Covid Positive

 

Pat and I have discussed for awhile about if we wanted to share this. We have decided to share in case it will help someone.  Few days before the May long week end, Vincent started symptoms of what we thought were allergies. It was the same day that lilacs and pollen were out in full force. We thought nothing of it. By the Monday, Vincent was feeling more and more stuffed up, and developed a cough. We decided to just be safe, and because of his daycare’s policies, to get him tested on the Tuesday after the long week end. We were sure that it was just allergies. Vincent was a trooper when tested. We went to Brewer where he got tested by CHEO staff. Upon entering the building Vincent declared he was excited to be there. During the test they advised Pat that he will have to get Vincent to sit on him and hold him down. Pat said he thought he would be fine and gave Vincent a choice. Vincent wanted to sit on his own. He was SUCH a trooper and didn’t budge or cry. He was just happy to be surrounded by people. When the results came in very late on Wednesday as “detected” (positive), we were shocked. I was scared and really worried. The reason I was so worried is about is past lung issues from birth and then when he had RSV.  Pat and I had to go get tested on the Thursday. It was my 3^rd time getting tested. Vincent was soo upset because he wasn’t going to get tested again. Pat and I both came back negative. Since Vincent is too young to be “locked” in his room unless for bathroom for 10 days. Pat and I’s 14-day quarantine wouldn’t be able to start until his 10 days from him being contagious. That is before he shows symptoms. I will not give actual dates.  There was NO way I would lock up my 3 yr. old in his room. If it meant Pat and I would be more likely to catch it, then so be it. We weren’t going to leave him alone. Pat and I’s vaccine hadn’t kicked in since we had just gotten it the Friday night before the long week end.

Vincent is currently doing really well. He has recovered. The worse thing he got was a brutal cough. We let him sleep as long as he wanted.  He rebounded very quick. Isolation has been really tough on us. We had to rely on people to drop us off groceries. We couldn’t leave the house or our small backyard. Vincent doesn’t understand why he can’t go run in the grass behind our backyard. It’s really sad.  He always tells us “I feel better ok, I can run”. We have less then a week left of isolation. I am happy we spent money on buying him more kinetic sand, as that entertains him a lot. I feel bad as we have been making him watch TV more then normal. He normally watches about 10-15 minutes of TV maybe every few days.  The way we see it, we are in survival mode. We just need to get through this isolation. We have NEVER been stuck in the house this long. It really sucks. Vincent is back to his old happy self. I am keeping up with his learning so he still learns some things during our time stuck at home.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me so we can chat.

Depression is back

 

As most of you know I went off work back in November due to me not being emotionally stable. I am bipolar and my depression had gotten to me. My family doctor thought it would be best for me to get off work a while, until I get back to my old self.  A lot of people knew I was bipolar but not that it wasn’t stable. Mental health is very hard. It’s invisible most of the time. You can fake smile and everyone will think that everything is alright. I had started feeling off back in mid-October. I did what I usually did, which is to fake my mood and hope it gets better. By mid-November it had gotten to a point where all I did was cry alone after everyone else was asleep. I also didn’t have any energy to do anything. I wasn’t sleeping at night and during the day I wasn’t sleeping either. I just had so much going on in my head. At the same time I was starting to feel physically unwell. One night I had to go to the ER since I had a hard time breathing and my heart rhythm seemed off. They did blood work, ECG, and x-rays. The reason for the ECG is because two medications I am on can cause irregular heart rhythms.  Luckily there was no issues with my heart. They did notice that my thyroid numbers were low. Due to me having hypothyroidism, the doctors had changed doses after Vincent was born, but now needed another dose update. The low thyroid numbers can cause me to be more emotional. I got a new dose of medication and that takes up to 6 weeks to stabilize. I was also diagnosed with seasonal depression. Therefore I was also put on a higher antidepressant and advised to use a therapy light. When all this happened, it was about the week before my birthday.  The week of my birthday I got a fever out of nowhere that wouldn’t lower. With Covid-19 means I had to go get a Covid test.  Happy Birthday to me as I got the test on my birthday. The results came back as negative less than 24 hours later. I was happy, I went on just living my life day by day. Around Christmas my depression took another nose dive. Everyone is feeling the same this year with the lockdowns and stay at home orders. I just really missed my family in Sudbury. It was hard not to be able to celebrate Christmas and Vincent’s birthday with them. Last time I got to visit was back in July. That is pretty far away and yet we still have no clue when the next visit is. The only thing keeping me going is Vincent. I am happy he is young enough not to understand what is going on.  At the beginning of January I had another phone appointment with my family doctor. We decided that I should look into therapy. I started talking to a social worker. I have had 3 visits up to now and it has made a world of difference. I am finally feeling like my old self. I am well enough to go back to work. With that being said, I am going back to work on Family day (February 15^th).

