32 long days since Savanna’s elective multilobar resection.  What can I report?  Well, it has been really difficult, but I think she may have finally turned a corner with all the crying and pain.  And, it probably had more to do with two of four incisor teeth finally breaking through the gum line.  One thing I have learned is that life’s normal challenges for young children are just that much harder for Savanna. Unfortunately, she doesn’t know any other way.  Just before the grandparents left, we were able to get a few good pictures where she wasn’t sleeping and wasn’t crying.

Grandma Lou and Savanna

Mama Barbara and Savanna

I have come to realize that these periods are core training for parenting special needs kids.  It is a bit like that darn underwater board in Super Mario Bro’s Wii, (…need some special thumb exercises or something).  It is really difficult, but necessary to master (or at least pass) in order to progress through the game.  With faith in God, living through these periods and not losing your sanity is actually possible.  And, in turn, it helps me see the happy times more clearly and not to be so callus in social situations.  Otherwise, I would probably go bonkers with typical conversation with people around me at any given time.  We did document the good times when they happened and here are some pictures of the kids doing fun kid things.  Tristan and Brandon are two pees in a pod and they do everything together.

Tristan and Brandon being silly at lunch.

Tristan in ‘Time Out’.  Then Austin thought it was cool and wanted to join in.  I couldn’t help but laugh, and that didn’t help the ‘time out’ situation, as Tristan knew what was going on – head down and laughing at me laughing at the them…. lol.

Play time after a bath with twin brother. Austin and Savanna.

Back yard fun with a planter box on a Saturday

Savanna in a moment of happiness, with Mommy.

Pre-school and then playing at the splash pad all afternoon is tiring. This is 6:15 at night, and Brandon falls asleep at the table.

Warning: yucky image forthcoming.  One morning Savanna was having a particularly difficult time.  She cried and fussed for about 5 hours straight starting at about 5 am.  At 10 am, I decided to just buckler her into a car seat on the sensory platform swing I built and let her swing.  She was worn out from all the fighting.  She got quiet.  I left her to deal with some laundry.  I was at the putting away stage with about 4 loads, so I grabbed what I could and walked back to put it away.  The smell hit me like a wall.  It was obvious what had happened and who did it.  She wasn’t just quiet but laughing.  I already knew I had a big mess to clean up, but I was still amazed at what I saw when I turned the swing around to see her.  Savanna was happy and laughing and I realized this was worthy of a photo.  It pretty much speaks for itself.

Savanna happy about poop in swing

As Savanna navigates this unpredictable sea of difficulty, Daddy turned 40 this month.  Yes, I feel older.  No, I can longer just decide to do the P90-X Plyometrics workout at will and expect to make it through even half of the  routine.  No longer can I just decide to go run a few miles, with or without the kids in the stroller.  Yes, I have a lot more grey hair – but no need for ‘Just for Men’ yet.  Yes, I have another hernia in need of surgical repair.  But, there is good news:  I don’t need the little blue pills yet!  The kids and mommy felt it necessary to make a cake and actually put 40 candles on it.  Nice.

During all of this discomfort, Savanna has made strides in development.  This has a somewhat calming effect for me, as I know this would not be happening if seizure activity was occurring in the manner it was prior to surgery.  Right now, we have to stay focused on that fact.  We have obtained the compression vest to help her with the awareness of herself as she moves around.  It is like a custom wet suit that is adjustable in terms of tightness of fit.  Savanna now has custom AFO’s (ankle-foot orthotic) that helps prevent hyper-extension of her knees when she stands.  She is much more responsive when she sees you in the room and when you call her name.  This is really a feel-good reaction from Savanna that both mommy and daddy needed to see finally after this surgery.  It could not feel better when while not looking at you, you call her name, she turns to locate you, makes eye contact, smiles, and proceeds to crawls toward you and going to tall kneeling with her arms out and up to hold you.  For some reason, I never thought that was actually going to happen with her.    Then comes the inconsolable crying and fussing.  Her movements and behavior when you hold her sometimes is like trying to hold a 25 lb mealworm.  She is just everywhere, every which way, and really low tone at times.

