The Brave Little Finsta
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
The seizure monster has returned
Two weeks later we see our neurologist. She tells me the reading of the EEG was kind of "murky" but that they definitely see seizure activity. He is experiencing 3 different kinds of focal seizures throughout the day. Which basically means that there are 3 different areas of the brain that are misfiring, and when that happens he experiences the arm twitch. However, not every time his arm twitches is a seizure. So it is very confusing. During these twitches, which only last a half a second, Finn is totally aware and engaged and talking through them. Which goes against typical seizure activity! So basically you can't tell between just an arm twitch and a seizure. Leave it to Finn to do another thing uncommon. We increased his Topamax but haven't seen a change in the frequency of twitches.
Finn has been doing amazing things in the last few months. I feel like he has been having a cognitive burst! He's nodding his head, he's walking like a champ in his walker, he is doing amazing things with his communication device, and actually started being more vocal in trying to say new sounds...he's been doing amazing! The neurologist let me know that these types of seizures are not doing any damage to his brain. It's apparent that they are not affecting his cognitive abilities and they don't appear to bother him, so instead of continuing to increase his medications in the hopes to stop these twitches all together (which may never happen) we should keep everything the same. Until it appears that these seizures are interfering with his life and/or learning we don't change anything. and I am in agreement with her. And plus I don't believe that I will ever be able to totally stop Finn's seizures. I feel like we will always be dealing with focal seizures because of his brain damage. But he is in great spirits, and he just continues to amaze everyone around him <3
Friday, December 11, 2015
The feeding struggles continue....
We just had a check up yesterday with our doctor and Finn has gained weight since we started this process. She told me that if we couldn't prove that Finn could gain on this diet then she would have to take us off of the blended food diet. Which kind of pissed me off. I will decide what to feed my kid. He's gaining weight, seems happier, is no longer vomiting or constipated. I will not go back to feeding him Pediasure. But I am glad I didn't have to have that conversation with her. But if they do try to tell me not to feed him this diet I will have no problem challenging their opinion.
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
A different kind of post.
Friday, May 8, 2015
Sometimes "professionals" are the worst
Yesterday Finn had a follow up with Neurology. I really didn't feel like going. I almost cancelled. Finn hasn't appeared to be doing any suspicious movements or behaviors that I wanted to discuss with her. But I went mostly bc I wanted to see how much Finn weighed.... (28.8lbs! He's gained over a pound and a half since his gtube placement! And he's not even taking in as much as the "professionals" want him to!)
Anyway, our neurologist was really happy with the way Finn looked/acted/felt. She was so happy to hear about the cognitive and speech progress Finn has had since she last saw him 5 months ago. I was flying high. Feeling good. Then she reminded me that she wanted to reevaluate Finn this visit. I totally forgot. I didn't plan for a 2 hour doc appt. It's getting to be snack time for Finn and I didn't bring food....but I told her since Finn is happy now, let's just start the evaluation and if he gets mad we will just stop and do the rest another time.
In walks this "behavior therapist". And let me just preface this story with, I know she is just doing her job.... going by all the protocols and standards blah blah blah. But with that said this stupid evaluation is worthless and stupid. And I'm pissed I wasted my time and Finn's. But I was curious to see how far Finn has come since the last time he was tested at 11 months. And bc every time I ask a specialist in our little CP world about Finn's cognitive age they always tell me "oh we don't like to put those kind of labels on our kids..." ok fine. But I can't help that I'm curious. I know his gross and fine motor are bad...that is obvious. ..but Finn is so smart and funny that I KNOW he's way stronger cognitively.
So to satisfy my curiosity we do the evaluation. She administered the Bayley infant development test. Which is part her interacting with Finn and then a bunch of questions I have to fill out that state whether Finn can perform certain tasks or not. Well keep in mind it's now 4:00 pm, Finn just sat thru a 1 hour doc appt, he had school that morning, hasn't napped, and is now getting hungry....so this "behavior therapist" busts out all these toys and the goal is to see if Finn can track, grasp, hold, play with these objects. Well the only toys this woman has in her suitcase are dumb baby toys like a rattle and a ball. Finn isn't interested in playing with those things. So he makes no attempt to try to play with them. And I tell her that. I'm like those are too infantile for him. He's 4 years old...not 4 months. But it's the only stuff she has...so after about 20 mins Finn gets mad. He's had enough. So she tries to finish the test real quick based on what I tell her Finn can do at home. Then she leaves to score the test.