Mental health is a big thing. With Covid everyone is suffering one way or another. I do not see an end to this pandemic. It’s important for people to talk.  If you haven’t heard from someone close to in a few days or weeks, message them, text them. Video chat with friends and family. This will help everyone pass winter. We can’t go spend time outside as much due to the weather. I do try to go outside with Vincent as much as I can but when it’s too cold it’s nearly impossible.

Please help end the stigma of mental health.

ENT appointment Feb 2nd

 

This morning, Vincent had two appointments at CHEO. The first was a hearing test and the second was with the Nurse Practitioner. This was supposed to be his last appointment before being released. That did not go as planned.

The hearing test almost took a full house. Vincent was really calm and was able to sit through it all. The first part was him having probes put in his ears to check his ears. This is where we saw that his ear drums aren’t moving the way they are supposed to. We also saw that there was a lot of congestion. Usually this would mean an ear infection he just got over. Vincent hasn’t had an ear infection in over a year and he has had his ears checked with his pediatrician two months ago. The second part of the test was us sitting in a sound proof chamber. Since Vincent is three he is a tad too old for the baby/toddler test but couldn’t understand the kids test. They had to do a mix of both. They got the same results they usually get but it wasn’t a thorough test they wanted. They advised it wasn’t Vincent’s fault since he was too young. Hopefully in six months he will be old enough to comprehend and most likely will.  Vincent can hear pretty good but when it comes to very high pitch sounds it doesn’t phase him. The sound was deafening me but he didn’t hear it. This is when I started to become discouraged. Vincent was still so happy at the end of the test since he thought it was play time as they were playing with toys.  Vincent got to pick a sticker at the end which made him so excited.

The second appointment was with the nurse. She checked him out, watched videos of him sleeping and then talked with me. She advised she didn’t feel comfortable releasing him just yet since we weren’t able to get a thorough hearing test and the liquid/congestion in his ears are still coming back. She also saw how he breathes and wants us to talk about in six months to put a scope in his nose to check his adenoids. That might be the reason there is still congestion in his ears. Vincent’s speech is still flourishing so she doesn’t want to do it just yet. Another reason why she didn’t want to release him is because she is afraid once he starts school we see a delay and that it takes another year to get back into the ENT clinic at CHEO since there is a huge wait list. I was ok with it. I was sad but I want to do what’s best for Vincent. At least the appointments don’t traumatize him since he is very well taken care of at CHEO.

After the appointment I dropped him off at daycare, He ran in the house and saw his friends. He didn’t turn around to say bye.

Vincent 2 years old

 

