School ended with a whirl of activity. Aaron was shuttled up to Oklahoma for a few days of fun with Grandparents Stevens on their microfarm, while Isaac immediately went to Camp Gap which is a Texas sized version of Falls Creek or Windemere (for those of you that know what that is).
I stayed home with Nathan who began teaching summer classes this week and Sarah who daily asked where her brothers were.
We have managed to get in one good afternoon of swimming, but most of the week was filled with Medical Tests to get Sarah on the path to wearing "big girl" underwear.
One of the many challenges of living with any form of Spina Bifida is the toll it takes on a persons ability to use the restroom in the usual way. Most people with SB will use self intermittant catheterizing to create the same ability that the rest of us do just because our bodies tell us to.
In order to get there with Sarah, we visited Children's Medical Center in Dallas twice to have a Urodynamic Test ( a pressure test) and a DMSA (a kidney function test). In the middle of all this, I thought we might as well schedule all our Dr. appts for her and we went to Scottish Rite for our six month evaluation. This was a littany of professionals who, over the span of 2.5 hours saw my little girl. All of this was exhausting for her and me!
However the end of this very long week has come, and a new chapter for Sarah has begun. We have been cathing her for two days now. She woke up this morning and asked immediately to get her underwear on and for me to help her. She is a strong girl with determination and much patience - Thankfully! Right now she just watches me cath her (which is way different than cathing a boy where all my expertise lies), but someday she will do it herself and be completely independent.
I thank God for modern medicine everyday and for the U.S. medical system which does not throw these children away as damaged, but knows that with a little help they can rule their lives and be as accomplished as anyone else!
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