Surgery Update

Hannah had her surgery on July 10th to fix her reflux and put in a g-tube. The actual surgery went amazingly well. They took her early and got the IV on the first stick which is amazing. After a really hard day on the day after surgery, she was able to start eating and drinking by mouth that night. Once she started doing that she really turned a corner and has been improving ever since. Her incisions are sensitive to the touch, but other then that she is not experiencing any problems. She is doing really well. Thank you for all your prayers, cards, visits, and love. They were felt and appreciated. Please continue to pray that she will stay free from infections and complications and that freedom from reflux will improve her quality of life.

Summer

     Hannah is really coming into her own since of self lately. She has just the most contagious joyful personality of anyone I know. She has a great since of humor. I recently fed her a "sloppy joe". When I told her what she was eating she looked over at her brother Joseph and just cracked up.  Last week Hannah had her dance recital in the special needs tap class at Lawrenceville School of Ballet. Just like last year she was awesome! She is really quite the ham. She always has such a big smile on her face when she is on stage. I hope you enjoy the video of her dance. This week she is enjoying VBS at North Metro Baptist Church.
     Her school got her an IPAD for communication and she is really getting the hang of it. Her favorite thing is to call our dog Liberty on it. She just giggles and giggles when the dog actually comes. Liberty on the other hand is over it!
     On July 10th Hannah will have her GI surgery to hopefully fix her reflux. She will be at Egleston for at least 2 nights. Please pray that the surgery will be very successful and free of complications. If you are in the area during those days please stop in to see us. Thank you for your continued prayers for this precious little girl.

Nothing Like a 7 month Break!

I'm sorry it has been so long since I updated this blog. I'm working full time now and there just never seems to be enough time or energy. Things have been crazy busy with Hannah. Besides her normal school, therapies, and DR. appts, Hannah had ear tubes and adenoids out in Dec, and dental surgery in Feb. After much prayer and consideration, I've decided to have a fundoplication and g-tube done for Hannah in July. Please pray that this surgery will go really smoothly and that it will really improve her quality of life. Hopefully by doing the surgery she will not reflux anymore.
Aside from all the medical stuff Hannah is doing really well. In November, she was in a fashion show for FOCUS (special needs support group). At Christmas she got a Belle doll. The doll says "My name is Belle what is your name?" Hannah looked right at the doll and SAID her name! She still loves her dance class. Currently it is Spring Break, we have been enjoying trips to the zoo and Stone Mountain. Thank you for always remembering to pray for Hannah. I know it helps.

September Update

This a has been a really busy month for Hannah with Dr appts, her birthday, and making huge progress at school and in dance / therapy. Hannah had her two year checkup with her neurosurgeon. It is hard to believe it has been two years since he removed the shunt! He said everything looks stable and he was releasing her from his care unless something ever came up. While it is great news to be released it is a little sad too, because he is by far my favorite of her specialists.

On Sept 4th, Hannah turned 4. We had a nice swim party for her with a Little Mermaid Cake. Just two summers ago, Hannah hated the water and would cry even in the bath. Now she loves it. She enjoyed going down the slide and playing with her friend, her cousin, and her brother.

At school Hannah is doing wonderful. She has the same great teacher she had last year and she truly loves to be at school. Everyday when the bus comes, she giggles and kicks her feet in excitement. At school, they are starting to potty train Hannah which is really exciting. Yesterday she went on a field trip to the petting zoo at the Gwinnett County fair. She loved seeing the animals and was very vocal about "telling" Grammy what she saw there. Her teacher said that she is doing really well answering questions, and using her walker at school. She said that one day this week she helped Hannah hold a baby doll and Hannah was "singing" a lullaby to the baby! She did tell me that Hannah has figured out a little bit of an attitude and when she doesn't want to work she will roll her eyes or look away. While this isn't always a good thing, even her teacher acknowledged that this shows she is "very very smart."
I put Hannah back in her special needs dance class this year. Hannah is getting SSI money now and I'm using that money to pay for her dance class, because it is so wonderful for her. This week in dance, Hannah walked the length of the studio in her gait trainer. The teacher had her 3 yr old niece and 3 yr old son in class with her that day, so Hannah really used these typically developing kids as models. When the kids would hop, Hannah would lift both her legs up in the gait trainer. At the end of class, the teacher was holding Hannah under her arms and getting her to bend her knees. Bending her knees was easy for Hannah, but what was impressive is that she was pushing herself back up. The dance teacher said that was the best she had ever done.