I haven’t written a blog in a long time. I am almost a month behind from writing about what Vincent did when he was two. This year was a big one for him. At the beginning of the year he was walking.  He was still in physio. Vincent had his last session of physio before covid and that ended to be his last forever.  The last session he was taught how to jump on a trampoline.  After that appointment, Pat and I bought him a trampoline. This was the BEST decision ever since the next day he was able to jump without being on the trampoline.   Vincent also had a hard time running and kicking the ball. He was able to catch up. In June, we had a virtual check up with his physio therapist. She was SOOOO shocked on his progress and released him from physio. This was music to my heart. One less therapist.  Until June of last year, Vincent was only saying a couple of words but would repeat them. He did an speech therapy assessment and we were giving exercises to help him get better with words until Covid is better and we can do the in person therapy.  We worked hard on the exercises and Vincent started talking a lot. He wouldn’t stop talking. In August he started an English daycare and within 5 days we was speaking both English and French. His vocabulary has flourished and everyone noticed. In October, I was contacted by the speech therapy clinic to set up an appointment. I requested another assessment since Vincent was now saying paragraphs instead of 2 word sentences. I did the assessment with the therapist and he was also released from speech therapy. This is another great thing. Potty training hasn’t been easy but we are getting there. He is pretty good for pee but poop is a BIG no.  Vincent has a lot of popular sayings, these are his favourites:

Ah non
I'm stuck
Camion come grandpapa
I'm ok man ou mom
L'auto va boom
Des avions
C'est daddy
Chanson qui chante: Twinkle little star. Roue de l'autobus. Blippi. Happy Birthday.
A plutard
Je t'aime
Merci beaucoup
Dit merci
Camion pompier
Tu vois tu
Ou aller
2 ans
Ohhh beaucoup d'autobus
Ah non un mess
Mess sur table
Poof dans l'eau
Maman mange
Écoute pas
J'ai pété
Bateaux à grandpapa
bebe jama (pyjama)
Chicken hamburger (chicken burger)
Chipmunk (chick a Munk)
Vincent was singing 5 little monkeys. Here what he said "no more doctor's jumping on the bed. It hurts"

Last January 2020, we had our first international family trip. We went to visit grandmaman and grandpapa Saumure in Florida.  We had a blast and Vincent loved seeing all the boats, animals, swimming and snuggling with his grandparents. The week went by way to fast.

With covid we all had to start wearing masks. Vincent LOVES wearing a mask which is good since we then can safely bring him do groceries.

As mentioned earlier, Vincent started daycare since I went back to work. He absolutely loves daycare and has a girlfriend. Her name is Marlene. He is so smitten by her. He loves his daycare friends.  Before starting daycare, Vincent spent a few weeks at the cottage with his grandparents while Pat and I worked. Vincent had so much fun swimming, boating, sitting by the fire and playing.

This December, we spent a lot of time driving around to see Christmas lights. Vincent loved seeing lights. He would thank us for bringing him to see lights and all the house had 1 strand of lights. Christmas was special since he got excited for ALL his gifts. The only good part about covid Christmas is that Vincent got to spend it with his grandparents Saumure. We got to see my parents on Christmas eve for a quick visit. I just really wished we could of seen all his counsins and aunts and uncles.

Hernia surgery and recovery

On May 4^th, I had a phone appointment with the surgeon.  After speaking with me and seeing how much pain I was in, he decided that I needed to go to the ER to get admitted.  Since we had Vincent at home and Pat was working, his grandparents came to pick him up for the week.  Within an hour from the phone call I arrived at Montfort ER.  I was then admitted.  Due to covid-19 they closed the day surgery area to the rest of hospital and admitted all the emergency surgery patients.  That is when the waiting game started. I was starving as I didn’t eat since the night before.  There were more urgent cases going in like appendicitis.  At 9:30pm they advised me that I would have to wait for the next day for surgery.  They provided me with an egg sandwich and jello.   I was so happy to be eating for the first time in 24 hours.  Tuesday was also a waiting game.  I wasn’t allowed to eat.  There were four appendicitis cases and two broken hips.  By 9pm I was advised that surgery will be Wednesday.  And Wednesday would definitely happen as when you get admitted for Emergency surgery they have 48 hours to do surgery. During the night I was woken up by the nurse and my oxygen levels were very low. I was put on oxygen for a few hours. I was able to get off the oxygen and sleep a few hours. Finally, at 7:30am on Wednesday I was advised that I would be having surgery.  The surgeon’s first case of the day didn’t show up so I was first.  By 7:45am I was in the operating room.  At 10:30am I was awake in recovery.

