his own with very little assistance. The odd touch to his leg or back for support or to keep him in mid line and balanced. It was so great to see that he is capable of sitting. Now I would be dishonest if I said he is sitting. But I can honestly say that he is well on his way to getting there. We just need to build his confidence in his own ability. Right now he appears to be scared to do it so he pushed back to find a resting place behind him. But we are really excited to watch him master this skill over the next while.
I hope you all had an amazing Christmas season. We did! What a gift we have been given in Karter. Each day we watch a miracle in the making, what a blessing that is!
Karter has had an amazing few weeks. Each day I see something new in his eyes. A whole new world of wonderment (is that even a word?).
Christmas was so fun with him this year. He spent time opening his own gifts. We would put them on his tray, he would grab them and then rip the paper with his teeth until he got the gift open. It was really cute to watch, and his personality really shone through too!
We went to the train last night and he was able to take it all in, enjoying both the lights and the ride. I love it!
In am not sure if I updated about this yet... Karter had physio last week for the first time post surgery. We worked on moving him to the next step of his rolling. He is rolling regularly to his side to reach toys and each day seems to gain more strength in this. He has rolled completely over a few times, but right now because he tucks his legs up that stops him from getting over. I see more motivation in him than ever before, it is so exciting to watch.
During the physio visit, we tried sitting as well. I was absolutely baffled when I realized that Karter was able to sit on his own with very little assistance. The odd touch to his leg or back for support or to keep him in mid line and balanced. It was so great to see that he is capable of sitting. Now I would be dishonest if I said he is sitting. But I can honestly say that he is well on his way to getting there. We just need to build his confidence in his own ability. Right now he appears to be scared to do it so he pushed back to find a resting place behind him. But we are really excited to watch him master this skill over the next while.
I hope you all had an amazing Christmas season. We did! What a gift we have been given in Karter. Each day we watch a miracle in the making, what a blessing that is!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
One Month Post-Surgery
It amazes me that time has flown by so fast. I spent a good portion of this morning at church testifying to many people who would ask, how amazing Karter was doing. Although I was able to verbally tell them, there were so many that saw the difference right before their eyes.
Karter has really gained the ability to focus so much better. He responds immediately when his name is called and will pay attention to whoever is calling him, he makes amazing eye contact.
When playing with his toys and grabbing them, he gets it first with his right hand, but the left hand is following quickly after to support his holding the toy. Although he is not very accurate yet, that left hand presurgery, would be flailing up in the air with no real purpose. Now it follows what the right hand is doing.
Karter has started to make a few sounds. If he is unhappy with something, he will make a whining sound that sounds like "Maaaaam". I am saying that he is calling me ;-). He has become very aware when I am out of the room or if he has been left alone. He really does not like that much.
Karter is eating better. He has been drinking out of an open cup because he would not suck from his sippy. Tonight however was the first night post surgery that he managed to drink an entire 8 oz out of his sippy by sucking - Praise The Lord!!!
The biggest news...Karter has learned to roll to his side to get a toy. Yesterday he rolled completely over two times! We have placed his favorite toys over his left side, out of his reach. He will roll over the grab them and will play with them. This is the biggest milestone we have seen from him and we are so excited!!! Here is a video showing him doing just that.
This past Wednesday we took a trip to Children's Hospital so that Karter's surgeon could check his swelling. He right side is very swollen still and I was concerned. The verdict...everything is completely normal. The excess fluid can take up to 3 months (sometimes even longer) to absorb into the body. It is nothing to worry about. Although it looks like it could bother him, it is said to not cause any discomfort.
Other than the swelling, Karter has recovered fully. The scar has healed well and almost off the stitches have dissolved and are gone. We are so excited and feel such an intense anticipation for what the future holds for Karter. He has been seizure free since surgery. This is such a miracle and such a beautiful gift! We continue to look forward to many more miracles before our eyes.
Here are a couple of pictures of Paige and Karter from the other day while they were having a PJ morning.
Karter has really gained the ability to focus so much better. He responds immediately when his name is called and will pay attention to whoever is calling him, he makes amazing eye contact.
When playing with his toys and grabbing them, he gets it first with his right hand, but the left hand is following quickly after to support his holding the toy. Although he is not very accurate yet, that left hand presurgery, would be flailing up in the air with no real purpose. Now it follows what the right hand is doing.
Karter has started to make a few sounds. If he is unhappy with something, he will make a whining sound that sounds like "Maaaaam". I am saying that he is calling me ;-). He has become very aware when I am out of the room or if he has been left alone. He really does not like that much.
