Praise Update

All is well! For those of you that have been following all our adventures with Dawson, an update is overdue. We saw an orthopedic specialist on March 27th. He ordered an x-ray of Dawson's pelvic region and the results were normal. He is recommending we see a massage therapist in Kearney, MO who specializes in cranial sacral massage. We will return in several months to proceed with Botox if he hasn't received any further progress with physical therapy and the massage. We continue to see Debbie Foster at the Lee Ann Britain Infant Developmental Center connected with SMMC. I always look forward to our time with Debbie. She is a fellow Christian and is an encouragement to me. She joined me at Dawson's appt with the ortho doc which was so beneficial as she was able to relay what her findings and concerns were as his therapist. She is now taping a different muscle known as the psoas muscle across his abdomen and down his left groin region. I leave the tape in place for 3 days and then remove it.

Dawson had his 6 month well baby exam on March 14th at which time Dr. Martin ordered a panel of blood tests to be performed. We had the blood drawn at our insurances preferred lab which is Quest Diagnostics. We waited 3 very long weeks for the results only to be thrown back when the pediatrician phoned herself saying the results came back very abnormal. She asked our permission to consult with the genetics department at CMH to have them review the tests for accuracy, etc. Good news is that the results were based on adult values versus a pediatric value. We had the tests redone at CMH South on April 11th and everything is in the clear. Praise the Lord! This was a huge sigh of relief.

We saw the ophthalmologist at Children's Mercy South on April 14th to rule out ocular torticollis. We received good news and bad news at that appointment. Good news is that Dawson's condition is not due to ocular issues however the physician was able to determine through dilating his eyes that he is more far sighted in his left eye which can and often does lead to lazy eye so this is the latest in fashion accessories in Dawson's world. We are patching his good eye for a 2 hour period each day to help strengthen the weak eye.


We have had more set backs with his helmet. Last Monday we had an add on appt with the orthotic department at KU as Dawson had significant skin breakdown above his right ear. We were ordered to leave his helmet off until it was 100% healed. We put the helmet back on Friday mid morning only to have it off again early that evening. The modifications they had made on Monday caused a severe area of inflammation and swelling. We were back to KU today for his regular adjustment appt and wouldn't you know we were told to leave it off again until the swelling is 100% gone. That crazy helmet has been more hassle than help to this point.

We made a short trip to Springfield this past weekend to purchase new family wheels. I am officially a mini-van mom. I love it! Travis enjoyed playing a round of golf with his high school buddy Rod and the kids and I had a great afternoon at the local zoo with Aunt Shari. Gabrielle showed an extreme amount of patience as we waited in line for nearly an hour for her to get this little butterfly painted on her face. She was so proud of it!!! and I was proud of her for being so patient. This is an area we (Gabrielle and Mommy alike) struggle with and are working on.