What I recently learned from the surgeon is that my hernia was really stuck. It was the size of a fist. My intestines were less than 2mm away from getting stuck.  It took so much time to fix that they didn’t have enough time to install a mesh to prevent it from happening again. I was told there is a good chance that I will need to same surgery in a few years.

Back to the surgery day, I was doing so well after surgery. I was able to get up and walk around. At 2pm, I was off oxygen.  I was then released. By 3:30pm I was home with some Subway to eat as I was really hungry.  I was given dilauded pain medication and told to take advill/Tylenol to help.  The pain didn’t really hit until Thursday.  The pain was unbearable. I had to take a dilaudid in the morning to help then stay on top of the Tylenol and advil. I couldn’t even get out of bed by myself. Pat had to help me. The recovery was honestly a lot harder than my c-section.  It took me a few days to get the pain under control.

For recovery I got a lot of help, my mom came down to take care of Vincent for a few days.  Vincent also got to stay with his grandparents at the cottage. He loves it there. I can’t lift for seven weeks after surgery.   This is very hard because I want to be able to help take care of Vincent.  I recently had an appointment with the surgeon. That is when I found out that they weren’t able to install the mesh.  He also was adamant for me to be careful for another four weeks bringing it to seven weeks of healing.  My incision is still very sensitive, but looks really good.

If there are any other news on this I will post another blog.

Beginning Journey with My Umbilical Hernia

My journey started months ago when I started working out. I would have to stop working out when I had a very sharp pain near my belly button.  I just pushed it off as I was out of shape. The gyms closed and I forgot about that pain.  Two weeks ago I had a bit of pain and just pressed and felt a lump in my belly button. I have a very deep button and the lump was in it.  It continued to grow. I started having sharp pain last week and it was now the size of a ping pong.   On Sunday I decided to go get checked out at the Montfort ER as the pain was so bad and was making me short of breath.  They provided me with a room right away and within 30 minutes I had seen doctors. They seemed a little worried of the size therefore I had to get testing done.  I was given morphine for the pain, they wanted me more relaxed for the CT scan and pain relief would help (I tried to refuse the pain medications).  I also got blood-work done and had an IV put in for the CT scan. The scan was good and short.  The Dr were relieved that it was not my intestines stuck in my hernia. I wouldn’t need emergency surgery and can hopefully hold off after this pandemic is over. I was given another dose of morphine and an IV saline to get me more hydrated.

After talking with the doctors, we decided to send my file to a general surgeon and will go on a waiting list to have surgery.  Today around lunchtime I got a call from my surgeon’s secretary. I will have a phone call appointment with the surgeon on Monday. I will then be put on a waiting list.  I was also advised if the pain gets worse to go back to Montfort.

I hope the wait won’t be too long. A good sign is that in stage one of reopening they will be starting surgeries again.  Until then I can’t workout. I have to be careful when bending down and no lifting. I can’t trigger the hernia to grow.

Florida January 2020

January 18^th 2020

Our flight was with Sunwing. We were flight WG 052. Travelling with a toddler is really great. They let us go in the priority line and bypass over 200 people at security. When we got to Miami, we also got to skip over 300 people at customs. Since we woke up at 2am for the day, Vincent slept through the takeoff. He spent the rest of the flight watching Blippi and colouring. The only bad part of the day of travel is Sunwing misplaced one of our suitcases. It took us over an hour to fill out forms. Vincent was very excited to see his grandparents.

We took Tri-rail from Miami to Pompano beach. Vincent loved the train ride. Once in Pompano beach, we went shopping to buy myself a bathing suit as it was in the missing suitcase. We are keeping the receipts to get refunds on all the stuff we needed to buy. I got a really nice bathing suit for $25. It was over 85% off. We also went shopping at Target. I love the store. It's so much better then in Canada. I bought candies that is hard to find in Canada. The candies were Red Vines, Hi-Chew and Laffy Taffy. We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in the very warm pool.

