Poster Child

Our family returned this past weekend from an amazing Florida vacation. We had wonderful weather, time with Grammy and Grandpa, time with friends and some great time as a family. We had fun playing on the beach, splashing in the ocean and swimming in the pool. Not to mention trips to Rum Bay for lunch and Coconuts to see Captain Red Beard and eat ice cream. It was wonderful to be able to take a family vacation, totally free of the stress of Dominic's illness. A year ago, such a trip was not possible. Here's a few pics from the trip!

This kiddo LOVES the beach and ocean!

Walking on the beach

Our fam

Some new friends

Mitchell is getting to be such a little man

Such a little love bug

Hanging in the hammock

First meeting with a turtle

My three boys

Sun, sand, and surf

What a way to end every day!

Now that we're back, our week started off busy with an appointment with Dr. Arndt and his ENT doc. Dr. Arndt hasn't actually seen Dominic since the week after his surgery. Our last neuro appointment was with the Physician Assistant in January. So, he was quite surprised by Dominic, to say the least. When the nurse brought us in, she was concerned he wouldn't be able to sit up by himself on the scale to be weighed. I looked at her and told her that wouldn't be the problem, he'd most likely crawl right off. She couldn't believe it! When Dr. Arndt saw him he could not stop smiling. He was shocked to see him bring his right hand up to his mouth and keep both hands mid line. He was thrilled to watch Dominic walk to him (holding my hands of course). And was very impressed, when asked what a cow says, Dominic responded "moooooo". It was really encouraging to see his neurologist so excited and impressed with his progress. I've seen him make great strides, but Dr. Arndt's reaction was priceless. He put Dominic at about 9-10 months in regards to his gross motor skills and about 10-12 based on his verbal skills. I was happy to hear that because he said it was above and beyond what he expected at this point after surgery. There is always a worry that after such a major brain surgery that some things won't come back or that there is some seizure activity in the remaining hemisphere that could hinder development. But Dominic is right on track, if not ahead of where they expected him to be. Not to say this still doesn't bother me a little. I know it shouldn't, considering how far he's come and where he could have been, but it's hard to hear that developmentally your 19 month old is around 9-12 months. But I suppose Dr. Chugani was right when he said to think about his surgery day as the day he was born and that would make sense for where he's at. But for that second it's hard to hear. Then the moment passes and I go back to praising God and being grateful he is doing so amazingly well. When Dr. Arndt got up to leave the room, he just looked at him and said "he's amazing. He's like the poster child for hemispherectomy!" I'll take that!

We head to the Nephrologist on Thursday for a kidney ultrasound and then meet with Dr. Cai. Hopefully nothing has changed and the stones haven't grown. Dominic would be thrilled to go off the Bicitra. We then end the day with PT. Back to our busy life of appointments! Ah, what I wouldn't give to be back on the island right now, laying on the beach, sipping a Corona...