one day left to live series - 8 months and 29 days

Some nice things to write about.
Sripathi's rashes or bruises have somewhat become alright now. We are still on antibiotics for the next 5 days.

Finally we did get his OT evaluation performed on Monday. He will be seen by an occupational therapist every week. As per Miss. Julie, Sripathi's OT will for now overlap with his PT and Vision therapy. They've already asked me to work on 4 different exercises for him at home.

Yesterday we went to visit the hematologist. After a quick blood work Dr.H came back to inform us that Sripathi's hemo level was just about perfect at 11.9. So he said that we can wean him off the Iron supplements in one month. And we'll meet the hematologist again in 3 months, that will be close to Sripathi's first birthday.

Tomorrow is another big day, a visit to the pediatrician for his Polio vaccination. Hope he will be seizure free after the shot. Fingers crossed. We have to watch him closely over the weekend though.

one day left to live series - 8 months and 24 days

The Good, Bad and Ugly of this week

The Good, Sripathi is eagerly learning to lift his head up!!!
It is really a big deal that is attempting to lift up an almost 6 pound head. I'm so proud of him. Its not a one time effort. He is frequently trying it everyday now for the past 3 or four days. I showed a photograph of Sripathi with his head held up to Miss. Peg and she was so amazed. She said he is taking a lot of effort to do what he is doing. And when Miss. Susan was showing him the light box, he almost touched the pinwheel and then turned over and lifted his head up and she was so happy to see him do that. So this is more than just The Good part.

The Bad, no OT yet. The one place we were supposed to take him for evaluation on Monday was a not so great place. That's what Miss.Peg felt "if we are having to travel 13 miles every week for his therapy it better be worth it". So now we've found another OT location a little closer to where we live, but we are yet to get an appointment with them. So hoping it works out soon. And both Miss.Peg, Sripathi's physical therapist and Miss.Susan, vision therapist have good opinions of this new place. So The Bad part is no longer bad.

The Ugly, Sripathi was fine all this while but once he started rolling over and trying to lift his head, because of the weight he sort of drops his head down with a thud. On top of it I had put bracelets on his hands so he kind of hit his head on the bracelets as well. And now he is bruised his head, cheek and wrist. It started out as red spots and by that night it started to swell. The next day he continued to roll and lift and drop his head and these bruises got worst. So we got an appointment with his pediatrician. When we went in to see her we also noticed that his wrist and fingers on the left hand were swollen. So after examining all the bruises Dr.C was also not sure if it was all because of a bracelet. She doubts it could be some insect bite. So she has now prescribed an antibiotic Keflex 4cc thrice a day and topical cream Mupirocin. So hoping this will cure his bruises and most importantly NOT retard him of his head lifting ability. So waiting for The Ugly part get prettier soon.

one day left to live series - 8 months and 17 days

Sripathi is doing fine after the HIB vaccine on 6th of July 2010. No seizures. :)

In the meantime he developed diaper rashes four days back. I tried balmex but it didn't seem to help, then I read that breast milk can be applied to any skin problem for a baby. I had some milk stored in the freezer, so I tried applying that and it seems to have cleared up all the rash.

Miss.Susan was here today for his vision therapy and she was impressed by the way he was trying to look at some of his familiar toys. She has given us a new toy to be introduced to him every once in a while, just so he starts to recognize more variety.

The best part is he will be going for an occupational therapy examination on Monday. A therapist would evaluate and decide on how to improve his fine motor skills. We have to travel 13 miles to get his evaluation done. And eventually have to do this trip to the OT every week.

He is actively rolling all around the living room. He is so fond of rolling over that one day he had held up one end of his blanket and kept rolling that we finally found him in a bundle. ;)

one day left to live series - 8 months and 7 days

It was one of those days when the sun is shy
a day before the patriotic holiday, the 4th of July
and I sure liked the way the day went by.

Mom likes art, I never knew
until Dad took us to a museum, that was long due
and grandma came along too.

- written on behalf of Sripathi :)

Yes we had been to the Orlando Museum of Art last Saturday. I had been asking Aravind to visit an art museum for a long time. Eventually we forgot about it until I read that Bank of America cardholders can visit the museum for free. It's not that admissions are expensive but this advertisement just brought back my desire to visit a museum again. Moreover this was a nice place to take Sripathi, I thought. One it may not be very crowded and best of all it won't be noisy. So when we entered, it was like they already knew we were coming with a child. The featured artist was Mo Willems. No we have not heard about him before. But looking at his works it was more than obvious that he was a children's artist. He has published several books for children with art and story that's so charming to a child's ears. So I've now got new ideas for Sripathi's leisure.

Sripathi has learned this new thing, holding his feet. Looks like he is amused by this act, he just keeps doing this very often.

Ok now let's hear something about his vaccination. So we went to the pediatrician today and Sripathi got his second HIB vaccination shot. Fingers crossed, hoping he does not seize. BTW it's our 4th wedding anniversary today and so hoping harder that he does not seize today.