January 19^th 2020

We went shopping at Walmart to buy more supplies that were needed for the trip. We also bought pre-made wraps to have for our lunch before the boat tour. The activity for the day is the Jungle River Queen afternoon boat ride. We went down Millionaires row where we saw Mansions, Yatchs and a lot of Iguanas. The boat brought us to an isle where we saw all types of animals. There was also a show where a guy was fighting alligators. Vincent absolutely loved the boat ride. He napped in my arms the whole way back. We went swimming before our dinner. We relaxed in the evening.

January 20^th 2020 – Martin Luther King Day                 

There were a lot of streets closed for parades. We had forgotten about this holiday and it took us a long time to get to our activity. Once we got to the Gumbo Limbo Nature Centre, we noticed that there were too many people. We decided to push the activity to Wednesday. We had some Chipotle for lunch. I had a chicken burrito and it was really good. We went shopping at the store Jo Ann. Pat bought himself some fabric and I bought myself some Happy Planner Stickers for my planner. There were great prices. We then spend the afternoon at the pool. Vincent loved swimming and jumping in the pool. We relaxed in the evening, it was really chilly.

January 21^st 2020

I called Sunwing in the morning. It advised me they found my suitcase in Toronto. They advised it was on a flight to Miami. It should arrive at 1pm. We went to visit the Museum of Discovery and Science. The visit was started in the kid's section. Vincent loved playing with sand and bubbles. We then took Vincent on the Everglades simulator. He absolutely loved it. There were older kids that were crying to get off as they were terrified. Vincent loved it and asked to do it again. We had lunch at a pizza place down the street. After lunch we went to the science park, where you can test your strengths and other things. We also tried a 7D simulator, which was a Toy Ride. It was a car race in which made us feel like we were on a roller coaster. We went shopping at Jo Anns again for more supplies because there were great prices and we went to Walmart for more stuff.

January 22^nd 2020

It was really cold overnight. It went down to +5C. All day was really cold and windy. It only went up to +12C. We went to visit the Gumbo Limbo Nature Centre. We saw injured turtles, stingrays and fish. We wanted to visit Flamingo Gardens, but it was way too cold. Vincent got to play in a playground for the first time as a walker. He was so cute and happy. I also tried Dunkin' Donuts. I had the iced cappuccino with caramel. It was good, but not as good at Tim Hortons. The jelly donuts were really good. I spend the evening trying to get through to Sunwing as I still didn't have my suitcase. I asked to speak to a supervisor and there weren't any available.

January 23^rd 2020 – Pat and I’s 10 year dating anniversary

We had a relaxing morning at the campground. We had lunch at Subway then went to spend the afternoon at Flamingo Gardens. We started our visit with a train ride to see all different types of plants and trees native to Florida. During our visit we saw very big flamingos, huge alligators, turtles, tortoises, black bear, otters, boa constrictor called Rocky, bobcat, many different birds and flowers. The whole family got dolled up in the evening for a special dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. It was really good. I had a double bacon burger and for dessert a Godiva chocolate cheesecake. It's a flour-less chocolate cake, with chocolate mousse and chocolate cheesecake. It definitely didn't disappoint. As for the weather, it rained a lot most of the day. My suitcase finally arrived at 9:30pm.

January 24^th 2020

We didn't do a lot this day. We did our laundry in the morning then headed out shopping after lunch. We started by visiting the Festival Marketplace. It's an indoor flea market. Vincent had a lot of fun in the kids' area. We had a snack of frozen yogurt. We then went shopping at a Super Target where I bought candies to bring back with me. I really enjoyed Hi-Chews therefore bought two different type. This target was REALLY big. We then checked out Hobby Lobby where we picked up a few things for Vincent's new bedroom. Pat and I finished the evening packing our suitcase while Vincent went for a walk with his grandparents. We didn't do a lot this day. We did our laundry in the morning then headed out shopping after lunch. We started by visiting the Festival Marketplace. It's an indoor flea market. Vincent had a lot of fun in the kids' area. We had a snack of frozen yogurt. We then went shopping at a Super Target where I bought candies to bring back with me. I really enjoyed Hi-Chews therefore bought two different type. This target was REALLY big. We then checked out Hobby Lobby where we picked up a few things for Vincent's new bedroom. Pat and I finished the evening packing our suitcase while Vincent went for a walk with his grandparents.