Today in PT Hannah was walking in the gait trainer. She kept walking the length of the kitchen toward that sliding glass door. We kept pulling her back and she would immediately pull towards the door again. After several determined efforts, I asked Hannah if she wanted to go outside. She NODDED HER HEAD (which she has never purposefully done) emphatically. So we lifted her gait trainer down onto the patio. She immediately started walking toward Joseph's play castle. I asked her if she wanted to go down the slide and she nodded again. Both the therapist and I were so impressed at not only how much she moved in the gait trainer, but how determined she was to get where/what she wanted.

Thank you for your continued prayers for Hannah. These few examples are proof to me that they are working!

Summer Update

I can not believe summer has already come and gone. The kids are already back in school! We had a very busy summer. We moved into our new house over Memorial Day weekend. It is so nice not to have to carry Hannah up and down the stairs anymore. Hannah had her dance recital at the beginning of June. She was amazing. I have never seen her hold her head up so well or make such purposeful movements with her hands and feet. At the end of her performance several people stood up to applaud. Big brother Joseph spent the summer swimming on the swim team.
At the end of June, my family all went to Florida together to celebrate my parents 40th wedding anniversary. We had four generations enjoying the sun and surf together. Hannah loved swimming and playing with her brother and cousin. July was spent at various play dates with friends and family.
Now the kids are back in school. Hannah is back in the same class as last year. She was so excited to see her teacher again. Everyday when the bus comes, Hannah gets so excited to go to school. We are continuing Hannah's private therapies outside of school. She will start back to her dance class this week. I know she will love it.
Medically, Hannah is doing well. Her seizures are pretty well controlled. On Sept 1st, she will have a CT scan for a two-year check up from her shunt removal. I cannot believe it has been two years. Hannah has come so far. I know she will continue to make huge strides.

Spring Update

Precious Prayer Warriors,
Forgive me for neglecting this blog for the past several months. There is a lot going on right now. Without going into detail please pray for Hannah's dad, Ben. We are also in the process of trying to move to a house that is more suitable for Hannah. Please pray that it will close very soon, so that we can move as soon as school gets out.
Okay, on to Hannah now. Despite all that is going on, Hannah is really flourishing. The EEG she had in January really didn't show any new information, but her seizure meds seem to be controlling her seizures pretty well right now. Hannah is loving school. She is riding the school bus now which makes her giggle every morning when she gets on the bus. At school, she is still teacher's pet which I love. I recently had her IEP meeting to discuss her goals for this year and set goals for next year. She met all her goals this year except head control. Her goals for next year will be expanding on this year's goals, as well as working toward getting a communication device to help her "talk" through a computer. I expressed that my goal for Hannah by the time she goes to Kindergarten is that she will qualify for an Orthopedic-Impaired (OI) Class. This class's curriculum is very close to a typical Kindergarten class, but it is modified to meet the student's physical needs. Her teacher said she was glad I said that because that is her goal for Hannah as well. It is so nice to be on the same page with her teacher educationally. All things being equal Hannah will be in her class again next year.
Outside of school, Hannah is continuing her physical, occupational, and speech therapies. Last week in PT Hannah walked in her gait trainer to where her play kitchen was. After she played there briefly she kept turning to the corner. Finally the therapist noticed some dress up clothes, and asked Hannah if she wanted to play dress up. Her hand shot up for a yes. So we put her in one outfit. After turning around in that outfit for a while, she headed back to the corner. The therapist ask Hannah if she wanted to change outfits and that hand shot up again. I loved this because how typical for a 3 yr old to want to play dress up. The next day in OT she was having a tea party with a stuffed bunny rabbit. The OT kept trying to get Hannah to feed the bunny some play food. She tried a banana, a pepper, and a french fry. Each thing Hannah would let go and not feed the bunny. Finally the OT gave her a carrot (which she was trying to avoid b/c it is an odd shape) Hannah grabbed the carrot and immediately feed the bunny the carrot. I guess she knew that bunnies eat carrots. This is just shows that mentally she is very close to a typically developing 3 yr old. Hannah is also participating in a special needs dance class thanks to an anonymous donor that paid for it. She loves it. She will be in the recital in June. Keep posted for pictures from that. If the donor is reading this, thank you so much!
Thank you all of the prayers. Even though I haven't updated this in a long time, I know that there are so many people praying for this sweet little girl. Please continue. I know God has huge plans for HIS precious child.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year. I hope that you and yours had a blessed holiday season. We spent our Christmas and New Years with family and friends. We are praying that this will be a huge year for Hannah. Tomorrow and Thursday, Hannah will have an ambulatory EEG to measure not only seizure activity but also her overall brain activity. Please pray that the Doctor will get some really good information from this test. Thank you for always remembering our sweet little girl.