Decisions, Decisions

Chloe did so great at speech therapy today! We have really been working with her on decision-making and being able to express what she wants. I made a photo book and would show her two photos, trying to get her to choose from the two photos I was showing her. But she loves books, and especially loves turning the pages, so she would just try to turn the pages. After a couple months of trying to get that photo book to work, I decided it was time for something different. I made a folder with a velcro strip across the front, then sheet protectors filled with laminated pictures of everything she might like; i.e. ice water, mommy, book, etc. This folder is a different format than the book so she knows it's something different than time to just turn the pages. And it's also compact and easy to lug around. It still took her a few weeks to realize what we were trying to get her to do, but I think she's getting a hang of it.





Today I showed her therapist the progress we've made and she was sooooo proud of Chloe! I show Chloe two photos, one of her drinking ice water and one of her reading a book. She very clearly looked at the ice water photo. Then I told her it looked like she wanted the ice water and if she did want that, I asked her to point to it, AND.... she did!


Her therapist said that what we did was right, and it totally made sense that Chloe needed help with the neural pathway, after she made the decision (by looking at it), she'll need to be reminded for quite awhile to then point, but if we work on it a lot, she'll learn to point without being reminded. Yay!

Later on, we decided to go see Chloe's pediatrician. I'd read a story recently about a girl whose story and symptoms are very similar to Chloe's, and her doctors were able to determine exactly what caused it, a gene that causes her blood to clot more easily, which resulted in the stroke in utero. Her symptoms are congenital. It is highly likely that Chloe's issues were caused by a stroke, but we've never been able to determine that conclusively. I never knew it would be possible to determine it conclusively until I read this other story. I was a little bit angry that our doctors had never mentioned that there was a specific list of tests to run if it is believed the patient had a stroke. But I was mostly excited to have the knowledge so we could move forward.

Having the knowledge won't change anything for Chloe, but it will be nice to know. Also, if it is congenital, it will be critical that we know so that we can take preventative measures for future children as well as ourselves, because if we carry those genes, we are at a higher risk for stroke as well.

The pediatrician decided to send us to a hematology (blood) specialist so they can make better-informed decisions about exactly which tests to run on Chloe and/or us. I'm excited for this to be done, but for anyone whose ever tried getting into a specialist, you know that it will be at least six weeks, possibly longer, before we can even get in. Patience. It's a virtue. A virtue that I need to improve upon.

Later on, we went to see The Blind Side. I loved it. But I decided during the previews that I cannot wait to see Extraordinary Measures, and if it is half as good as the trailer makes it look, it will likely turn out to be my favorite movie of all time!