January 25^th 2020 – Going Home

We left around 8am to head to Miami. There was a huge lineup when we got there, but since we have a toddler in a stroller they let us go in the Elite line. Going through security was so much easier then when in Ottawa. We boarded our flight at noon when it was supposed to leave at that time. The flight was late because the crew got help up at customs and security between both flights. Vincent slept through takeoff then watched Blippi and had snacks the rest of the flight. We landed in Ottawa around 3:45pm. It took us under a minute at customers. Pat's brother Eric picked us up at the airport. Vincent was happy to see his uncle. There was a snowstorm in Ottawa when we got here.

Pediatrician Appointment January 10th 2020

Last month, I received a call from Vincent’s pediatrician office. They had receive a report of Vincent’s ENT appointment and want to see him as soon as they can.  Since the holidays where the week after, they scheduled the appointment for last Friday (January 10^th 2020). I didn’t know what to expect. I was a little worried.  Vincent’s appointment was full of information and some I wasn’t ready to get. Since I stay home with him I feel it’s partly my fault if something is wrong. 

Let’s start by the basic information, Vincent weighs 32 lbs and 10 oz. He is 87.8 cm tall. He is almost at 3 feet. He is sticking to the same percentile as he has been since he was 6 months old. Vincent is in the 95^th.  The nurse started playing with him while she took his blood pressure. She was afraid he would be scared, but I knew different. When she was done he asked if she could do it again.

As for the pediatrician, she advised me that Vincent still has a lot of fluids in his ears. It’s starting to affect other parts of his life. As for walking, the ears are preventing him from being solid on his feet. They make him walk like a drunk person at times. The thing I wasn’t ready to hear is that Vincent is behind in his speech. The pediatrician advised me that she truly believes that it’s because he can’t hear clearly.  Vincent does talk a lot, but he repeats everything.  Since the appointment, Pat and I have noticed it. If you want to experience what Vincent hears, stick you head under water or block your ears with your hands.  He can hear some sounds perfectly when others he has a hard time.  The pediatrician is contacting his ENT to see if we can get in to an appointment sooner. She wants him to get tubes and his adenoids checked out as soon as possible. We want to get this resolved in the next year before it’s too late.  On Friday of this week (in 3 days), I will be filing out an intake form for first words. We will be put on a waiting list for them to get Vincent evaluated. I was advised that the waiting list for this program fluctuates a lot. Due to us going to Florida next week, we will fill out the intake form the day before we leave. His pediatrician is pretty sure that they will call us after our trip.

As for Vincent’s constipation issue, I advised the pediatrician that he is still taking restorolax every 2 days. If I try to push it every 3 days he becomes clogged again. She told me to give it to him every day or every 2 days and not to push it. It will not affect his body if we keep giving it to him every day. It helps him more than hurt his body.

Holidays 2019

Since having Vincent, the holidays are very chaotic, but fun.  Here is a blog about what we did in the holidays.

Christmas Eve Pat worked until 11:30am. We then headed out to buy the food we need for Vincent’s birthday party on the 26^th. After running all our errands, we headed to my dad’s for supper. It was a fun afternoon and evening. I played card games with my grandma, Vincent played with Chika and his cousin Alycia. He got an ice cream cart as a gift from them.  After dinner around 6:30pm, Vincent was really tired. He requested to go home to bed. We decided to bring him home and go to bed as he asked.