Savanna decked out with a compression vest, AFO’s, and a medical walker.

She is crawling all over the house now.  This is amazing to see, and is causing me to have to put things up off the floor in area’s she never bothered to explore or care about.  She has climbed 2 steps unassisted (…and then… fell backward as I knew she would, so I caught her before she landed on her head.  “Good daddy, good!” as Brandon says.)

She is standing now on her own with the help of furniture – meaning she can transition from sitting to standing on her own.   This is a milestone for sure.  I have attached a video showing her standing on her own.  For me it was breathtaking while also very rewarding.  This particular clip was about 5 am, and I heard her active in her room.  Austin (her twin) was still asleep, so I flipped the light on to capture this sequence.  Because of her visual field cut, I don’t think she saw me until I said something.

Going from laying down to sitting up, to standing up, all have their mechanics of motion.  And those mechanics are broken down in movements or elements.  The training includes correctly positioning the correct limb, at the correct time, with proper weight transfer, etc., etc.  Learning to dance is similar when you really break down the movements.  We have to teach Savanna each element and how to put together the movements to accomplish the overall goal, sitting up, standing up, walking, etc.  It is amazing how normal kids just do it naturally and without any trained guidance.  It is a good outward expression of how Savanna’s brain is different from a normal brain. Learning other skills require a similar approach.

Speaking of normal kids, we have been able to witness some normal twin activity that was never really seen in our house in the past.  It has been great to witness even if it only lasts a minute or two.  Austin sometimes mimics Savanna’s bunny hop crawl, and she gets the biggest charge out of that.  Wish I had some video of one of those moments to share, but it starts and stops very abruptly and I just haven’t been quick enough on the draw to record it yet.  Here are a couple of pictures of a rare during the day bath time for just the twins while the big boys were at school.

Austin, close up…

In the tub fun, without the big kids. A rare moment worthy of a photograph for memory.

She really likes tilting her head toward the resected side, and actually putting it on toys and such.  She continues to do this a lot and we are not sure how to interpret this activity, especially when she is usually so happy when she does it.  She also is increasingly insistent on banging her head against walls, mirrors, floors, table legs, etc.  She does it repetitively, so she will crawl over to a door with a low glass panel, move to tall kneeling, and just start bumping her head against the window.  It progresses to the point I feel the need to intervene.  I think this may be sensory related, but are not sure.  A protective helmet is on order as she is getting really aggressive with this activity.

Since her second surgery, Savanna gets pleasure from putting her head/ear on whatever is around her.

Unfortunately, Savanna is still battling something in her throat – or at least I think she is anyway.  She makes funny sounds when she is sleeping, kind of whistle-like.  When she gets really worked up, she has significant retraction in her throat.  Her swallow sound is really labored and noisy.  It is almost like when you have a really sore throat, and all seems well, then you swallow – ouch.  A swallow function study recently indicated Savanna is in fact aspirating thin liquids, what a surprise.  I had already ordered the infusion pump as a last resort option, and had been bolus feeding her through the G-Tube since surgery because my daddy instinct indicated she was having problems.  Plus she refused to suck after the second surgery and that to date has not changed.  So bottle feeding is over and done with for her.  She has a follow-up scheduled with her ENT soon that will shed light on the situation I hope.

She is otherwise very healthy and just generally really unhappy about half of her awake time.  It is somewhat concerning for us as parents, and we are really hoping her situation is just circumstantial regarding her teeth.  We have already asked for guidance once from her doctors.  Thus far, I think this just may be the way it is for some time yet.  I noticed during the swallow function study that her 2 year molars are right there too.  (This is a study done with x-ray ‘always on’, so there is plenty of time to see a lot of things in her head.)  I don’t see bulges on her gum in those areas, but the teeth are right there.  So, this could be a long six months or so.  God watch over her.

-dad