Karter is eating better. He has been drinking out of an open cup because he would not suck from his sippy. Tonight however was the first night post surgery that he managed to drink an entire 8 oz out of his sippy by sucking - Praise The Lord!!!
The biggest news...Karter has learned to roll to his side to get a toy. Yesterday he rolled completely over two times! We have placed his favorite toys over his left side, out of his reach. He will roll over the grab them and will play with them. This is the biggest milestone we have seen from him and we are so excited!!! Here is a video showing him doing just that.
This past Wednesday we took a trip to Children's Hospital so that Karter's surgeon could check his swelling. He right side is very swollen still and I was concerned. The verdict...everything is completely normal. The excess fluid can take up to 3 months (sometimes even longer) to absorb into the body. It is nothing to worry about. Although it looks like it could bother him, it is said to not cause any discomfort.
Other than the swelling, Karter has recovered fully. The scar has healed well and almost off the stitches have dissolved and are gone. We are so excited and feel such an intense anticipation for what the future holds for Karter. He has been seizure free since surgery. This is such a miracle and such a beautiful gift! We continue to look forward to many more miracles before our eyes.
Here are a couple of pictures of Paige and Karter from the other day while they were having a PJ morning.
Monday, December 7, 2009
What does today look like?
I took a few pictures today while Karter was having supper. I needed to take some shots so that I could send them to Children's to show them how Karter's swelling looked. Normally, I would have had a hard time getting Karter to even look at me while taking a picture. Today, I could not get him to stop looking and smiling at the camera...what a nice change!
The most noticable changes in Karter have really been in his concentration, eye contact and responce to us. He smiles all the time and has resumed his infectious giggle which warms out heart beyond words. There have been many other little things that we have noticed as well. We count each things as part of Karter's healing
Karter has regained the majority of his appetite and is eating well. He does however play favorites and will sometime only take his food from Mommy; what a little monkey!!!! The drinking is slowly improving. He is drinking from a cup and has started to drink from his sippy cup from time to time. We are thankful for each step to recovery, he is doing so well.
The swelling is still there on the right side. We have been told that it will take a minimum of 3 weeks for the swelling to go down. We are praying that the swelling will subside quickly.
Karter's incision site has healed nicely. In case you might want to see a pciture of it, here it is.
The most noticable changes in Karter have really been in his concentration, eye contact and responce to us. He smiles all the time and has resumed his infectious giggle which warms out heart beyond words. There have been many other little things that we have noticed as well. We count each things as part of Karter's healing
Karter has regained the majority of his appetite and is eating well. He does however play favorites and will sometime only take his food from Mommy; what a little monkey!!!! The drinking is slowly improving. He is drinking from a cup and has started to drink from his sippy cup from time to time. We are thankful for each step to recovery, he is doing so well.
The swelling is still there on the right side. We have been told that it will take a minimum of 3 weeks for the swelling to go down. We are praying that the swelling will subside quickly.
Karter's incision site has healed nicely. In case you might want to see a pciture of it, here it is.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
1 week post surgery
Who knew a week could fly by so fast. I have been meaning to get an update up for 6 days. We spent last week just catching up and getting through it. We are so happy to have the support and prayers of all of you. That is what we were drawing strength from.
Karter was struggling with both his eating and drinking last week. To date, he is eating well however the drinking is still a bit of a struggle. We are pretty sure that it hurts his head to suck on his sippy cup and so he avoids it. I was using a syringe to get liquid into him, he was hating every moment of that. The past two days he has been taking liquid from a cup. This is a bit messy, but it works and he seems to really like it.
Karter went back to preschool today. He managed to last an hour and a half. I think he was happy to be back with the kids, but he did tire fairly easy. We will try again on Thursday and see if we can make it a bit longer.
Karter has been sleeping really well and has been pretty happy. We are very thankful for his quick recovery, he is blessed.
I will try and keep current updates coming. Next week is production and the following week we start the renovation on our new place. So we are gearing up for a pretty busy season.
Karter was struggling with both his eating and drinking last week. To date, he is eating well however the drinking is still a bit of a struggle. We are pretty sure that it hurts his head to suck on his sippy cup and so he avoids it. I was using a syringe to get liquid into him, he was hating every moment of that. The past two days he has been taking liquid from a cup. This is a bit messy, but it works and he seems to really like it.
Karter went back to preschool today. He managed to last an hour and a half. I think he was happy to be back with the kids, but he did tire fairly easy. We will try again on Thursday and see if we can make it a bit longer.
Karter has been sleeping really well and has been pretty happy. We are very thankful for his quick recovery, he is blessed.
I will try and keep current updates coming. Next week is production and the following week we start the renovation on our new place. So we are gearing up for a pretty busy season.
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