Monday, October 24, 2011

Get Caught Up

Things have been pretty hectic around the Nunley front these days.  To bring you up to speed...

  • Davis is doing a million times better.  He's right back to his normal self again, which has been such a relief to us.  A big thanks to all of our wonderful family and friends for showing such concern for our precious Wooder.
  • I've been filling a lot of fairly large knitting orders...crib mobile, football hats, stuffed giraffe...
  • Justin's turning 30 in a couple weeks and I've been working my tail off on some really special things for him.  He hasn't been allowed in the basement for about a month and that's all the details I'm giving away for now.
  • We had a fun cookout at Cooper's Furnace in Cartersville yesterday with some other families.  It was nice to enjoy the beautiful weather while watch the kiddos run around together.  And something super special happened while we were there.  See bottom of post to find out... 

  • We went to a wedding on Saturday night.  They had a really cute photo booth set up with really fun props.  I thought it was a super cute idea.
  • My 29th birthday celebrations started at Bahama Breeze with family.  Booger was extremely fussy and the food was shot out, but my mom gave me the 'R' to go along with my 'D'...

I love getting her all dressed up for special occasions...
My actual birthday started with homemade breakfast, thanks to Justin and Davis.  He woke him up really early, got him ready for the day, and took him to school for me.  Then, he watched Boogs for 3 hours while I took Davis to Cartersville for therapy.  This was, seriously, the best gift ever!  Three whole hours of wandering around an antique store (my new addiction) with no kids = Paradise. 

Friday night, we met up with friends at Henry's Upstairs where we danced and listened to a really great band.


Last night, Justin took Davis to Wal-Mart, where he filled the cart with 'goodies' for me...yarn, headbands, shampoo, etc.  It was really random, but Davis was SO STINKIN' EXCITED to pick out birthday gifts for me, scan them himself, wrap it all, and give it to me.  It was a really cute gesture.  And I had a great, week-long birthday. 

  • We've been preparing for Halloween, also. Cookie Monster and Iron Man are looking very forward to trick-or-treating next week.
And now for the big reveal!!!  Enjoy!

Saturday, October 15, 2011

The Four-One-One

It all started about 3 weeks ago. 

Everyday, we'd notice Davis' walking patterns changing.  It was such a slow progression, that we didn't really think too much of it. 

One day at school, a teacher would say, "He's been a little wobbly today."

One day, he tripped over his left foot.  And that hasn't happened in months.

One day, he had a really hard time getting down a short hill.

We thought that maybe his AFO's needed to be adjusted because we noticed some small sores on his feet.  The orthotist added some padding and sent us on our way.  His walking got so much worse after that appointment.  This was last Tuesday.

The next day, at therapy, we all sat around the PT room trying to figure out what was wrong with him.  He was turning his left foot in.  Scissoring.  Dragging his toes, Swinging his hips. 

Maybe a growth spurt?  Maybe the orthotist added too much padding?

We went back to the clinic on Thursday to have the orthotist, her assistant, and Davis' PT stare at him for another hour and a half.  She did some adjusting to his AFO's, but we came to the conclusion that his problems were starting much higher, around his hips.

By this past Sunday, Davis could barely walk.  He was falling all over the place.  Panic immediately sets in and I start thinking the worst.  What if there was some glitch from the surgery and he's losing control of his legs, slowly.  What if this is permanent?  It was so devastating to watch him struggle to walk when we've spent SO MUCH time, energy, effort to get him walking so well.  Not to mention, that he had all of a sudden become so unsafe.  There was no way I could send him to school. 

On Monday, I was ready to take him to the emergency room.  His physical therapist and a nurse at the neurosurgeon's office talked me off that ledge, though.  He couldn't even stand up.  Now, he was finally complaining of pain in his left groin area.  I'd try to physically straighten up his body and he'd immediately collapse.  He crawled to get around the house.  It was so sad.  I couldn't stop freaking out. 

So, we went to Scottish Rite to see his neurosurgeon on Thursday.  He had been out of school all week, but was actually slowly getting better every day.  By Thursday, he could walk but it was still really wobbly.  And he didn't want to stand up straight and put pressure on that left leg.  The doctor didn't seem too concerned.  He shot down my urging for an MRI and told me he'd be 'fine'.  He did some simple testing to make sure there was feeling in his legs and assured me that, if there's was something neurological going on, he'd be showing many other signs.  He still wants us to come in next Wednesday and see his whole team in the Spasticity Clinic. 

So, at this point, we still don't know what's going on.  Maybe he pulled his groin?  Maybe he just went through a growth spurt?  Maybe he wants to see what I look like with wrinkles and bald spots on my head?