B+ for Madison!
Therapy is going VERY well! Madison's physical therapist, Sheila does such a good job with her! As John told in earlier blogs, madison is doing aquatherapy. She really does seem comfortable in the water. I watched it for the first time this week and survived it! I had a really yucky feeling in the pit of my stomach, but honestly seeing how comfortable she was in the water, eased my mind and my nerves. Her head control is improving so mcuh as well as her head movents! Be on the lookout for movies to uploaded soon!
Sunday I leave to Corpus for Madison's procedure on Monday morning. The doctor will be giving the tendon on the top of her leg and foot some length to give the ankle more movement which will hopefully help flatten out her foot some. Please keep Madison in your prayers for a quick recovery and successful surgery!
I am in the process of possibly moving Madison's website to a facebook page. I think it will be easier and allow me to have videos and pictures all in one place. Keep an eye out for this possible change!
B+ for Madison
She is going to Corpus on August 31st for the procedure on her feet to help flatten out her arches. This will allow her to even out the weight distribution on her feet when we have her in the stander.
John
I think we are going to have a procedure done on her feet to help lesson the arch in her feet. We will post more details about that. Thanks, John
I'll see if I can take the camera again next week and try to get some more video.
Thanks, John
Once you get to Youtube, you can click on my user name "IJohnrand" and see a few other Madison videos.
We found a place thanks to a recommendation from a good friend and we took her there a few weeks back. Two of the employees already knew Madison from visits to her school last year. They were excited to actually get to work with her, and signed her up for pool time 3 days a week. Madison has been doing great. Yesterday and today, she even tried to stand up on her own strength with help balancing. I will try to post video for you to see.
We still see the chiropracter Monday thru Friday. Madison has not had any of the episodes which might have been seizures. She is getting good eye movements both horizontal and vertical with the optikinetic strip. The doctor found that she responded more to a ruler he had with faces of U.S. presidents on it. But, it was small. I made one with 7 rows of 20 kids from a couple of old band pictures I had, and she seems to try to look at it. The vertical eye movements are cool because according to the doctor, you don't have spontaneous ones...so she is seeing something.
Thanks for cheking in on us. ...John
The end of the year ended for the kids and Madison graduated from her PPCD program. It was a very bittersweet day for all of us. Pictures will be posted today! Her teachers really feel that madison has made a lot of progress over the past 3 years and especially the past 6 months. We did get a "diagnosis" of seizures in madison, but I still am not 100% sure that is what they are. She was put on a very low dose of Neurontin and the doctor said it was so small, we probably wouldn't see any change. But, we have.....they are basically gone. The thing is, over the past 3 years, she has gone through what I like to call phases of different activity. She will do things that look like seizures for a few months and then just stop. I don't know if it's the neurons making their connections or not, but it seems to be a more positive thing. However, we are keeping her on the low dose of neurontin for now. Ultimately, I would like to get her off of it again but the neurologist is going to fight me on that.
Other than the seizures, Madison has been doing really well. Her level of awareness seems to be better and her trunk and head support are getting better. It's a slow process, but we are going in the right direction!
B+ for Madison!
On a side note, the doctor did say that if we continue to have problems with Madison's stye, she will take care of it surgically for us as well. So there you have it....a good report! B+ for Madison!!
Madison's stye has still not gone away and we have gone back to the eye doctor. She will be scheduled for surgery to remove the stye probably this next week. The thought of putting her to sleep scares me, but I know it will all be ok.
That's about it for the update. Thank you again everyone for the well wishes and the prayers. They are appreciated more than you will ever know! B+ for Madison!
Monday, we go back to the eye doctor to HOPEFULLY get her stye taken care of. This is something we have been fighting for 3 months now. We've tried the warm compresses, antibiotics, ointments, etc and have not been able to get it to go away. So, Monday we are hoping the doctor will decide to take it out. The whole thing makes me nervous, but I'm sure having that stye is pretty bothersome to her.
Madison also continues to have these little episodes where she turns her head and starts crying. The Chiropractic neurologist here locally and the one in Amsterdam both do not feel they are seizures. They feel that something triggers it in the brain and makes her posture and she gets "stuck" in that posture. She then starts crying out which they feel is an emotional response to what is happening to her. I am still not sure myself what exactly it is, but they definitely don't follow the usual "rules" of seizures. Hopefully, this is just a phase that will pass like others she has had. This could be a good thing!
As you all know, we are coming up on the 3 year anniversary of Madison's accident. This is such a hard time for me and unfortunately I have been so moody and emotional just knowing the date is around the corner. As an ironic slap in the face, last night I walked into Starbucks and there was a big sign about "world water day" which is being celebrated on....you guessed it....March 22nd. I think my heart flipped inside of my chest. It's just ironic cruelty. ::sigh:: Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers that I will be able to find some peace with this date and continue to pray for Madison's full recovery! God is good! I want to thank all of the wonderful friends and family and complete strangers that show their love to our family on a daily basis. I know that God is hugging us through your arms and that makes me smile. I want to thank God also for the wonderful friends I have that love me unconditionally and the core group of friends that make my daily life a little more pleasant. Thank you for being the shoulder I need to cry on and the ear I need to listen. This 3rd anniversary will be a little easier thanks to you all. I love you!
