Well it is time for Ella’s CT scan and examination by Dr. Black. This time only a month past since the previous one. The reason was that it turned out that the shunt wasn’t functioning the way we were thinking. It was keeping the pressure in Ella’s head higher than the shunt setting said it was. The process went pretty smoothly. Ella had the CT with no anesthetics, and it showed that the situation was ok though, Dr. Black wanted to reduce the pressure further to let Ella’s brain have room for growth. Next CT in three months. At the same opportunity we had her leg braces (AFOs) adjusted. They seem much more comfortable for her now and since we spent the day in the hospital she was standing around in waiting rooms with me playing her favorite music on my little PDA to keep her interested. Ella is becoming noticeably more vocal. She accompanies nearly everything with a constant chatter. There are certain sounds that identify ‘bottle’, ‘swing’, ‘more’. It is pretty encouraging.
Her standing is getting better as well. The key is distracting her. Well distracted she can stand for about 20 minutes straight. The minute the distraction ends (song is over, video comes to an end) she remembers to complain and ‘can’t take this anymore’. We are a long way off for her to stand up on her own. But there is no denying that she is getting better at it (and we have no intention of denying it). The turnaround with Ella’s therapists is quite incredible, and at the moment she is seeing no one that she saw a month ago. Jackie and Amy left, much to our chagrin and Nicole is on medical leave (Nicole, If you are reading this, Get better already, we need you). Our saving grace is Beth. She is amazing with Ella and we are really lucky to have her. She is the one keeping the continuity going and introducing new ideas and routines. The latest is trying to get Ella to use a sippy cup instead of a bottle. A lot of juice had to be cleaned off the floor… but we will get there yet. One example we think of when we feel things are moving very slowly is that a few months ago (about three) it seemed like we will be spoon feeding Ella mush and yogurt for ever. Now, however her meals are handled exclusively by her. We place a plate with her food in front of her and she takes it from there. Hardly any hits the floor any more. So there!