Thursday, July 26, 2007

Update Medley

Update of this week, its almost Friday and I'm still trying to figure out what happened to Monday through Thursday! I'm sure you've all had one of those weeks where there really isn't an excuse to why my house is messy or why things didn't' get done because I can't really tell you what happened except for 2 days!

Besides the 2 PT sessions, the 2 OT sessions, and the 2 Speech sessions, Daniel also visited his neurologist for a check up and his dietitian to make sure we are still on track with his weight and making progress.

Dietitian: His weight is up to 27.4 lbs at 23 1/2 months old. (By the way we have a birthday coming up, the big 2!) and measured 34 1/2 inches tall. So all in all, he is doing good in this area.

Neurology: This was just our normal 4 month check up that we do. Dr. Chugani stated that Daniel is doing well and we currently have the latest form of seizures under control. So until these are controlled for about 6-8 months we will not change any medicines or begin and weaning. We got his latest results from the Video EEG that we had in June.

We also have all the paperwork submitted into insurance and are awaiting the approval (cross your fingers) for Daniel's power wheelchair. After all is said and done, it seems that Daniel's new ride will be equivalent to the cost of a new 2008 Escape. This just rubs me the wrong way. That the cost of something, a piece of equipment, for a child to be able to get around and explore his environment would have to cost as much as a brand new vehicle. Sickening.

Question of the day: Which would you pick??! A power wheelchair or 2008 Escape?We of course, opted for the wheelchair in a nice shade of blue, to match our 2001 piece of crap car! LOL

Daniel also got his new DAFO's, which are might spiffy if I might say so myself. These are his second pair, and these ones have hinges. Today was the first day of Daniel wearing them. He wears them for 1 hour only, and each day we go up by one hour. During that one hour, Daniel decided to walk down the sidewalk and to the corner of our street in his Pony. This is a fairly long distance for him, but he did really well. And of course he had quite a few cheering bystanders!! WAY TO GO DANIEL!! Below is a photo of Daniel attempting to use a walker for the first time that does not have the trunk support or the seat. He found out quickly that this piece of equipment didn't' have any place for him to rest! (No worries......No Daniels were harmed during this therapy session!)
Oh, by the way......another disgustingly priced item were the DAFO's coming in at around $1,800. You'd think they were made out of gold! We will be donating Daniel's smaller DAFO's to a family that does not have insurance but are in need of them. Don't these companies realize that they are just raping people who are caring for their children with special needs. I know damn well that these DAFO's DO NOT cost that much in material and/or time.

2 comments:

Jacolyn said...

It's appalling what we are charged for the equipment our kids need! They (they manufactors or retailers) should be ashamed of themselves!
When does Daniel turn 2? He looks great and has good stats. My kids will be 2 August 9.

misdee said...

just found you blog from robs (hope you dont mind me gate crashing). i am absolutly shocked at the price of DAFOs. my neice and nephew both have cerebal palsy and both wear AFO/DAFOs. they get theirs free on the NHS. i dont know what my sister does with the outgrown ones, they probably get binned or soemthing over here, i wil ltry and look into getting these shipped overseas for people who cant afford them.