B+
Madison was pretty sick last week. She had the virus that seems to be going around all over South Texas right now. She had a fever for about 4 days and was just wiped out. Madison never naps....never! Well, the days she was sick, I kept her home from school and she would pass out for about 4 hours everyday. Poor baby, the sleep probably did her good. She is doing much better this week and people who see her keep commenting on her eyes. They all seem to think she is more aware. It's very hard for me to see, but even though I don't always see what others see, I still BELIEVE she is in there. I KNOW she understands and will be able to break through one of these days. We are not giving up!
Madison is growing well and is now almost 45 inches long! She keeps losing teeth and unfortunately because her gums are overgrown from seizure meds she was on, we don't know they are loose until they are out. We think she has swallowed about 3 teeth so far. ::sigh:: Currently, she has only one adult tooth on top so it looks pretty funny to see her. She's still beautiful though.
I guess there really isn't too much more to update on. We have another appointment with the eye specialist in Houston in April so we are awaiting that. The anniversary of her accident is also coming up, so I ask for prayers. Please pray that God will give me a sense of peace and help me through the coming weeks. The weeks leading up to her accident are always the hardest time of the year for me. Until next time...and I promise it won't be THAT long LOL....B+ for Madison!
When I got home, I went to the website for the doctor he is referring us to. I must say that I think this may be a good thing that he didn't see Madison! This new doctor looks sooo nice and her credentials are amazing. And get this.....she wrote a book on Cortical Visual impairement in children!!! This is what Madison has and if she wrote a book on it, she HAS to know her stuff right?? The other doctor actually said she can probably give us quite a bit of information just by looking at her MRI. I'm feeling very optomistic that we WILL have some answers in a few months.
Madison survived the trip fairly well. It was kind of hard to travel with her at times but nothing we couldn't handle. She's been crying a bit at night before she goes to sleep. It's something that started a couple months ago. She doesn't seem to be in pain and when I go in and start talking to her, she stops and seems to just listen. Seems like maybe she is more aware?? It's hard to say. She has not had huge strides this year and to focus on the past just makes it harder on me. So, for this reason I am choosing not to look back at 2008 but instead look forward to 2009 with hopeful anticipation. I got the following in email today and boy was this perfect timing!
Today is Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Joshua 5:11. And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the Passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day. 12. And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.
Thought for the Day: You Have Been Prepared To Be Blessed
Reflection for the Day: Why Not Anticipate A Breakthrough?
For forty years the children of Israel ate the manna which the Lord provided for them in the wilderness. They learned to trust Him for their provisions and to give thanks for what He provided. They knew, however, that they were being prepared to eat the fruit of Canaan. As they crossed the Jordan and celebrated the Passover, it was now time for their breakthrough. They were now ready to enjoy their blessing.
As God prepares you for a breakthrough, don't resent your time of preparation or accept the preparation time as forever. As you go through the challenging times, anticipate what God has for your future. Why not enter 2009 anticipating a breakthrough? You have been prepared to be blessed!
what else can I say that could top that? Amen!!! Happy New Year to all!
long hair that is fun to fix (because at the time of her accident, she didn't have much!)
wonderful nurses and provider
my WONDERFUL friends here locally and all over the country that love and care unconditionally for my family and are always just a phone call away.
reductions in medications
good health (for the most part) LOL
caring strangers
actually, the list will go on and on and on. I feel so blessed to be so loved by so many. Thank you to all those who STILL pray for Madison and our family daily and still check the website. It touches my heart to meet new people who confirm that Madison has NOT been forgotten.
Thank you God for blessing my family and thank you for keeping Madison here with us. I know that you are working on her and through her and know that good will come from all of this. I trust you, Lord and raise Madison up to you. Thank you for taking the burden from me!
I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Always give thanks....everyday because you just never know when your life is going to change. My love to all....
Madison's Mommy...B+ for Madison!
Last week, Madison had her yearly check up with the orthopedic specialist to check her scoliosis. I thought the spinal xray looked worse, but the doctor thought that the spine itself looked about the same but the muscles looked a bit better. She does seem to have better trunk support and he said if she improves her trunk support, the spine could get better on its own. HOORAY Let's hope those muscles get better and better!
I am in the process of setting up a photo album on this server (which would keep everything on one website instead of using a seperate site) so i will be posting soon to let you know there are new pictures. Madison doesn't seem to smile as much, but she does seem to be more aware. Praise God....I know he is working on her! He has never left our sides! Thanks to all of you as well for never leaving our sides.
Until next time...B+ for Madison!
I always thought that after having boys, that MY little girl would be a little sweet, quiet girl that would play quietly with dolls and love to read books. Instead, I was given a boy in girl's clothing! Madison had such personality. She could be rough and tumble with the boys. She would come in dirtier than her twin brother and definitely ruled the roost. But, at the same time, she loved pink, dolls, dresses and could be the cuddliest little girl around. I had the best of both words. A daughter full of life and the ying to her yang....her twin brother Jason who is awesome in his own right.
Nowadays of course our lives are very different. But, one thing has not changed. The amount of pride I have to be lucky enough to be the mommy of Madison Peyton Randolph is overwhelming. Words cannot express the love I have for my daughter. I love her with every ounce of my being and I will continue to devote my life to her and her recovery.
Baby girl, I love you so much!!! I am so happy that you are here to celebrate your 6th birthday with us. You are loved by so many and most importantly, God. He has not forgotten you and will continue to heal you. Happy Birthday sweet princess! Your 7th year is going to be one of many awakenings and I am so honored that I will be there to witness it.