Winter, 2005-2006

(December, 2005 - February, 2006)

A brief look back at December - February...

December:  Joshua got to play in the snow for the first time this season.  What a blast...he loved it!  Got completely soaked, but loved every minute of it.  He enjoys sledding (he got a sled from his Grammy and Grandaddy, and had a blast in it...the faster the better!).  I think he would play in the snow until he turned into an icicle!  We celebrated Joshua's second Christmas.  This one was more fun than last year, simply because he was more aware of what was going on.  Still didn't understand, but there was that level of excitement that wasn't there last year.  It completely wore him out...we actually had to open some of his gifts the next day, because he was just too overwhelmed and worn out.  What a way to breathe new life into the holidays!

January:  January was a very busy month.  Joshua's surgery, originally scheduled for the 19th, got moved to the 26th.  On the 19th, we met with the Early Intervention people to have him evaluated to see if he qualified for any services (since he was a preemie and he was late to walk, among other things).  We found that he qualified for physical therapy once a month for his orthopaedic issues (they want to help build up the muscles in his right leg so that he can help balance out the discrepancies in the length and size of his legs), and twice a month for speech (he is slowly starting to build up a vocabulary, but since he isn't very vocal, he qualifies to be watched and evaluated, and followed by a therapist).

On January 26, Joshua had his first hand surgery.  Information about the surgery has its own post (click here to read).

February:  Joshua wore a cast for 2 weeks following surgery.  The cast was taken off on February 7, his fingers were cleaned up and looked at.  It was a grueling process...the gauze was stuck to the healing skin and had to be soaked off (which he didn't want to do).  Finally everything was cleaned up.  His fingers looked like raw meat, but we had been told to expect that, so although it was shocking, we were at least somewhat prepared.  From a surgical standpoint, though, Dr. Chhabra said that Joshua's fingers looked wonderful -- they were healing exactly like they should, and he was pleased with Josh's progress.  He put Joshua back in the cast for another 2 weeks, and sent us on our way.  On the 21st, we came back to have the cast taken off again.  The cast and dressings came off with no difficulty this time, and the situation was not nearly as traumatic as the first time!  Dr. Chhabra was very happy with Joshua's progress, and sent us on our way with no cast!  Before we left, we went up to a different department and had a splint made for Joshua's fingers.  The man who made it was WONDERFUL with Josh!  Very patient, and very good.  He took these two jars of stuff that looked like modeling clay and mixed small amounts of them together -- one was a base and the other a catalyst, when mixed the "clay" could be formed and it hardened into a rubber-like material.  Basically, the "splint" is just a blob of rubbery clay that goes between Josh's fingers and keeps them separated.  He wears it at night, and then during the day, we let his fingers breathe and encourage him to use them.  The only real maintenance is that we have to keep his hands washed very regularly, and put the splint on at night.  As usual, Josh has just rolled with the punches with all this, and is doing wonderfully.

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