Well, friends, we had a very productive month-long stay back home in the States. We've been back in Kuwait now for about a month, and I've been majorly slacking when it comes to the blog -- mostly because I've been binging on the new seasons of Sons of Anarchy and Teen Mom 3 and Dancing With the Stars and The X Factor. What can I say?! I missed A LOT of my shows when I was home.
So we had two major things to check off our to-do list while we were home: get all of Liam's doctor appointments taken care of AND figure out exactly where we want to buy/build our first home. I am happy to say we were able to check off both items. We got all of Liam's appointments taken care of, which, trust me, is no easy feat since it typically involves five hour drives and some very long days at the doctors office. Luckily, Liam and I are pros when it comes to spending entire days at the SB clinic -- we've been doing it since he was three weeks old after all. Liam's Daddy??? Not so much. Luckily he has the incredible ability to take cat naps just about anywhere...even in the doctors office. :)
We also figured out exactly where we're going to build a house. That's right... we just signed the papers to begin building our very first home! Construction will begin in just a few short weeks, and we'll be moving back to Illinois this April! Well, Liam and I will move back in April, and my husband will follow about nine months later, once his contract in Kuwait is done. The house will be equipped with everything Liam needs -- wide doorways, roll under sinks, a roll in shower, etc. Can you imagine what sort of independence that offers?! It makes my heart so happy to know that he'll have absolutely everything he needs.
We pretty much knew which subdivision/school district we wanted to build in before we even went back to the States, but we wanted to make sure we ruled out all the other options. So we hired a realtor and spent a couple days looking at some already existing homes just to see if it made sense to buy a house and then spend the time and money modifying it to suit Liam's needs. We also checked out a lot of the other subdivisions in the area. In the end, we decided to build a brand new home in the subdivision we had originally planned on, but I'm still glad we spent the time exploring all our options. I'm hoping it will cut down on the "buyer's remorse" that I so often hear homeowners talk about.
But enough about that. I'll share more details about the house later. Now for the really good stuff: we received some very exciting news from Liam's doctors.
You might remember -- if not you can read about it here -- I mentioned that part of the reason we planned on moving home this spring was to take care of the couple of surgeries Liam would need before he started preschool in the fall. Well, guess what?! He don't need no stinkin' surgery! That's right! How does that happen you ask?! Magical Mommy physical therapy -- at least that's what the orthopedic surgeon tells me.
Trust me -- no one is more shocked than I am. I went into that appointment feeling extremely anxious because I was convinced Liam's orthopedic surgeon was going to tell me I ruined his life because I took him out of physical therapy in order to move him to Kuwait (even though these were decisions that were thoughtfully made and previously discussed with Liam's doctors and therapists). But sometimes I am a crazy person, so the little voice in my head had convinced me that I had permanently screwed up my child's life. Not only did Liam's orthopedic surgeon NOT accuse me of ruining his life, but she actually said we get the credit for Liam not needing another foot surgery. I guess the fact that I've had so much time to work with him since moving to Kuwait made all the difference.
We'd been planning on another foot surgery on his more problematic foot for years now, and never in my wildest dreams did I think his foot could actually be corrected with physical therapy alone -- that's how much tighter and more constricted it was than his other foot. Apparently, since Liam learned how to stand up to the furniture earlier this year, he has been stretching out his feet little by little. Every time he stands up and puts weight on his feet, they get stretched a little bit more. Voila! Now, there is only a five degree difference between his "good" foot and his "bad" foot. Incredible.
His doctor also couldn't get over the fact that his adductor muscles (the muscles in his groin/inner thigh area) weren't nearly as tight as they had been when she last saw him. Without even realizing it, Liam had been stretching those muscles out. A few months ago, he learned how to get on and off his Plasmacar, and climb up his slide and get himself into a seated position -- both of which require him to lift each of his legs up and over, stretching out his adductor muscle in the process.
They also couldn't get over how much stronger his quads are now than they were when we did his last muscle test. I have decided all of this means I can legitimately include "physical therapist" on my resume now. I have been trained by the best, after all. :)
We received more good news from Liam's urologist as well. Liam's kidneys look great, his bladder looks great, and not even a single infection! Everything looks great! So great, in fact, that the surgery we discussed during his appointment last year is no longer necessary (at least not at this point). His urologist thinks all we need to do for now is "watch" him. I mean, we'll still continue to catheterize every three hours, but he doesn't need any surgical intervention as of now. She doesn't even think it's necessary to continue doing his yearly urodynamics testing (CMG) -- that's how great everything looks! We'll still continue to monitor his kidneys and bladder with ultrasounds every six months, but no more hour-long urodynamics testing!
His urologist also said we could start getting him comfortable with the toilet, so that we can eventually figure out how much control he has. And as you can see, Liam is very excited about his new bubble guppies potty seat:
I will update you more on Liam's other progress later. He has a new RGO walking brace that we're working with -- he outgrew his other one -- and the child moves so fast I can barely keep up with him! And he is also loving the freedom and independence his new wheelchair brings.
