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Well, as I was informed on Thursday, I have 7 months and 3 weeks left of residency. Yes, I am excited. And I'm even more excited about starting my fellowship and spending my days at work doing what I truly love. This does, however, bring along with it a lot of change. This is what I'm not so excited about. Those of you who know me know I don't do so well with change. I'm excited to be in Little Rock, where we'll only be about 8 hours from Montgomery. We'll also have access to any and all doctors Will might need. I do have a few friends there, so that will make the transition easier as well. My biggest fear and concern right now is finding a house. You see, we have to find a house in the right neighborhood so Will can go to be best special ed public elementary school. This has proven to be difficult so far. All of the houses are small and expensive, not a good combination. We're praying for a 3 (preferably4) bedroom and 2 (or even 2.5) bathroom house with at least as much space as we have now (about 2000 sq.ft.). We'd love more space but I'm not going to press my luck. We also need a fenced back yard and a landlord that will allow pets. We're also having to deal with getting Will's schooling arranged from Tulsa. He's having testing done in March, and then we'll be trying to get the IEP meeting set up. This is all hard to do from 4 hours away. I'm praying that my attendings will be lenient and allow me to go to Little Rock when I need to. We'll also be traveling there over the next 3 months or so for Will's MRIs and neurosurgery and neurology appointments. I'm also praying God will provide a good preschool for Cate. She is doing so well in the one she's in now, and she really needs it for the socialization with other kids. Finally, we're praying God will provide a church home like we have here in Woodlake. God is going mighty things at Woodlake, and we love Pastor Jamie. We're really sad that we'll be leaving this summer, but are going to enjoy every minute of until we're gone. Then, we are believing God will provide the same thing for us in Little Rock. Please continue to pray for our family and all of these needs that I've mentioned. We love you all and appreciate your support more than you'll ever know. Hope to hear from you soon. And, hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving. Love you!
Well, Mini Laps is over and it was great! Thanks to all of your support, Will raised a little over $6400! We exceeded our goal of $5000 thanks to all of you. We are so grateful to have your prayers, support, and concern for Will. He is doing well at school. This is his last year at The Little Light House, a thought that makes me want to cry. We will be moving to Little Rock in June, and he will start kindergarten there in the fall. We're on the look-out for a good public school with good special ed for Will there, so if any of you know of good special ed elementary schools in the Little Rock area, please let me know.
I was able to go to Cate's speech therapy today (for the first time in a long time). She has really been doing well at home with her speech. She's up to probably 150 words and is using 3-4 word sentences and phrases. She is not, however, talking at school or church. Her speech pathologist was hoping that this was just part of the usual progression of a child with expressive speech disorder, so we waited. She told us today that she thinks Cate has selective mutism, which is a disorder where the child talks and interacts in one environment but doesn't in another environment. She told me not to freak out or go googling it, and I'm not, but I also had to let it out. You guys are always so supportive and pray for us, so I wanted to let you know so you could pray for Cate. We're trying some techniques that are supposed to help her, and her prognosis is very good according to her speech pathologist. We are going to see her pediatrician to get the official diagnosis, but our speech path specializes in expressive speech disorders and this area, and says she meets all the criteria for diagnosis.
Anyway, that's the update for now on the kids. I'm in the NICU at OSU MC. I'm done with wards at Saint Francis!!! Hooray!!! I have several electives coming up and then will start my fellowship in developmental pediatrics in Little Rock in July. I'll be going to the AOA convention in New Orleans Nov. 1-5, so if you're in the area, come see me! That's all the excitement in our lives right now. Hope to hear from you guys soon.
I am the absolute worst about posting updates, and I apologize. Well, Will and I went to the neurosurgeon on the 25th, and we got great news. Rather than do surgery right away, he decided to wait 6 months and do another MRI to see if the syringomyelia has changed at all. I was surprised but very happy to hear this. Will started his final year at the Little Light House last week. He is in a new room (the purple room) and doing well. They are in full swing with their big fall fundraiser, Mini Laps. If you want to know more about Mini Laps and help Will raise money, go to this website and you can donate directly from there: http://littlelighthouse.donordepot.com/civicrm/contribute/pcp/info?reset=1&id=45
Cate started her second year of preschool at Highland Park Learning School. She is in the green room this year. There are 5 kids from her class last year and 2 new kids in the class. I think she really enjoys it, and I know it's good for her development. She also goes to the Little Gym once a week for "gymnastics" class.
I am in my last month at Saint Francis Children's Hospital. It is so stinkin' busy. It's just me and one intern. We round everyday until 6:oopm. We are averaging 26 patients each day - which is a lot with just two residents. I come home super tired and fall asleep on the couch most nights.
Jeremiah is still staying home with the kids. He is so excited about college football, but he's not very happy about the way Alabama is playing tonight.
We got a new pastor at church, and I think he's going to be really good for Woodlake. He is young and has a family. He is a wonderful speaker and has a heart for the lost. He also has a passion for passing on our faith to the next generation. It makes me even more sad to think about leaving Woodlake next summer when we move to Little Rock.
Anyway, that's all I have for now. Hope all is well with all of you. I'm going to post some pictures from Will's birthday for you to enjoy. Hopefully I'll be back with another update soon.
We got Will's MRI results yesterday. His brain is fine, but there is something on his spine called a syrinx. A syrinx is basically a fluid filled cyst or tumor (not cancerous) that forms on the spinal cord. It can cause all sorts of problems, and the doctors think it may be responsible for some of Will's signs and symptoms. His neurologist called us today and said the neurosurgeon had looked at the films. He agreed that it was a syrinx and not a normal variant as we had hoped it might be. He also said we need to be seen in neurosurgery clinic soon to arrange treatment. The only treatment I can find is surgery to remove it. His symptoms probably won't change as the sugery tends not to reverse things but does prevent any worsening. I'm expecting to hear next week about when he'll be going back to Little Rock to see the neurosurgeon, and I assume that we will get a date for surgery then. This, of course, brings about lots of things to pray for. So, please pray for the following:
1. Will's symptoms don't get any worse before this can be taken care of.
2. We can get seen and scheduled in a timely manner.
3. I can get someone to cover my shifts at the hospital so I can be in Little Rock with Will.
4. God will provide financially for all of the medical bills this will bring.
5. We can have enough help with Cate and the house while we're gone.
6. Peace for all of us, especially me, and I worry about things that could go wrong before, during, or after the surgery.
7. A quick recovery for Will.
8. That nothing else goes wrong.
This has been an extremely trying week. We've lost Will's medicaid. We'll probably be losing his SSI. Social security is asking us to repay $5700 of "overpayment" that is their fault. Will has been sick with intermittent fevers. Work is super stressful, and now this. I feel like my life is best described by the phrase "when it rains it pours!" I feel completely overwhelmed, sad, worried, stressed...I didn't mean for this to turn into a pity party. My main concern is my son. Anyway, I'll post more when I have some news. Until then....
We have spent the last week at home in Alabama with our family and have had a wonderful time. We came to town for me to be in a wedding of two of my friends from med school/residency. The crazy thing is that the groom is from Alabama, but I didn't meet him until residency in Oklahoma. The wedding was beautiful and we had a nice one-night vacation from our kids. We love them very much, but as you all know, everyone needs a break now and then. We've also been able to visit with some other friends and family. It has been a very nice week. We are leaving tomorrow morning and heading to Little Rock. We're going to visit a school there on Monday that is for special needs kids that we're considering for Will when we move there next summer. Then it's home to Tulsa. Sorry this is such a short update. Hopefully there will be more exciting stuff to share soon.
