Updates, updates, updates...and some School!

Hi everyone!  Mommy here, we have a lot of updates for you so hold on!

I may have mentioned Logan's CP doctor to you all before but as a quick reminder, she is a pediatric neurologist and actually has CP herself, she truly is our inspiration that anything is possible!!  She is located in Dallas, which works out well since Chris is from Dallas and his family is all still there, so we try to see her twice a year when we are out for holidays / visits.  Anyways, for the last 2 years she has done a conference called CP Prep for Life, it is filled with wonderful information about CP, including experts from all around the country, discussing how to best live and take care of our little ones with CP.  This was my second year attending and there is always so much information it is both mentally and emotionally taxing.  I hated being gone from my boys for almost a week (between that and work trips) however, we (Grandma Janet came with) come out of this year reinvigorated with information and ready to make sure our little man has the best of everything. 

I have been busy this past week scheduling appointments that we have been waiting on for a while now, one of them being his eyes.  One of the things we have always been trying to figure out for a while now is Logan's eyes.  We know he can see, we just don't know how well and are pretty sure that he has some depth perception issues (which also makes it harder to walk).  There is an eye doctor in St. Louis, Dr. Tyschen that specializes in CP (he was at CP Prep for Life last year) that Dr. Jan has recommended us go see and after months of getting all of the right records and information together and over to him we have finally been able to get an appointment / surgery scheduled.  

We will be heading to St. Louis the week of Thanksgiving to finally meet this doctor who will hopefully be able to tell us what is going on with his eyes and what we can do to help him.  We will be meeting with him on Monday afternoon for tests (the scheduler said there are a LOT of tests that they want to run) and then based on the tests Logan will have eye surgery Tuesday morning.  It seems really quick to go one than the other (trust me we know) but if we had already made the trip we figure it was the best route to go as we have known for a while that Logan will need some sort of eye surgery.  We won't know what type of surgery or exactly what they will be doing but I do believe we are in good hands!!

Also while we are in St. Louis we will be meeting with Dr. TS Park who is the leading doctor in a procedure called SDR.  Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy is a surgery where they will go into Logan's spine and are able to cut out the spasticity in his legs.  It is a big surgery and he will be in the hospital for 4 days with 5-6 months of daily therapy following but it is supposed to make a huge difference in the life of these kids with high spasticity.  We are looking to probably do the surgery sometime next summer and we will keep you posted on our progress!  There are 2 doctors that we are considering for the surgery, Dr. Park in St. Louis and Dr Leonard in Columbus, hoping to meet with both and see their thoughts on Logan.  So...if you know anyone in either city or have any tips let us know, we will most likely be setting up base camp at one of them for about a month when this surgery finally takes place.  

Phew...as if that wasn't enough, I have more!!  

Logan only got to go to preschool one day this week (thus the lack of Tuesday update) because we were at an evaluation to see if he would qualify for special needs preschool through our public school system.  Logan, Daddy and I went on Tuesday morning and answered a TON of questions while Logan played away with a speech therapist, occupational therapist, physical therapist and special needs teacher.  They were evaluating his needs to figure out if he would be a good fit for their class. When we signed him up for his typical preschool we had no idea this even existed but once we found out about it we became very intrigued.  The class is made up of max 10 kids with a special needs teacher and one or to para-pros.  There are different types of kids with special needs in the class, Autistic, Learning Disabilities, etc who just need a little extra help in getting prepared to start school.  They build an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) that they will work against to help Logan meet his goals and bring in different therapists to help with these goals during the day.  We are waiting to hear if he will be eligible (however we believe he will) and if so we will need to decide if this is better than his preschool now and what we want to do but at least it is an option and it is FREE!!  We are going to visit the class in mid September so I will fill you all in more on that when we get closer.  He can't start until he turns 3 (October 12) so we have a little time.  

Ok, now that may be all I have to update you on from the last week or so...needless to say, we have been busy and at times I think my brain will explode, but its all good stuff and hopefully will all end in some good progress for our little man.  I will now leave you to your regularly scheduled programming of Erica and preschool recaps!!

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Good Afternoon!

Logan had a great week and a wonderful but tired day at school today.  Poor little guy got a big mosquito bite on his eye and he had an allergic reaction!  He swelled up, so Mommy and Daddy felt it best to head to the Dr today to just make sure it wasn't something more serious,  The Dr said it was nothing more than a reaction to the bug bite. So that eased our minds. 

First rule of Fight Club...

Logan and I headed to school after the appointment. The Theme this week at is Learning Our Bodies! The kids were able to make a face using a paper plate, buttons and craft paper. Our little man was almost too tired to participate, but he did! The day also included going outside to see the new Garden and play on the playset! I helped Logie dig in the dirt. The kids will plant seeds next week! We left a bit early and he went fast asleep when we got home! 

In the kitchen with my buddy Sam!

Sweet Emma and Logan!

Another exciting and BUSY week! Logan is very happy Mommy is back! Looking forward to next week and more fun at school!

❤️
Erica

Here is a little video of him at Aqua this week...our little fish!!