Doctor Appointments and Homeschooling...That's Our Life!

I didn't realize how long it had been since I had updated this... We've been somewhat busy lately with doctor appointments. Last week we spent Tuesday through Friday in Cincinnati for doctor appointments for MaKenzie and Jared. Wheelchair clinic for both, Botox injections for both, Physical Therapy evaluations for both, and Jared had a surgery consult for a lesion on his scalp that needs to be removed. Tomorrow morning, I leave for Lexington with MaKenzie for a follow up appointment with her neurosurgeon. They'll remove the stitches. She also has an appointment with the ENT folks for her ear, which got surgical prep solution in it when they were prepping her for her surgery. That should take care of appointments until the following week when we go back to Cincinnati.

MaKenzie is doing great. She is mostly back to her old chatty self, walking all over the house and getting in everyone's business. It turned out that about 1/2 of her hair is gone. Shaved like a buzz with a number 1 guard on it. I've been putting the remaining 1/2 of her hair in a french braid which hangs on one side. When you look at her from that side, you wouldn't know anything was wrong, but on the other side, she looks like a man's face after he hasn't shaved for a couple weeks.

We've been schooling through the summer, but I reduced the kids' workload by removing a subject and reducing the amount of work in one of their other subjects. Still equivalent to a complete school day, especially if you consider that they have been in the pool 2-3 times every day--that's phys. ed. But this week we are going to start back to their full academic work load. Math, English, Spelling, Literature/Creative Writing, Science, Social Studies, Bible reading, and an additional writing course we are starting this year.

This will be our 6th year of homeschooling. I love it more every year. I love seeing them progress in their abilities and watching them learn. It's so satisfying to hear them read, knowing I taught them to do that--that was very intimidating the first year when I was trying to help Cody learn to read and teaching William phonics! John Wesley had learned from Mrs. Garland and I knew he had learned easily and well, so I was very relieved and encouraged and breathed a HUGE sigh of relief :) when William sounded out his first word independently several weeks into Kindergarten!

I love the fact that because I know each of my children so intimately (you know, the same way all moms know their kids), I understand HOW they learn best (I know how to speak each child's "language") and can tailor my teaching style to suit each individual child's learning style and ability. For example, in math, I might just be able to explain a new concept to Cody using words, but I might have to visually demonstrate using manipulatives for Lena to understand the same concept. That part is especially important and precious to me in the case of MaKenzie, Jared, and Matthew, who are officially schooling this year. There isn't a teacher in the state that can intuitively KNOW them and understand how to "speak their language" better than I can. Not because I am in any way special or gifted--not at all--but just because I'm their MOM. I KNOW them--I know how they think and how to communicate something to them. I can't imagine for the life of me putting those three on a school bus every morning--none of my kids--but especially those three. I'm so thankful for the blessing and privilege of being able to be home with my children every day . I'm also very thankful for my crazy-amazing husband who works so hard everyday yet manages to keep our family as his number one priority!

Anyway, I don't know how I got off on that homeschooling tangent. I guess maybe homeschooling is on my mind more today because I spent most of the day getting this week's lesson plans together and organizing my homeschooling records and paperwork for the year. That part is fun for me too. I like the creative outlet that the organizational aspect of homeschooling affords as well. Hmmm, did I mention that I really like homeschooling? :) Okay, I'll quit now.

(By the way, I really DO realize that the picture of Matthew has nothing whatsoever to do with the rest of this post, but I just thought you might enjoy his sweet smile. I know I sure do!)

Update on MaKenzie...

After lots of testing that basically ruled out everything else, MaKenzie's doctor compared her head CT scans from March and yesterday and did another test on her shunt, and discovered that her shunt had stopped working. (It drains fluid from the brain's ventricles through tubing that goes from her brain down to her abdominal cavity.)

When the shunt stops working, the fluid builds up causing painful pressure, which was the cause of her headaches and vomitting. Basically, the only fix for shunt failure is surgery. The doctor said that he needed to do it immediately. At the time, he didn't know exactly what he would have to do. It could be as simple as wiggling the shunt back into place or as invasive as replacing the whole tubing and valve system from her brain all the way to the abdominal cavity. He ended up being able to get the existing shunt working again by cleaning out the tubing. It had gotten blocked up over time.

Harold called me around 7:30 and said they were going to do surgery soon. I called Mom and in her typical superhero-sweep-in-and-save-the-day style, she was at the house within just a few minutes to stay with the kids and I was packed and on the road in record time. I got to Lexington just in time to get to see her after her surgery was complete. We were in recovery with her until around 4 am, then they got us up to a room on the peds floor, where we all crashed.

This morning, she was quite subdued and puny, but when we found out we were allowed to take her to the play room, she perked up a bit. After the play room, she seemed to have broken over the hump and realized that even though she didn't feel top notch, she was going to make it, so her personality started to return. It was a good reminder of how much I treasure her sunny little disposition.

They had to shave about 1/4 of her hair they said (we haven't seen it yet, it's under wraps, like a present--come to think of it, it is truly a gift that they have the ability to take away her hurt). Anyway, I'm a little bummed, because her hair was getting nice and long--long enough that I could finally french braid it. I realize that in the overall scheme of things, that's really a minor thing, but still... So, anyway, you can look forward to pictures in the near future of MaKenzie with her new little pixie hair cut. I think a pixie haircut will suit her little pixie personality just perfectly, don't you?


So back to the present--our little white-gauze-wrapped gift--she's drinking great and eating fair. Now it's just a matter of her little body doing it's thing and getting better. Once again, we are reminded of our blessings. Good healthcare for our kids, awesome parents who are there for us in a pinch, and God's healing goodness. Thank you for all of your prayers! And thank you Mom & Dad for being willing to drop everything to stand in the gap. We love you!!!