Celebrating Inchstones: Old and broken down!

Friday, October 22, 2010

Old and broken down!

I had an eye opening experience yesterday! As I was bending over to stand Asa up and help him walk, something happened to my back. There was a pop and then pain! I mean PAIN!!

Asa was on his feet but I was only holding him with one hand. He was wobblely and squealing. I was still half way down and in pain! Both of us were fussing and crying!

I got him back up and carried him to the back door where he happily sat and kicked the back door. Thank heavens I finally got him interested in something so I could evaluate myself! I had a stabbing, shooting pain in my lower back and down my right hip and leg.

In my agony I realized how much Asa depends on my body. His body won't let him go and do so he points and I carry him. Up and down the stairs. Into the yard to see the trees and leaves. I pick him up into his high chair. I sit him down to scoot and play. I lift him into the van and into his carseat. I never really thought about this before.

Sure he has an adaptive stroller but it weighs nearly 50 lbs so it stays in the van. He has a gait trainer but mainly uses it as therapy not a way to get around. At 3 years old and 30 lbs I guess I didn't think he was to big to carry around all day and most of the night. Turns out I was wrong. I guess I'll be using our equipment as routine now.

My back feels better today. Sore but less stabbing pains. I've been on a heating pad all night and day though. I didn't go to the doctor. I'm guessing they'd just give me muscle relaxers that would leave me unable to take care of Asa so I'm sticking to the heating pad and ibuprofen. So far so good!

I was really hoping I had many more years before I started breaking down. Maybe I'll try that whole exercise and healthy diet thing. Afterall, I'm no longer just thinking of myself!

1 comment:

Laurie said...: You might want to try Physical Therapy for yourself. The same thing happened to me - my daughter has PWS and I was bent over all the time doing her therapies. My back went out - excruciating pain. I was shocked at how much better I felt and how much stronger I became by going to an excellent PT that my doctor referred me to. It was covered by insurance because it was a medical necessity for me to take care of my child.; October 22, 2010 at 10:12 PM

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Asa's story

Asa is the 4th and youngest in this family. We thought he'd come into this world and our lives would flow right along as it had the other 3 times we brought babies into this world.

We were wrong! After a normal pregnancy and delivery, Asa had to be sent to the NICU because he wasn't sucking, blood sugar dropping, floppy muscles, exaggerated startle reflex and jaundice.

He stayed 5 days were he learned to suck and eat enough to come home. He began nursing well but would scream in pain 30 minutes after each feeding. He had so much mucus and drooled so much. He had a terrible rash on his face. He wasn't making eye contact and was not hitting any milestones.

I kept taking him to the pediatrician but got nowhere until his 2 month checkup when he had only gained one pound since birth. That earned him an appt with a pediatric GI and a change to Neocate formula. Odd gasping spells and eye rolling got him into a pediatric neurologist before the GI appt. The neurologist (he was actually the head of the pediatric neurology dept) personally walked us over to the GI clinic and sat us in an exam room. That kinda makes you worry! That is when we really got the ball rolling. Asa was 3 months old.

At 4 months he was admitted to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital. He stayed 8 days and had a NG tube inserted so we could feed him directly into his stomach. He kept this for 2 months. Also during this time he had an EEG, CT scan, MRI, upper GI endoscopy with biopsy, flex sig, numerous blood tests, a genetics consult, and an ophthalmology consult and many other pokes and prods! So began our relationship with specialist!!

After 2 months on the NG tube, we removed it and tried to get Asa to eat enough to gain weight. He did OK for a little while but by 9 months old, he was fighting each feeding and not gaining weight despite being on Neocate formula at 30cal/oz. The decision was made to have a G-tube put in. The G-tube is a feeding tube that is inserted directly into Asa's belly. He can eat orally but won't so he gets feed into his belly.

Since he was going to have to be sedated for the surgery, it was agreed he should have a muscle biopsy at the same time. By 9 months he had finally began making eye contact. He smiled some but not very social. He was still very hypotonic (floppy) and didn't even have head control. Something was obviously going on with his muscles. All of his brain scans had been normal.

In Nov. 2008, when Asa was 13 months old, we found out the results of the muscle biopsy. Yes, it took 3+ months to get all of the results! He was diagnosed with Mitochondrial Myopathy. He is deficient in Complex IV for all of you medical junkies out there.

What this means is that his cells can't make enough energy to fuel his body....specifically for him, his muscles and GI system, that we know of. If his body has to burn energy to fight off infection, or a stress, then he looses energy in another system. Mito is a progressive disease with no treatment or cure. We try to keep him as healthy and happy as possible. We use the feeding tube to keep him feed so he doesn't have to struggle there. He takes numerous supplements and vitamins in the hope that they will keep him cells healthier. We check his eyes, hearing, heart, kidneys, liver, brain and lots of blood work yearly. Mito can affect any system so it is important to have baseline and watch for changes. He has a GI, neuro, geneticist, optometrist, ophthalmologist, cardiologist, developmental ped, regular ped and a mito specialist.

He gets OT, PT, speech/feeding and a home teacher weekly. He has some sensory issues with touch, sound, taste and texture. This plays into almost all areas of our lives! He is still very hypotonic but gained head control at just over a year (right after we started supplements!). He learned to sit when placed in a sitting position at 18 months. He still can't get into sitting alone. He learned to bottom scoot at just over 2. He does not crawl or walk.

He knows the signs for "moma", "daddy", "more" and "all done". He can show them when prompted but we are still waiting for him to initiate. He waves "bye-bye" and points all the time now. He loves to take a bath and water in general. He has a contagious laugh and can flash the most flirty grin ever!

We learned, with Asa, not take the small things for granted. Each smile, sound, word, bite or even trouble!! You just never know when they might not be so easy to come by or even if you'll have them at all!