Hello everyone! Sorry its been a little while since I gave a good Atticus update, but life is always busy, and sometimes I'm just too tired to get on the computer! I thought it would be a good time to send a new update because Atticus has now officially been home for 4 months now!!! Hooray! He's still offically spent more time IN the hospital than OUT of it, but we're rapidly approaching an equilibrium point!
Atticus is now 9 months old, 21 lbs 13 oz, and a little over 28 in long! Whew! What a big boy!! His doctors all remain happy with his progress, as well as his therapists. The only adjustment that Dr Goldberg made is to cut back on his overnight feed, so that he doesn't gain too much weight too quickly. I'm sure not ready for him to hit that 30lbs-35lbs mark needed for the Fontaine quite yet! So we'll scale him back a little bit. We still don't have any other of his doctors to visit right now. We'll see his cardiologist on July 26th, the pulmonologist in 2 more months after that, and some follow ups in Charleston in late August. Which is nice, because that means the longer between visits, the better Atticus must be doing!
We also got some exciting news today from the Audiologist. Atticus' approval paperwork has finally come through!! Unfortunately, they were still waiting on MUSC to fax over the offical results from his hearing screen, so Dr Little can't make her recommendation until she has that in his file. Good news is that I got hold of the folks from MUSC's audiology department, and they said they would send it this afternoon. So hopefully we can follow up with Dr Little on Monday to make sure they got the needed paperwork, and get Atticus his hearing aids soon! I'm so excited! I can't wait for Atticus to finally be able to hear well. I just can't wait to see his reaction!
Atticus also continues to improve physically. He's still receiving physical, occupational, and speech therapy at home. The physical therapist was really impressed with his improvements when she came yesterday. He's starting to be less resistant to being on his tummy, and can do better with turning over on his own. He's also starting to be more willing to let us bring new things to his mouth (toothbrush, teething rings, etc) during his speech therapy, which will go a long way in getting him off his G-tube and able to feed by mouth. And his occupational therapy is going well do, he's doing better in reaching for objects, transferring them between hands, looking for fallen objects, and grasping large and small objects. He continues to make small strides every day. He's even started clapping his hands, which is a 9 month development!! Way to go Atti!
Atticus really is such a miracle. With everything he's been through, he continues to fight each day to improve and grow stronger. And he does it all with a smile! He's really my inspiration when I get to feeling like something is too tough. After all, if he can make it through everything he has to do, what's my excuse?! Thanks for everyone's continued prayers and well wishes! I'm a firm believer that they really do make a difference. So, be sure to keep them up!! I'll try to keep the updates coming, and maybe a little more frequently! ;)
