"Stryders Journey"

Stryder fell the other day and got a HUGE bump on his head. This is the second time in a week that this happened. The next day it looked better and then yesterday he bumped heads with the dog and it came back. It's HUGE and makes my stomach turn whenever I look at it. It's really been a rough week. I'm not sure why he is not catching himself when he falls.

We got a call from a DR. the other day asking us about our family history. We were on the phone for close to 2 hours while she asked every question about every member of our family up to grandparents. It seems they think he may have a duplication of chromosome 7. I won't go into detail on it, but he does have all the symptoms such as short neck, hip dislocation, hypertonia and more. They say that children with this disorder can have a shortened lifespan, but I am choosing to not find out what this means until we know for sure that he does have it- they are sending a test kit soon.

We got a call from quota club yesterday and they want to pay for his therapy in MN when we go in October. It would have been $1500 just for therapy while there. Words cannot express how grateful I am for that. His medical bills from the last time that the insurance isn't covering were staggering and it will be so much more since we will be there for 6 weeks, so the $1500 for the speech therapy is a BIG help. They will send a check directly to Dr. Strand as soon as I get her address.

Stryder goes to Shriners next week. His hips and legs are getting worse. When he walks, his feet will often get caught in each other because of the way they twist; this is probably the reason he is falling so much. They may not be able to do anything for him, but we won't know until we go. I think this visit is just the consultation.

On a good note, Stryder is starting to say so many new words. I think his seizure medication is really helping him. He still is not able to combine two words together too well, but he tries. He can say Hershey now and will often say "Hershey NANA" which is Hershey, Kennel!" I am working on "I want that," but it's really hard for him. He is able to say the words individually, except "want" is hard, but put them together and it doesn't make any sense. He is trooper though and tries so hard.