Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Chicken Owners
We have become the owners of 5 baby chicks and boy are they cute. Case has fallen in love with them and would probably sleep next to them if he was able. It'll be quite awhile before they lay eggs, but for now we are holding them and trying to get them used to people. I wish they could stay this cute forever!
Friday, April 18, 2014
In the ER....again!
It seems as though we can't live a dull, boring life no matter how hard we try! We just had our 4th visit to the ER in 6 months and this one required an overnight stay!
We went to NE this past weekend for a craft fair. Saturday was 80 degrees and so nice and Sunday there was a blizzard. Hello, spring. Our goal was to leave Sunday after lunch and as we got on the road I was pretty nervous. It was slow going and shortly after we got onto the interstate, traffic came to a stand still. We sat there for 30 minutes. When we finally got moving again, there were 4 semis that had crashed/slid into each other and we began to talk about continuing our trip to Denver. We decided to turn around and head back to Kearney and 2 hours later we made the 30 mile trip. As we got back to Kearney, the interstate was shut down and we decided to stay the night and leave Monday morning.
So, Monday morning Jeff was repacking the car and came into the house to find Siahna will a pill bottle in her hand. A high dose, slow release blood pressure pill! We fished half a pill out of her mouth but had no way of telling how many more she had eaten. Jeff called poison control and told them the name of the prescription and they asked how close we were to a hospital. Jeff said, "5 minutes." They said, "Good. You won't need to call an ambulance then. Get her to the ER."
Siahna had to have her stomach pumped and had a bunch of liquid charcoal put in her stomach to absorb anything they might have missed. And because it was a slow release pill, they wanted to keep her overnight to monitor her vitals and make sure there wasn't any in her system that would take affect later.
Thankfully, there were no effects from the pills and we got released Tuesday morning. She is doing well (back to her naughty self) and we have a follow-up appointment with her doctor next week. The only lasting effects of her stay in the hospital is getting all that liquid charcoal out of her system.
We went to NE this past weekend for a craft fair. Saturday was 80 degrees and so nice and Sunday there was a blizzard. Hello, spring. Our goal was to leave Sunday after lunch and as we got on the road I was pretty nervous. It was slow going and shortly after we got onto the interstate, traffic came to a stand still. We sat there for 30 minutes. When we finally got moving again, there were 4 semis that had crashed/slid into each other and we began to talk about continuing our trip to Denver. We decided to turn around and head back to Kearney and 2 hours later we made the 30 mile trip. As we got back to Kearney, the interstate was shut down and we decided to stay the night and leave Monday morning.
So, Monday morning Jeff was repacking the car and came into the house to find Siahna will a pill bottle in her hand. A high dose, slow release blood pressure pill! We fished half a pill out of her mouth but had no way of telling how many more she had eaten. Jeff called poison control and told them the name of the prescription and they asked how close we were to a hospital. Jeff said, "5 minutes." They said, "Good. You won't need to call an ambulance then. Get her to the ER."
Siahna had to have her stomach pumped and had a bunch of liquid charcoal put in her stomach to absorb anything they might have missed. And because it was a slow release pill, they wanted to keep her overnight to monitor her vitals and make sure there wasn't any in her system that would take affect later.
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| Before they pumped her stomach. |
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| At least we had a room with a view! The helicopter landed and took off right outside our window. |
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| She thought she was a queen for a day - breakfast in bed and movies all day. |
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Apraxia
Can you imagine if it took you 3,000 repetitions of something before you actually learned how to do it or were able to do it? 3,000 repetitions of practicing the sound of "O" before you could say it. Then 3,000 repetitions of "P". Then "E". Then "N". Then put them all together for 3,000 repetitions to say "Open".
How frustrating would it be if you could think it in your mind but you couldn't make your mouth form the word. You couldn't communicate to someone that you wanted something opened. Or whatever the word was.
Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)- is a motor speech disorder. Children with CAS have problems saying sounds, syllables, and words. This is not because of muscle weakness or paralysis. The brain has problems planning to move the body parts (e.g., lips, jaw, tongue) needed for speech. The child knows what he or she wants to say, but his/her brain has difficulty coordinating the muscle movements necessary to say those words.
This is the working diagnosis for Siahna. And there may be other diagnosis's for her as well in the future, but this is her speech diagnosis.
How do you "treat" it? Therapy 2-3 times a week for short intervals. Repetition, repetition, repetition. Practice, practice, practice.
We will be starting private speech therapy soon and the cost of doing that 2-3 times a week is overwhelming. We will probably be getting some sort of electronic talking device and that price is even more daunting. We are probably starting private swim lessons soon because she can't be in a class with peers and perform the same.
And, thank you insurance for nothing. These are the things she needs more than a yearly check-up but you won't help us pay for any of it. And thank you scholarships for being there and for always telling us that Jeff makes too much money and we should be able to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars each month for these things because that's our only expense in life.
Frustrated.
But, despite all that, I won't let apraxia define my little girl. Above all, she is a Child of God. Wonderfully made. Dearly loved and precious in His sight. Before God made her, he knew her. There is no one else like her!
How frustrating would it be if you could think it in your mind but you couldn't make your mouth form the word. You couldn't communicate to someone that you wanted something opened. Or whatever the word was.
Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)- is a motor speech disorder. Children with CAS have problems saying sounds, syllables, and words. This is not because of muscle weakness or paralysis. The brain has problems planning to move the body parts (e.g., lips, jaw, tongue) needed for speech. The child knows what he or she wants to say, but his/her brain has difficulty coordinating the muscle movements necessary to say those words.
This is the working diagnosis for Siahna. And there may be other diagnosis's for her as well in the future, but this is her speech diagnosis.
How do you "treat" it? Therapy 2-3 times a week for short intervals. Repetition, repetition, repetition. Practice, practice, practice.
We will be starting private speech therapy soon and the cost of doing that 2-3 times a week is overwhelming. We will probably be getting some sort of electronic talking device and that price is even more daunting. We are probably starting private swim lessons soon because she can't be in a class with peers and perform the same.
And, thank you insurance for nothing. These are the things she needs more than a yearly check-up but you won't help us pay for any of it. And thank you scholarships for being there and for always telling us that Jeff makes too much money and we should be able to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars each month for these things because that's our only expense in life.
Frustrated.
But, despite all that, I won't let apraxia define my little girl. Above all, she is a Child of God. Wonderfully made. Dearly loved and precious in His sight. Before God made her, he knew her. There is no one else like her!
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