Happy Day

Yesterday, I took Lydia back to Dr Wood to recheck her urine. They had called to say that the test from Monday came back normal, but I thought that I detected a smell in her urine again and a tiny bit of discharge. Dr Wood said her urine looked perfect this time too...no problems. Yippee!

Everyone who saw Lydia today commented about her happy smiles! We had noticed ever since she started the Keppra that her smiles had seemed to fade...not as bright and often as before. Today, she seemed to be showing a little more of her "old self" again...though the smiles have been gradually coming back...more and more often and more and more bright. She was even happy with therapy today. She had OT with Terry this morning and Speech with Joy this afternoon. She seemed to be in a good mood for both of them. Maybe the dum-dum suckers had something to do with that....? They have both been trying to do some oral stimulation in Lydia's mouth...trying to desensitize her a little to lessen the gag reflex and help her to tolerate food in her mouth better. Along with several other tools and gadgets that they used, they both introduced the suckers today...she liked strawberry more than grape. It was cute to see her smacking her lips after getting that first taste.

Joy started to work on trying to get her to imitate. She thought she saw Lydia attempt to imitate blinking her eyes. She told me to continue working with trying to get her to imitate...blinking, sticking out tongue, rasberries...pretty much anything we can get her to do. I was working with her tonight to try to get her to stick out her tongue. She was watching me so intently...a few times she actually got her tongue out between her lips. I can't say with certainty that it was in response to me...but, I sure cheered really loud when she did it....startled her a little. I was so proud of her! It's so funny how everything is relative...Martin and I have both said many times about Lydia in certain situations, "She is so smart!" The blessing is that we only have to compare her to herself...not to other kids her age, so every new accomplishment or skill learned makes her smarter or more advanced than before.

I've been in contact with another mother of a mito patient...in this area. Thank you Tracy for putting us in touch with each other. This mother has two children with the disorder...complexes I, IV, and III. The most affected child was diagnosed at age 9...he was told that he had 6 months-2 years max to live. He is now 17 and will be graduating from high school next year. He has many medical challenges, but she says that he has a good quality of life. We hope to be in touch with each other to learn more about him. And...he also sees Dr Wood and Dr Hollman. Another encouraging story.

Thanks for your continued prayers and support. The recent responses of encouragement and prayer have really warmed my heart. How blessed we are to have so many people following our journey. Lydia definitely is a lucky girl.