Sorry for the long delay in posting an update. June has been a busy month. Summer's here, baby Silas has made amazing progress, we're in the middle of a big move, and Silas took his first plane ride this month. Here's the latest:
Our biggest news is Silas's fantastic developmental progress this month. Silas just turned 8 months old. He is now sitting up straight and supporting his own weight, reaching out and grabbing toys, holding his own bottle and beginning to bear a little weight on his legs. He's been behind in many of these skills because of his long stay in the hospital and because his stridor caused him to pull his head and arms back making it difficult to see his hands and gain hand-eye coordination. Much of his progress is thanks to the hard work of Sherrie and Linda, his physical and occupational therapists at CCS, and the help of Silas's grandmas who have given him lots of extra training this spring.
Here's Silas packing for his big trip to Iowa:
Silas took his first plane ride this month when he visited Des Moines to attend Sada's aunt Arlene's wedding. Packing was a major project since he needs lots of extra supplies. We arranged for oxygen to meet him in Des Moines and mom was accompanied on the flight by Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Rachel, so Silas was in good hands.
And he was a hit dressed up in his wedding outfit:
We're also in the middle of a move this month. In April we entered escrow on a house in nearby Atascadero, and the big news is that our loan came through and we just closed escrow on June 15. We are now officially moving into our first house. We'll post pictures as soon as we're done with the remodeling (flooring, painting, etc.). Our big move in weekends are this weekend and next, so if you're in the area and love moving...
In the meantime, here's Silas checking out the kitchen on his final walk-through with mom and our realtor earlier this month:
On the medical front, Silas did so well at his spina bifida clinic at UCSF earlier this month that his doctors said they don't need to see him again until August, so July should hopefully be the first month of Silas's life that he will not have to visit a children's hospital, which is really something to celebrate.
Our next appointment with his pediatric ENT surgeon will be in September. That bronchoscopy will monitor the progress of Silas's vocal cord recovery and will give his medical team some of the information needed to determine when he will be able to have his trach removed. In addition to vocal cord movement, he needs to have reduced strior, and he needs to be able to sleep through the entire night without oxygen. We're not there yet, but we see little improvements each day and continue to hope he will get his trach out this fall or next spring. The normal period for keeping a trach in following decompression surgery is one year, so anything less than that will be wonderful news.
Thanks everyone for your continued prayer and support. Silas is doing great. Happy summer!
