Braden and his friend Tigger

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New Spica cast pics.

Here are some pics of the new Spica cast. Braden has had a good week. His reflux seems to be getting a little worse. He's been vomitting a bit more than usual. I think the lack of movement makes his food sit on his stomach longer. Amazingly enough he still eats pretty good. He actually likes his food chilled rather than warm. I think the cold makes Braden's throat feel better. He likes fruit based purees the meat and veges are sooo bland. If he has meats or veges I serve at room temp and add a little seasoning.

Braden's speech eval went well. But the passy muir part did not. We think Braden's reflux and allergies may be the problem. He does really well when distracted and keeps his sats up. But after a minute or so he coughs it off. So we will keep trying. The hope is after GI gets his meds right he'll do better. The rest of the eval was about building vocabulary. We have homework and some instruction on everyday conversation.

The new cast has limited Braden's movement even more. We found a way to adjust his chair but he can no longer lean forward. Which means no video of him playing with his farm. :-( So y'all will just have to wait for his cast to come off.

Hip update

Today went really well with the recast and dye test. The Dr. was very pleased with Braden's hips and said things look really good. The new cast is similiar to the old. Only now he has a bar between his legs. Which makes him a bit heavier and a little more ackward. We even got a date for removal of the cast and transition to the splint. July 23rd Braden will be free again. :-) A few new things Braden has learned. He now plays peek a boo without assistance using a blanket. He will use hand over hand to pull a balloon down so he can reach it. He has a toy farm that he use to never reach towards the back of.. but now he reaches for the pig and the chicken. He also spins the wheel at the top of the barn. I'll have to try and get some video. Maybe next week.

We've also got some vomitting issues to resolve. Braden's nissen I am completely convinced has come undone and not just loosened. We have an appt. with GI on July 15 so I'm hoping we will get some help. Braden also seems to be having some rashes. Hopefully, just heat related and nothing to be concerned about. We see the Peditrician for an 18 month check up the same week as GI. So hopefully they can tell us what's causing the rash.

Quick update

Just wanted to let everyone know that Braden has been off his O's during the day. During periodic checks with the pulse ox he is in the 98-100% range. Which is awesome. We are excited that he is doing so well. It's so nice that he is no longer hooked up to anything during the day. Next week Braden's cast will be removed and replaced with a new one. I am so glad because I noticed today Braden's old cast is starting to stink. I guess no matter how clean you try to keep them they eventually get yucky inside.

A Special Hello

Braden wanted to tell his friend Parker that he is glad his surgery went well and he hopes Parker starts feeling better soon!

Dr.'s visits

Today was long but went pretty good. Pulmonary actually said that I could wean Braden off his O's. This might take a while but Braden's sats were 99% without his O's during weight and vitals check. So they really didn't have any reason to argue that he isn't ready. I don't have to monitor him constantly anymore with his pulse ox. We just have to hook him up every three hours or so just to see how he is doing. So that is a big step in the right direction. Not to mention when you are with your child 24/7 you pretty much know when they are in distress. The nutritionists backed off the calories some since Braden is in a cast and not really active. We aren't worried so much about weight gain right now. The cast doesn't allow much room for growth and we don't want to cause discomfort. ENT said Braden's ears looked good. Braden finally passed his hearing test in both ears. As far as his airway goes three things need to take place. His reflux needs to be completely under control (whatever that means), he has to be completely off his Oxygen, and his airway needs to heal alot more than it has... So basically we have a long way to go before removal of the trach. By the way Braden hates to have his ears touched. He was a mad hatter for the ENT visit. I hated that was the last part of the day since he hated it so much.

New Pictures

This is Braden's new table and chair. Pop John and his Daddy made it especially for his cast. It is great and Braden loves it.