So much to be thankful for. Life is good.
So we had two major things to check off our to-do list while we were home: get all of Liam's doctor appointments taken care of AND figure out exactly where we want to buy/build our first home. I am happy to say we were able to check off both items. We got all of Liam's appointments taken care of, which, trust me, is no easy feat since it typically involves five hour drives and some very long days at the doctors office. Luckily, Liam and I are pros when it comes to spending entire days at the SB clinic -- we've been doing it since he was three weeks old after all. Liam's Daddy??? Not so much. Luckily he has the incredible ability to take cat naps just about anywhere...even in the doctors office. :)
We also figured out exactly where we're going to build a house. That's right... we just signed the papers to begin building our very first home! Construction will begin in just a few short weeks, and we'll be moving back to Illinois this April! Well, Liam and I will move back in April, and my husband will follow about nine months later, once his contract in Kuwait is done. The house will be equipped with everything Liam needs -- wide doorways, roll under sinks, a roll in shower, etc. Can you imagine what sort of independence that offers?! It makes my heart so happy to know that he'll have absolutely everything he needs.
We pretty much knew which subdivision/school district we wanted to build in before we even went back to the States, but we wanted to make sure we ruled out all the other options. So we hired a realtor and spent a couple days looking at some already existing homes just to see if it made sense to buy a house and then spend the time and money modifying it to suit Liam's needs. We also checked out a lot of the other subdivisions in the area. In the end, we decided to build a brand new home in the subdivision we had originally planned on, but I'm still glad we spent the time exploring all our options. I'm hoping it will cut down on the "buyer's remorse" that I so often hear homeowners talk about.
But enough about that. I'll share more details about the house later. Now for the really good stuff: we received some very exciting news from Liam's doctors.
You might remember -- if not you can read about it here -- I mentioned that part of the reason we planned on moving home this spring was to take care of the couple of surgeries Liam would need before he started preschool in the fall. Well, guess what?! He don't need no stinkin' surgery! That's right! How does that happen you ask?! Magical Mommy physical therapy -- at least that's what the orthopedic surgeon tells me.
Trust me -- no one is more shocked than I am. I went into that appointment feeling extremely anxious because I was convinced Liam's orthopedic surgeon was going to tell me I ruined his life because I took him out of physical therapy in order to move him to Kuwait (even though these were decisions that were thoughtfully made and previously discussed with Liam's doctors and therapists). But sometimes I am a crazy person, so the little voice in my head had convinced me that I had permanently screwed up my child's life. Not only did Liam's orthopedic surgeon NOT accuse me of ruining his life, but she actually said we get the credit for Liam not needing another foot surgery. I guess the fact that I've had so much time to work with him since moving to Kuwait made all the difference.
We'd been planning on another foot surgery on his more problematic foot for years now, and never in my wildest dreams did I think his foot could actually be corrected with physical therapy alone -- that's how much tighter and more constricted it was than his other foot. Apparently, since Liam learned how to stand up to the furniture earlier this year, he has been stretching out his feet little by little. Every time he stands up and puts weight on his feet, they get stretched a little bit more. Voila! Now, there is only a five degree difference between his "good" foot and his "bad" foot. Incredible.
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| Check out those perfect feet! |
His doctor also couldn't get over the fact that his adductor muscles (the muscles in his groin/inner thigh area) weren't nearly as tight as they had been when she last saw him. Without even realizing it, Liam had been stretching those muscles out. A few months ago, he learned how to get on and off his Plasmacar, and climb up his slide and get himself into a seated position -- both of which require him to lift each of his legs up and over, stretching out his adductor muscle in the process.
They also couldn't get over how much stronger his quads are now than they were when we did his last muscle test. I have decided all of this means I can legitimately include "physical therapist" on my resume now. I have been trained by the best, after all. :)
We received more good news from Liam's urologist as well. Liam's kidneys look great, his bladder looks great, and not even a single infection! Everything looks great! So great, in fact, that the surgery we discussed during his appointment last year is no longer necessary (at least not at this point). His urologist thinks all we need to do for now is "watch" him. I mean, we'll still continue to catheterize every three hours, but he doesn't need any surgical intervention as of now. She doesn't even think it's necessary to continue doing his yearly urodynamics testing (CMG) -- that's how great everything looks! We'll still continue to monitor his kidneys and bladder with ultrasounds every six months, but no more hour-long urodynamics testing!
His urologist also said we could start getting him comfortable with the toilet, so that we can eventually figure out how much control he has. And as you can see, Liam is very excited about his new bubble guppies potty seat:
I will update you more on Liam's other progress later. He has a new RGO walking brace that we're working with -- he outgrew his other one -- and the child moves so fast I can barely keep up with him! And he is also loving the freedom and independence his new wheelchair brings.
So much to be thankful for. Life is good.
