Cotton-Eyed Ben

I took this tonight at Elizabeth's Birthday party. How cute is it!

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

Taken just before leaving to take off the cast.


This is the splint Benjamin gets to wear at night and most of the day.


This is what his hand looks like now, one day after cast removal and 9 weeks post surgery.

Benjamin was being silly insisting that I take a picture of his funny pose.

The Big Day is Here :-)

Benjamin gets his cast off today!!! He is so excited. He understands this time. Yesterday he said to me, "mommy, mommy, MOMMY!!!!, off, off" while pointing to his cast. I said, "yes Ben, you get your cast off tomorrow." We then clapped. For those who have never gone through the process, removing a cast is probably worse than putting a root canal in. Not really looking forward to that part. Took almost an hour last time on the right hand. One hour of constant crying can get to a mommy. Then we had to go have a splint fitted. This was another hour of crying. I'm bringing suckers today. Hopefully this might distract him just a little. If you get this before his appointment it is at 2:45 MST so please say a prayer for us!! I took this picture this morning at the breakfast table. Say goodbye to the dirty nasty cast!!!

Christine, this one's for you

Here is a video of Benjamin using his right hand. He had a pollicization surgery done on this hand seven months ago.

It's a crazy life!

Just when you think life can't get any crazier, guess what? IT DOES!!! So last Wednesday afternoon I was just getting ready to take a nice hot bath when I thought, "Wow, I haven't had to bring Benjamin to the doctor this week!" How nice is that!! 15 minutes later, while still in the bath, Benjamin came to me complaining that his thumb hurt (the hand that just had surgery). I looked in his cast and it appeared that there was a little white ball inside. My first thought, Ben shoved a ball down inside his cast. As I investigated I realized it was actually the pin they had put in his thumb to hold it in place. "Oh no!!!" The pin is coming out! This is not good. I jumped out of the bath and immediately called the doctor's office telling them the pin was coming out. They set up an appointment for the next morning. Oh yea, a trip to Grand Junction (1 hr each way) just what I had been wanting to do all week. So the next morning off we went, only to have the doctor tell me that the pin had been there all along I just couldn't see it before because it had been covered up with gauze. Wonderful, a trip for nothing. Then on Friday morning Benjamin woke up coughing terribly and refusing to get out of bed. He had caught the nasty cold virus the rest of my family had. At 2 am the next morning (Saturday) I woke up to him breathing rapidly, racing heart rate and a temp of 102. So off to the Emergency Room we went. Ends up he has Walking Pneumonia. Returned home that day and went back the next morning for a check-up. And I was so excited about not having any doctors appointments last week. I then ended up with three! Just when it seems like life can't get any crazier, IT DOES!!! Benjamin is finally doing better today. Ate his first meal and walked around for the first time in four days. Sometimes having a child with medical needs seems so overwhelming but in the end you look back, hear them laugh and play and it is all worth it!

Oral Therapy

Audrey, this one's for you!

I took some pictures and video of Benjamin in therapy the other day. Thought I'd share them. The picture is with his speech therapist Audrey, they were playing with bubbles. In the video he has peanut butter on his lips. We are working on getting him to use his tongue more to lick his lips.

Surgery is over

Benjamin's surgery went very well and we are already home. We showed up at the Surgery Center at 6:30 am and they had us out of there by 11:45am. We were shocked when they said we were free to leave when we felt comfortable. All I know is that what we dealt with today beats going to the hospital any day!!! Ben is now resting thanks to tylenol with codeine. The surgeon said the surgery was successful. It turned out that Benjamin had only a partial tendon out of four tendons in the thumb. They transfered a tendon from his index finger and one from his pinkie. It is possible they may need to transfer one from his ring finger in the future. Only time will tell. Glad the surgery is over and we'd be happy if this was the last surgery EVER!! We'll see what God has in store.

Reconstructive Surgery

So Benjamin is going in tomorrow for his reconstructive surgery on his left hand. I'm sure there is some fancy name for it, but I don't know it. His surgery will be at a surgery center so he doesn't have to stay overnight at the hospital. We are very excited for Benjamin and what this surgery will do for him. His right hand is doing so great!!! His recovery will be very similar to his right hand recovery. He will have a cast on his arm for six weeks and then he will wear a splint for up to a year.