Splendid Mayhem

Welcome To Holland

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Parker's FIRST "real" food!

Parker ate cereal for the first time on Monday! Adam got a chance to feed his baby- finally he said! He ate about 2 tsp for Adam. Last night, I couldn't get Parker to eat more than 2 or 3 bites from me. He gagged! Guess he like's his Momma's milk from Momma better than cereal :)

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Grant's Farm

Logen had a ball walking through the misting water! This was, by far, the best part of Grant's Farm in Logen's eyes!

The ride to Grants Farm. You get on a tram like thing and hear a story about how it all started, as well as see animals, etc on the way over. It was pretty fun!

YUM! I LOVE my toes :)

Jessica, Logen, Nana (My Momma) petting a Clidesdale!

ABR Scheduled

Logen's ABR has been scheduled for next Wednesday (June 27th) at 1pm. The nurse said it would take several hours- he does have to be sedated for the test. I will post results when I get them. Please pray for Logen's hearing- no hearing loss would be wonderful!

Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR)

The ABR test is reliable, objective, noninvasive and painless. Brain wave activity in the auditory centers of the brain is recorded in response to a series of clicks presented to each ear. Thus, the ABR test indirectly estimates the level of hearing in the peripheral auditory system (middle ear and inner ear).

Because of the nature of this testing procedure, the ABR test does not rely on any form of subjective response from the individual being tested. It is virtually unaffected by the use of anesthesia or sedation, or whether the patient is asleep or attentive.

ABR can be used:
* as a screening procedure for newborns who are at risk for hearing loss.

* as a diagnostic tool to identify infants and small children with a hearing loss.
* to estimate hearing levels in difficult to test patients, i.e., mentally retarded, autistic, developmentally delayed.
* to evaluate patients with suspected retrocochlear pathology.
* to evaluate patients with Meniere's disease or similar disorders.
* intra-operative monitoring (Neurological patients).
* as a prognostic indicator for patients with head trauma.

Test Procedure:

The ABR test is performed on an individual who is resting quietly or in a sleep state. Mild sedation may be used, when necessary, under a physician's supervision. A series of clicks are presented to each ear through special earpieces inserted into the ear canals. The audiologist can vary the intensity of the clicks. The individual wears a headband which records appropriate brain wave activity. The averaging computer in the ABR unit then analyzes the information and it is compared to normal responses. This procedure does not cause any discomfort to the person. The test takes approximately one to two hours.

(Copied and pasted from http://www.hearingcenter.com/services/abr.html)