Matthew's big news and Maia's appointments

When Matthew came upstairs this morning, he was quite upset. I asked him what was wrong and he opened his mouth. He has a loose tooth and was very concerned about it. I clapped my hands, yelled "yay" and explained how this tooth will come out, then he will grow a "big" tooth. It's just one step in getting older. Well, that was the right answer. Made the kiddo's day, he was walking around proud as can be that he is going to lose a tooth - lol!!

We had a busy day with appointments for Maia. MRI of her head this morning. As I often am, I was amazed at my sweet girl's resiliency and acceptance of such things. This was the first time I have been able to go with Maia for an MRI. Before, it's always been Mark. Anyway, other than a less than 5 second little whimper as they were putting in her ear plugs and the padding on the side of her head, Maia did not cry or get upset at all. I was able to be with her and hold her hand. We talked and she stayed calm in spite of the noise and being in the tube with a big plastic "cage" on her head. It brought me to tears thinking about all she has experienced in her short life. 

Maia was seen for her six week post-op follow up appointment. I was able to see the results of her MRI and the comparison before and after surgery. The fluid that had exanded her ventricles before was gone which was great. Unfortunately, the drainage of the shunt sometimes exerts a negative pressure inside the skull. This has caused some "pulling in of her brain (the nurse practitioner's words)" and bleeding between the brain and the lining of the brain. At this point, there is nothing to do other than keep a close eye on Maia and recheck the MRI in two months. If things are not better, a programmable valve will be added to her shunt which will control the drainage pressure of the shunt.  She's still running a low grade temperature and her old shunt site doesn't look good, so she is going to have another week of antibiotics. We'll see the NP again in two weeks.

Our last appointment of the day was to see the developmental pediatrician. She had evaluated Maia in December and found her to be functioning at the 24-30 month level in most areas. Today, Dr. S did a limited reevaluation and found Maia to be at around the 30-40 month level, plus answering some questions at a four year old level. Dr. S was so impressed with the progress Maia has made! The fact that she has progressed six or more months developmentally in a period of four months is wonderful! Dr. S said she didn't need to see Maia again for another year!! WOOHOO! I give so much credit to the wonderful teachers at Maia's ECSE program, as well as my sweet hubby for his efforts to help Maia learn. According to Dr. S, she will likely recommend some formal neuropsych testing when Maia is getting ready for kindergarten to get a more accurate evaluation of IQ, etc. But for now, we're definitely on the right track! That was wonderful news to hear!! It is so much fun to see how Maia has blossomed over the past six months - she's so darn cute!!

So, that's the scoop for today! Have a good one!