On Christmas Day morning, Vincent was awake and ready to open gifts at 5:30am. It took him approximately 1.5 hours to open all of them as he wanted to play with them. He did really good when it came to unwrapping. He didn’t need much help.  After all the opening of the gifts, we all took a nap as we had a dinner in Kanata at my aunts and uncles. Vincent loved playing with his older cousins Jeremy and Rose Anne. He got a lot of their one and one attention in which made him feel special. Around 7pm that evening is when he requested to go to bed. Therefore, we left and came back home.

Boxing Day morning was fun. We went to eat breakfast as a family at Perkins. We chose Perkins because all other restaurants were still closed.  In the afternoon, there was a dozen people that came for his birthday party. Vincent was very well loved and spoiled.

The day after his birthday, the stomach bug hit our house. We all got it. Vincent felt better by evening ,but had a hard time getting over the virus which caused up to spend New Years Eve in the hospital ER. They provided him with IV fluids and made sure his blood-work was normal. We were released around 1am and then came home to bed. On New Years Day we just relaxed and watched TV.

Here are some pictures of the holidays. There are more on my facebook page.

Pediatrician, Hearing Test and ENT appointment

Pediatrician

At the beginning of November, Vincent went to his check up with his pediatrician. I thought this would have been his last appointment with her and she would release him as a patient. Since the only thing previously missing for her to release him was him walking.  Well sadly, this didn’t happen.  Vincent has been constipated. I thought it was just a minor problem, but it was worse. His pediatrician advised us to start giving him powdered laxatives in his drink.  We were to give him it every day. We were advised it might take weeks to months for it to be resolved.  At the appointment, Vincent weighed 31lbs 6oz and was 33 inches tall.  He also meets all of the milestones. The pediatrician decided to see him again in six months.  The reasoning, is she wants to see what the results of his next ENT appointment, hearing test, urology and his next physio appointment.

Hearing test

Vincent had a hearing test on November 26^th. They started the appointment by testing out the congestion in his ears and see if his ear drums react to sounds.  One of his ears still have a lot of congestion (liquid).  Also, his ear drums do react to sound, which is good.  The hearing part of the test went well.  Vincent can hear very well.  Usually, they give the toddler a toy to play with and see if he reacts to sound. This didn’t work for Vincent. He was more interested in playing with the toy then listening for the sounds.  Halfway through the hearing test, Vincent was done.  He was trying to get down and was saying “done”.  Overall the hearing test went well. Vincent passed.

ENT

This appointment didn’t go as planned. He still has a lot of congestion which means he will most likely need tubes.  She is also pretty sure he has big adenoids.  Vincent will most likely need tubes in his ears, during the surgery they would go look at his adenoids.  During the appointment, the ENT was asking questions on how Vincent speaks, and breaths. This is when I realize when Vincent speaks more than one word his voice becomes raspy. If this continues, they will need to scope his sinuses and go look at his vocal cords.  I need to keep taking videos of Vincent when he speaks.  We are to continue his Nasonex the next five months. We will stop the last month before his next appointment in the next six months.  We will not be making a decision about tubes in his ears for another six months as he is speaking very well. They rather wait for flu season to be over.

Since that appointment, I have received a call from Vincent’s pediatrician. She got the results from ENT and wants to see Vincent. He will be seeing her on January 10^th.

2019 Vincent Christmas/Birthday

Ballpit: At the end of summer, we found a blow up pool for very cheap. We decided to pick it up and make it in a ballpit.  Vincent really loves balls.

Tool bench: Vincent loves touching tools. We decided to get him his very own tool bench to play with it.

Little Cars: We found a good price for 20 cars so decided to pick it up as Vincent plays with these often.

Cleaning Set: Vincent loves to walk around with our broom. It very dangerous as he can break a lot of our fragile things. Now he will be able to clean himself.

Dinosaur Tub: He LOVES dinosaurs so these can help us learn all their names.

Mix Match Dinosaur: We got this one in French. It will help him learn his feelings. It dances and sings.

Train Set: Vincent just started enjoying trains in the last month. This will add to his new collection.

Mega Blok Truck: Vincent has a lot of mega bloks and loves them. We bought this truck so we can build things and play.

