"Big Show for Little Voices"

 Today, we had the honor of participating in the "Big Show for Little Voices" radiothon benefiting Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. 92.9Dave FM set up shop in the cafeteria of Scottish Rite to raise money for this wonderful foundation. It is no secret that we hold CHOA very dear to our hearts, so when we were asked to come in and be interviewed on air we jumped at the chance!

 

We were scheduled to go on at 7:30, which meant we had to be up no later than 5:30 to allow us enough time to get ready and get there on time. It was early, but well worth it! Traffic was a little heavy today, but we got there right on time!

Here are Steve Craig and Mitch Evans hanging out doing their thing.

It was still pretty early, so the phone volunteers were not too busy yet.

 The boys were waiting very patiently for our turn to go over and be interviewed. Smart phones are wonderful, aren't they?

Once we sat down and were waiting for the commercials to end, we gave Noah the camera to entertain himself with. No lie- he took this picture of Seth and Carson.

 He also took this awesome one of Mitch and Steve! 

Mitch took this one of us, and I'm so thankful he did! I never have any pictures of myself! I don't think Seth and Carson knew they would be in the picture! Ha!

After the interview we took a group picture.

If you would like to it, you can do so here! The first is the on-air interview and the second is some kind things they said about us after we left. 

 

A week full of appointments

Oh man, did we have a crazy busy week. We had 5, that's right FIVE, doctor appointments this week for little Noah. Here is a recap of what we did and the outcome of each appointment.

Morning- He had OT right after swim team. Sometimes he has a tough time at OT, but this week he did really well and followed Ms. Katie's directions. Also, he was fitted for a new split. 

Afternoon- Right after naptime, we went to see the ophthalmologist (who by the way is a graduate of University of Alabama). This was an excellent appointment! He had his eyes dilated, but handled that really well. The doctor said that both of eyes were working really well, and he didn't see any problems.  He did, however, say that he wouldn't really be able to tell if there are any cuts in his vision until he is 12 or so. 

       

Noah had an evaluation with a Speech Therapist. She said that he does have a deficit, but it is not so bad. She is very confidant that he can catch up to where he should be at this age. Of course, she was totally in love with him, as she should be! He was very charming for her, and did all of his tricks! 

Later in the day, I made cake pops (which turned out to be a disaster) then took Carson to his last swim meet (which he kicked major butt at). By the end of the day we were all super exhausted! 

Wednesday Noah had PT. Again, he did awesome! He has met almost all of the goals that Ms. Cindy has set for him. He had fun climbing a ladder than sliding down the slide! This also was the last day of swim team, thank God. I really enjoy the season, but it is exhausting by the end of the season. 

Oh gosh, today was the last appointment! If you have been keeping track, we have had four appointments in three days! Noah had an appointment with his neurologist, which is downtown so it is a trek to get there. Right before the doctor came in the room Noah tripped over his feet and bumped his head on the floor. Ouch! He cried and cried! He was still crying when the doctor came in, then he got more upset and threw up all over me and the floor. AWESOME! Way to start the appointment! Oh, and did I mention that she (the doctor) and an intern with her? HA! After we cleaned up and he calmed down we started talking and she decided that he needs to be on medication for seizure prevention. She asked how I felt about it and I told her I was a little anxious because of the side effects that I have read. She let me know that the medication she is prescribing is very mild and shouldn't cause any major side problems. 

After we left, I had to go by the printer to pick up the proofs for the fundraising event I am throwing for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Then, I came home and met Rachael so we could take pictures of our creations together. We blogged swapped today! You can see both of those post here and here. 

Today, we rested! No appointments, no therapy, nothing! I may need to wrap his arm in Kineiso tape again today, but other than that we are laying low today.

Hopefully, this post explains why I have been unable to post on my other blog. Next week I'll get back to it, but for this weekend we're going to chill. Maybe head to the pool...

Enjoy your weekend!

Noah's Story

Thank you so much for visiting our new blog for Noah. This will make it so much easier for everyone to keep up with our little Hulk and see his progress as he gets bigger and stronger.


Here is a quick history of Noah and his condition.

Noah was born on November 19th, 2010 via scheduled C-Section. We were thrilled to have our new healthy baby boy with us. When he was 2 weeks old we noticed that he kept his left hand in a fist. At first we didn’t read a lot into it. We brought it up to the Pediatrician multiple times but were assured that it was normal.  By the time he was 4 months old we knew something wasn’t right. After fighting to get a referral to see a Physical Therapist, our suspicions were confirmed. His PT referred him to a  Neurologist, who agreed he needed an MRI.  We will never forget that day. It was one of the hardest things to watch our little Noah, only 7 months old, be sedated for a procedure like that. Luckly he came out of the anesthesia quickly and returned to his normal happy self!  The MRI showed significant brain damaged caused by a Fetal Stroke.

At just 7 months old, our plan for Noah’s life had dramatically changed. His official diagnosis is Hemiplegia, left side paralysis. He is unable to use his left hand/arm for more than gross motor activity, and even that activity is very limited.

Since then he has also had a CT Scan, an Upper GI, and a ton of blood work to check for additional damage to other areas. Thankfully those all came back clear. He goes to physical therapy and occupational therapy once a week and will soon start speech therapy. He wears a splint on his left hand to help his thumb move the correct way. He also wears Kinesio Tape on his left arm to help it supinate (which means to turn face up).

It is truly an inspiration to see what Noah can do, especially after seeing his MRI results. He has a long way to go, but with the amazing support of our family and the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta staff, we know he will get there.