Duke MRI

The Duke MRI showed that Amanda's aneurysms and shunt look stable. Praise God! It is such a relief to get good news. We will go back every summer for an MRI to check things and hopefully every summer we will walk away with good news. Our meeting with Dr Fuches, the neurosurgeon, went very well. He was funny and helpful and upbeat.

The MRI was quite the experience (6 hours, a BP of 50 something over 25 and a pulse of 45 and an inability to get fluids running to bring up the BP) but all is well that ends well. The funniest quote of the day came from the "new?" nurse who had trouble with IVs, machines, etc all day and told us how tired she was ... "Now don't let Amanda run or ride her bike when she gets home because she might still be groggy from the anesthesia." I guess it never occurred to her that kids who don't walk on their own might not run or ride a bike either. I didn't say anything but it did give me a chuckle.

It was a long day (left at 5:30 am, returned home at 8pm) but a great day given that things all looked stable. The radiologist hadn't read the scans yet but Dr Fuches felt like they looked the same so we are relieved.

ELLIE, Katie, Becca (Katie's friend) and I all went to the movies last night and had fun. Hopefully, next time Amanda can go too. Her appmt to start vaccines is Aug 6. She has a dental appmt tomorrow. As I write this entry, Amanda and ELLIE are sound asleep, all snuggled up together on the couch. It is very cute. Amanda and ELLIE continue to do very well together.

Our other news is that we are getting closer to building out our 44 acres in Burgaw. Eventually we would like to move the horses up there. A new friend in Wilmington is helping us to coordinate the process and it is exciting to see things moving along.

Amanda added two new skills this week. She can now put her head under water in the pool without choking and she can drink through a straw. She is very close to crawling on her own. She already scoots around the house but she seems to be really committed to mastering crawling. I barely have to touch her to balance her as she crawls. I guess we will be investing in some childproofing supplies soon, as well as a padded helmet.

We have enjoyed the month of July and had lots of fun times swimming in the pool, riding horses, and going to the beach... and we had some fun company as well.

I hope you and yours are enjoying your summer! Love ya and God Bless!
Susan

Summer 2010 Update

Amanda has been having a good summer for the most part. She really enjoys swimming, going to the beach, riding horses, etc. Last night we had a picnic on the beach and we swam in the afternoon and again after we got back from the beach. She is almost crawling independently now. I am hoping she will meet this milestone in the next month or so. She is walking great with ELLIE and loves the new harness.

The whole family, including ELLIE, went to a wedding in Florida in June. ELLIE behaved wonderfully, as we knew she would. Amanda on the otherhand was a bit boisterous but she had fun. The picture of us all dressed up is from the wedding. The wedding was outside so we were able to take Amanda safely (or so we thought). The wedding was lots of fun but we ended up getting a norovirus type illness and spent the last half of the trip quite ill. A bunch of the wedding guests got the illness and some ended up in the hospital. Our whole family (including my parents who did not attend the wedding) came down with it. The good news is that since Amanda go through the virus without throwing a major seizure, she is now cleared to try a vaccine. So, we will be meeting with the pediatrician soon to find out where and how to start the vaccine process.

Next Monday, July 26, Amanda goes in for her MRI to make sure her aneurysms and fistulae are still stable. Please keep her in your prayers. So far, they have remained stable so we pray that continues.

Amanda and ELLIE continue to make great progress together. The rest of the family is doing well too and enjoying the summer. I will post again after her MRI.

Susan