She comes back looking like she's so proud and that she's going to delivery good news to me. She has told me that Finn has improved in all areas since he was tested when he was 11 months old (no shit) she tells me that his communication skills is that of a 14 month old, receptive communication is 11 month old, and cognitive skills are a 5 month old. Before she can do the fine and gross motor scores I tell her to stop right there. I go on to tell her that these scores are incorrect and bullshit. The last time Finn was tested for communication skills, his receptive communication was 18 months! And this was when he was 2 years old. And to tell me that cognitively Finn is a 5 month old?? Are you kidding me? I flat out tell her that her scores are wrong. (I don't believe I acted like I was in denial of these results (maybe partly so))...but I ask how she came to these conclusions. And she said she can only score what she saw Finn do today. So bc he didn't reach out and want to play with that stupid rattle he was penalized. I said that they need to figure out a way to adapt this test for kids like Finn who have difficulty moving their body but understand what is being asked of them. She tells me this particular test can never be adapted bc this test is compared to "typical" children his age. EXCUSE ME?? I say to her "Why is Finn even taking this evaluation?" She responds by telling me to see how delayed developmentally he is and then to advise on how to get him the help he needs. ARE YOU SERIOUS? I tell her I don't need a test to tell me how delayed he is! And then I tell her that this was ridiculous, she wasted our time and hers, that Finn has an excellent team working with him, that I didnt need her help, and that anyone who spent more than 40 minutes with Finn could tell her he would test higher than what she "concluded".
I am not going to let that test hurt my heart. I know what Finn is capable of. But it pisses me off that they felt it was necessary to do that test. I know he's very delayed...his doctors know he's very delayed....so how the hell does this test help??? The only thing it accomplished was making me feel bad.
Friday, March 27, 2015
Minus 2 Tonsils plus 1 feeding tube equals 2 hellish weeks!
Friday, January 23, 2015
I've lost the battle of the bottle...
So I am surrendering. It took me a long time to get to this place. This place of acceptance of the feeding tube. Once I got past the denial of how much Finn actually needs it. I realize that this will be great for our whole family. Finn will finally have a proper nutritious diet. He will finally know what it is like to have a full belly. When he gets sick I won't have to worry about him being properly hydrated or getting meds in him. My stress level will decrease because I will know he will be getting enough food on a daily basis and anyone can feed him...it won't have to be just me anymore. I made a pact with Finn when we decided to schedule the surgery...I promised him I would not stop feeding him by mouth. Finn actually likes the taste of food...he just doesn't eat enough of it to gain weight. Just because he will have a tube doesn't mean I am going to stop trying to improve his oral motor skills or deny him the taste of food. This I promised to him.
So wish us luck on this next hurdle!
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Powerless
I hate feeling powerless. I hate when things are beyond my control. I never considered myself a control freak until I had Finn.
I always thought that if I followed all the instructions...did all the therapies...put my heart, soul, and energy into doing all of those things everything would get better. Not that Finn would suddenly stop having spastic quad cp....but that it would make a big enough difference that people would notice.
I always feel so defeated after our doctors appts. Finn and I try so hard and all I hear is "he still isn't gaining enough weight for us" "he is still really tight after his latest botox injection" "his head control doesn't look that good" "you have to think about what meds he might need in addition to botox"
I go in feeling good. I see changes in Finn...they might not be noticeable to everyone but I see it. And then to be told all of these things that aren't improving frustrates me. I feel powerless...
The future scares the shit out of me. I try not to think about it for too long bc I always end up in tears and having panic attacks bc of how terrified I am. I worry all the time. Then to be told today that he is still tight after botox and might need additional drugs to help with tone. It scared me. Finn is only 3.5 years old...he's only been on botox for a 1.5 years. I thought it would be years and years before we would be having this discussion since there is only so much botox a person can get....but you want to talk about this now?? I immediately think about the future and what this means for Finn down the road..
And I don't know the answer and it scares me....again...powerless.