Gavin has had a busy week! Last weekend he had his sleep study done at the hospital. The pictures above are from that night. All the stuff you see on him isn't even all the stuff they had to put on him! Poor little guy! At first he wasn't impressed by what the lady was doing to him. He never cried, but he wasn't very cooperative. The first sticker/lead that she put on his face he pulled off right away and politely said, "No thankyou, I don't need this." Of course, she put it back on and again he pulled it right off saying, "I said no thanks!" So, again she put it back on and he gave her a side glance of disgust, sighed and put up with the rest, knowing he was obviously defeated! I don't know how he got to sleep with all these annoyances, but soon after she was finished he dutifully went to sleep. What a good boy! The lady that conducted the test said that half the time they need to start the children on oxygen during the night because if the test is ordered the doctor feels there is a great chance that the child has sleep apnea. But, thankfully Gavin didn't even need the O2 on! This really surprised me! We won't know the results of the study for 4 weeks, but it's a good sign that he didn't need the oxygen! Yay! He also had his airway fluoroscopy test done. I was really worried that it was going to be an invasive test since it has the word "scope" in it, but it was really simple. He just had to lay under an x-ray machine while they looked at a monitor watching as he took breaths. They were specifically looking at his trachea to see if it pulled in when he took a breath. The physician assistant that did the test said that everything looked good to him, but that another doctor would have to read the test as well. So, more good news! Yay! Finally, Gavin had an eye doctor appointment. The last visit showed that he was far sighted and had an astigmatism in both eyes. This visit showed the same and that it had actually gotten a little worse. So, Gavin is getting glasses. Hopefully he will tolerate them because he really needs them. By wearing them he might even progress developmentally since it helps to be able to SEE to do things! The eye doctor did say that with the stroke he had, the glasses may not be enough, but they should help. Since Gavin's whole brain was affected by the stroke, the part that processes what you look at was most likely affected too. So, we'll just have to wait and see. There is a test that can be done to determine if the brain is 'seeing' what the eyes see, but they only do it on the east side of the state. We may look into this down the road.

Gavin did have a slight accident this week. He was sitting in his blue chair, hanging out while I was down in the basement. When I came back up he wasn't were I left him! He was laying on his belly, squirming about and, I believe, mumbling about "how inadequate the help is around this place!" Forgive me for what I'm about to say, but...I was so happy that he had fallen out! I took this as a good sign, because it means that he was being active enough to actually fall out! We have always been able to just leave him knowing that he will be where we left him, because he just hasn't been active since his stroke. Now we'll have to be a little more careful! Yay! This makes me feel a little more 'normal' as a mom to him! By the way, he did not get hurt. The chair is low to the ground and it was sitting on the floor, so no need to call social services on me or anything! Ha!

I have been so pleased with how Gavin is doing lately! My whole outlook is so much brighter! Gavin still has a LONG way to go and may not progress much further, but I'm so thankful for the progress he's made lately and that he has stayed out of the hospital for so long! He, as of now, has not had a seizure since January 15! I think this is why I have been able to feel so much lighter. I hated watching him have them! This doesn't mean that he isn't having mini ones that we just can't see, but it's great news!!! What a blessing from God!!! Oh, and he has smiled a few more times! Just little ones, but smiles all the same! Please continue to pray for seizure free days and more smiles! Thankyou!

Have a great weekend!

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

Love, Alicia and Family