dsummersill

Host Sue, My prayers are with your family and Ray. Sorry to hear he is doing no better. I know what ya mean by acceptance and I wish I could accept the fact that Cayden may not wear big boy underwear or potty train. I know its not as bad as Ray but I want him to grow up and be able to live on his own and I am afraid that when he gets into the higher grades and still in diapers he will be made fun of. He has been through so much. I dont want him to go through any thing more.

Fred, You are walking in Gods time and recovering in Gods time......Im so proud of what you have accomplished. It has takin me a long time to realize that when God is ready to heal my son he will. My father in law kept telling me God would heal my son and give him a new brain. I laughed at the time trying to picture God pulling Caydens brain out through his nose and shoving a "good" brain back in. I realize that what my father in law was saying was that what Cayden couldnt do then he would be able to do when God was ready for him to do it. I guess I had to learn patience for God. We just found out that there is something new that they are testing out right now and Caydens doctor wants him to try it. I dont know exactly what it is she wasnt supposed to tell us but she said that if it works that it would retrain Caydens brain and it could truly heal his brain. Maybe my father in law knew what he was talking about after all. And people say that he wasnt in his right mind because he had alzheimers. Keep up the great work and I will pray for your continued success Dyan

After having a bad week last week he started his week this week with great attitude!!!! After the birthday party he was bugging us to buy him some balloons so while he was at school I bought him a bag of balloons and when we got home and saw that he did great in school I gave them to him. That boy was so excited he was jumping up and down shouting and laughing. Its like he hasnt ever seen a balloon before. I am getting light heading from blowing up balloons for the past HOUR!!!!! Boy I cant wait until "sissy" gets home from school so she can blow these balloons up!!!!! One of his balloons popped while I was blowing it up and he got so scared and sad he cried for about 15 min. I finally calmed him down and found another pretty one that he liked and now its on for round 2......LOL Dyan

Elondie, You are absolutely right about the dentist and everyone involved with Tooties oral surgery....They all should have been in contact with others in her care. That is why I hate involving new people into Caydens care.....Even at school I make sure the next grade knows Caydens needs and that he gets them....I dont care who gets tired of hearing from me!!!!! Good luck with Tootie and God Bless you Elondie Dyan

Julie, My husband has severe apnea and has to wear a CPAP machine as well. I am sure you will have to help him at night for the mask goes over his head. I am not sure how bad Larry is with his stroke and what he can and cant accomplish on his own so my advice is to see when the guy comes to fit him with a mask. There are two types a nose only mask and a full mask that fits over his nose and mouth. If he sleeps with his mouth open I advise you to get him the full mask. My son has the nose only mask because it doesnt scare him as badly. Im sorry Larry gave you a scare but I am glad he is doing good. The next time he starts coughing and wheezing like that try to lift one of his arms it will help him be able to breathe better. Caydens dr told us to do that with him when he choked on stuff too and I do that with all of us and it works with an adult as well. My prayers are with you both Dyan

Yes Cayden is fighting this stroke with all his might. I thank God that he gave me such a special lil man!!!!! I felt guilty to start out with but the more people I talk to here I see that he is right on track.....yes it is for a two year old and he is four but being developmentally delayed he is right where he needs to be and I am so proud of him!!!!! I am proud of all of you fighting what yall have to go through as well and keep up the good work all of you!!!!! Thank you all of you for helping me with my son and letting me know what he is experiencing with the stories you tell here..... Dyan

Thank you Asha, That makes me feel so much better about the others pitying him. I know he knows nothing about others but I dont know if Im paranoid abuot it or if they really do pity him. I love him no matter what and in my eyes and the Lords he is the most perfect Cayden!!!!! I know the Lord sent me Cayden the way he is for a reason and I thank the Lord every night for letting me have this wonderful boy for one more day. He is great and he shows me that if he can live with his disablities then I can live with mine as well.....of course Im still paranoid about my own......lol

Thank you Asha and Sue, I hope you are right. All his friends in school really like him and they dont concider him different and the birthday girls daddy loved the dickens out of him...He likes Cayden alot and they talk every time he takes his daughter to school. Everyone else there felt sorry for him and thats not what I want but they dont know the whole story about Cayden yet. What can I say to get them to understand and not pity him. I dont want him pittied because he doesnt even know that he is different and that he has disablities. This is his norm and I want to keep it that way....When he is older and starts asking I will tell him but I want him to know that he is special and that he is loved no matter how he started his life out. Me and daddy wanted him when we thought he was perfect and we want him now that we know he isnt 100% perfect......TO US HE IS PERFECT!!!!!! If the others dont see that then they dont deserve to know him. Dyan

He was more excited about where they had the party and the word "party" than the actual party......

thank you I will definetly have to pick them up and read them!!!!

