Busy Bodies...

Support...Gotta love it! My friends Val and Christy, who I worked with in ER in FSJ, came down to teach a trauma course in PG last weekend. Last Saturday evening they came out to visit us on the farm and then took me out for a great dinner. It was such good timing for me. I really haven't been the most stable of individuals since the last onset of seizures. So when they came they seemed to help lift the mental strain. It was great. Not only did they bring all the well wishes and generous gifts from my buds in Emerg but they also helped shed some light on all the possibilities of Alistair's seizure activity. It just helped me get refocused and realized I can and will cope with whatever we are dealt. Again I need to just focus my energy on what I can affect rather than wasting prestious energy on what I can't. So ya PERFECT timing you guys. That lot up in Emerg has actually been a continuous support for me right from when I first shared the fact I was pregnant. They've shared smiles, tears, support, and advice to hold me together when I have struggled. They shown it through hugs, smiles, pats on the back, crazy generous gifts, to wonderfully supportive E-mails, phone calls, and personal visits. Ya you guys ROCK. Love Ya!

Anyhooo...yesterday I got my butt out on a pair of cross country skis and tested my trails I've been hacking away at out back. We had some pretty hefty winds here so I ended up having to take my skis off quite a bit to jump trees that had been blown down. Nevertheless it was wonderful just to get out and breath some fresh air and feel the sunshine on my face. More healthy and happy brain cells were created this day!

Today I found out that Alistair was accepted to receive the RSV (respiratory synctial virus) shot. I was so happy as RSV is a virus that is the most common and very contagious virus to infect children's lungs under the age of 1yr. For the average healthy kid it isn't too too bad but for little guys like Alistair with lung conditions it can be a serious set back that could cause for hospitalization...which as you all know is the last thing we need. But anyhow one does have to fill out paperwork and apply for it...so yippee, not to my surprise....we got it. So they gave him his first dose today. He cried for about 15 sec and decided that he didn't want to interupt his sleep time anymore and he headed back to sleep mode. I knew the shot was expensive ....the nurse informed me its $800 a shot! Yikearoos...thanks again for paying your taxes...I LOVE PUBLIC HEALTH! O and did I say he needs a shot monthly for 5 months!

So ya Mr Alistair, Grandma Hedges, and I are heading South to Vancouver tomorrow morning. We'll be seeing Linda Huh, a neurologist, tomorrow. Then on Friday we see the neonatalogist, OT, hand specialist, possibly the hand surgeon, Dr Skarsgaard ...the fella that preformed Alistairs surgery, and Dr Patel in genetics. Thats a busy day. I think we're there from 9am till 4 pm with one break somewheres in the middle of it all. Saturday we're heading to Jan Louises for supper. She gave me a lot of mental support while I was down in Van for the summer. Then we'll head out to my cousin Bo's for a couple nights out in Burnaby and then we're back to the hosptial Tuesday and Wednesday for feeding studies and an upper GI assessment. So its going to be a busy week. I don't really expect answers but I do expect a plan. I also know that Women's and Children's in itself will have a placebo affect on me. I'm just so comfortable with them and have put so much trust in them in the past that to go down and be assessed at that level will be reassuring to me.

Well I hope the sun is shining where ever you are at!
Cheers for now ~ Julie

Here's a little clip of Alistair chatting. Mind you he gets a lot more chatty then this but everytime I bring the camera out he likes to look at it and forgets that he's chatting. He has been doing really good since his last seizure. He's had the best weight gain per day at 22 grams or more a day which is a far cry from his 9-12 grams a day he was at. Like I said he's also very chatty, started to try flexion head control again and much more into rolling on his tummy with assistance. So progression is happening again...just a tad slow for the medical world...but mama his happy!