Trigger Warning: Depression

This blog is less about Vincent, more about me. If your plan is to give negative feedback about this blog then stop reading.  If you are more interested on how I am doing, then continue to read.

It is no secret that I suffer from bipolar and depression. We were all raised to hide how we feel from others, or toughen up.  Often when opening up to others is answered with responses such as these; “Toughen up, life is hard”, or “It’s not as bad as you think”, or “Cheer up, or no one will like you” and much more. These are all answers which my brain cannot accept due to the chemical and neurological imbalance of my brain.

Well I am trying something new, and talking about it in hopes of others understanding the hardship I am currently facing.   Since Vincent’s birth I was doing well, up until a few months ago. I am not sure what happened, but each day my depression started affecting me more and more. I tried to hide it by keeping my schedule busy.  However it is getting harder and harder to live day to day.  Vincent and Pat both do their best to help my mood. Spending my days with Vincent help my mood, as it a light in the darkness.  There are some days that I can’t function due to my depression or my migraines which I’ve had since youth.  Right now I can’t function without napping when Vincent takes his morning nap.   Once I wake up from the nap, I feel well enough to get my cleaning done.  I also try my best to do a few sessions of learning with Vincent a day. I would like to do four sessions, but these days I can only function doing two. That is separate from all his physio sessions.  The only thing that helps is taking naps and taking it easy. Pat understands and does his best, however there is only so much he can do as he needs to work.

What have I been doing to help my depression?  I have been cancelling some of my plans. I am trying to focus on myself when I can. Instead of having events almost every night of the week, I aim to do the minimum. I then plan to slowly add more stuff in my schedule. My goal for next week is to add the gym back 2-3 times a week. It was helping before, however when I got my 3 weeks cold, it made it difficult to find the energy to get back to the gym.

Vincent senses something is wrong, as he is often just wants to come and hug me.  If you wonder why I am not communicating as much, or cancel plans, just give it time. I am doing my best to get back on my feet.

Surprise CHEO Physio Appointment

Tuesday of this week (October 8^th), I got a call from CHEO asking if I can come in the next day with Vincent for a Physio appointment. They advised that there is still an eight month wait before he would be seen as he was the 30^th down the list. I jumped to the opportunity. I was both excited and scared about this appointment. I loved his current physio therapist and didn’t think I would be lucky to find another one that Vincent would love.

Vincent’s physio appointment went very well.  He clicked with the therapist just as much.  The best part is that she is francophone. When she found out who his current private physio therapist was she knew her work with Vincent wouldn’t last long.  His private therapist is his new therapist’s favourite private therapist in all of Ottawa.  She likes her clinic so much that when she retires she will go work for her part-time. 

Vincent is much more ahead, then she thought he would be when reading his file. What I love about starting Physio at CHEO is that the therapist has access to all his history. Before working with Vincent, his new therapist who we will name D showed me a chart on the steps toddlers take when it comes to walking. For example, it will show how much time it usually takes in each step.  The whole walking journey from beginner to advance can take months. Vincent is doing it in days. He went from walking a few steps at a time to a lot more.  After working with Vincent for just 30 minutes, she was able to pinpoint his personality and how to work with him.  She told me that Vincent is very smart. Most things you just need to show him once and he will do it.  That’s if he wants to do it. Vincent is also very stubborn therefore if he doesn’t want to do it he won’t.

A funny situation that happened during the session, she was trying to make him do a specific move. If he would do it, than he would get a toy to play with.  Vincent wasn’t in the mood to do it so he got down from the table and went to find her toy stash. He had seen where she hides them. The therapist laughed and said that was a first.  This session was mostly seeing his walk, play, climb to see what kind of work needs to done.  She agreed that Vincent’s core muscles need work. The next three weeks will be me working with to have stronger core muscles. We have a few games to play with him to get them stronger. She also recommended that I bring him to places like Cosmic Adventures to play and swim as those work the muscles.

I have decided to continue physio at CHEO and stop the private ones. I am sad our journey with W ended, but happy to continue with D.