Cayden went to his very first birthday party with kids his own age from his class. There was only a few from his class that went but still it was fun. I noticed though that he didnt play with any of his friends he stayed with me most of the time and played by himself. He did play with a girl at the air hockey game but that is because she took the initiative to play with him. He did things his other classmates were doing but that was after they left. I hope this is due to him being 2yrs old developmentally and he will out grow it. I dont want him to become a recluse!!!!! Dyan

Debbie, Thank you so much for that story it really did help me out!!!! I cant really look in his classroom but I do know how he is doing because the teachers keep me informed and yes he does have an aide to help out but its just not working right now. I hope these meds do work so that way we can keep him in this class. He is still in preschool but I dont want to put him back in the special ed program because they cant teach him the way he is being taught now. I dont know if there is any special schools for kids like Cayden like the one he was in before he turned three and went to the regular school and we have another daughter so we cant afford a private school for him. Here were we live there really isnt a whole lot of things to help him out. Thank you for your help and I will definetly give it some time and see how it goes. So far according to his teacher he did pretty good today but when I went for the veterans program he threw a fit the whole time because he wanted to be with his sister but he couldnt and I had to leave the program early. Dyan

We went to Caydens Psychiatrist yesterday and talked to him about his problems in school. We found out that ADHD is inherited but it can also be caused by brain trauma. We dont want him on ADHD medicine but we need to do something. He is on a bunch of homeopathic medicine that seem to be working. They decided to up his dose of one of his homeopathic medicine and to add to it. If it doesnt work within a few weeks he is going to put him on a small dose of ADHD meds that will take away the edge of restlessness. He is actuallhy up to par for where he needs to be considering he is only 2 developmentally. This is getting to be something let me tell ya. I have a 4 yr old that is only 2 and doing what he should have done when he was 2. It is getting hard to keep him in a regular preschool and if this doesnt work they may need to find another special ed class for him to go to. The preschool special ed isnt challenging him enough but the regular preschool is getting too hard for him. The academic part isnt challenging him it is the other kids and interacting with them.....I mean how do you explain to a 4-5 yr old that one of their classmates had had a stroke and so he isnt developmentally like them. The teacher is pretty good but I know that she is having trouble so maybe I should just send some letters out to the parents to explain Cayden. Please if anyone has any ideas of what to do for him and to get these children and the parents to understand let me know all ideas are welcome!!!! Especially because these kids want to play with Cayden but he rather play with himself......That is what 2 yr olds do. I want him to learn how to interact with other kids his age but do you think that he needs to interact with others like him or what? I dont know what to do!!!!!! And how do you explain all this to the child himself? I dont want him to think of himself as any different from all the other kids and he doesnt understand that all these other kids never been to school and that is why they cant do what he can academically. He teases them more than they tease him because he doesnt understand that he has been to school since he was 17 mos old and that you normally dont go to school until 4. He thinks that his life is the NORM for everyone and not just him and there is a child who cries every time her mom drops her off and Cayden doesnt understand why she is so sad when he can go off to school. What do I tell him about all this without him thinking he isnt as good as the other kids? Dyan

Fred, Thank you for serving and helping this country to stay free. I served in the Navy during Desert Storm. I wish I could have stayed in further but had too many health problems and now there is no way I can go back in because my son needs me to be here for him and help him continue to recover from his stroke. My daughters school is doing a program for all us vets and my son will be singing as well!!!!! Dyan

Well yesterday when I picked Cayden up from school his teacher told me to put big boy undies on Cayden because he wanted to be like the other kids. Today I tried but he refused to wear them but said that he would stay dry. I told the teacher that if he was dry all day and used the toilet that I would get him a "surprise". When I went to read to his class they told me he was dry all day and used the toilet. Thats the good news the bad news is that it only lasted at school. His daddy was in the bathroom so he went in his diaper. Thank God we had pullups on him!!!!!! I would have had a big mess too clean up!!!!!! One small step forward and one big step back......try again tomorrow hopefully he will keep going like he is......Milestone almost reached!!!! Dyan

Thank you so much for the info. Maria. That will help me see him as that than him having his second stroke. I knew when he got tired his right foot dragged and he had trouble climbing but the other day he just left that right hand hanging down and wouldnt even pick it up. That is what scared me the most so at least with this info I know that it is probably him not wanting to take the energy to use it......being his normal stubborn self........lol Dyan

We had us a scare the other day. I noticed Cayden wasnt using his right hand or leg again.......I thought he had his second stroke that the doctors warned us about. I called his chiropractor first and took him in. She adjusted him and he took a nap. He got up using that side of his body. His chiropractor said the last adjustment didnt stick and that his nerves were pinched again. He couldnt feel his left side again so of course ya cant use what ya cant feel!!!! I also noticed yesterday he was having trouble using his right side but once he woke up from his nap he was using it again. Time to see his neurologist again to see why when he gets tired his right side goes limp. If this happens to any of you please let me know what causes it and what ya do to help the symptoms. I sure hope he outgrows this. Dyan

Fred, It sure is!!!! For halloween I printed out and passed out info. on pediatric stroke to let people know that tho they think it cant happen to me it sure can. Heck It happened to me!!!!! Cayden is proof that no matter what ya do in life or how careful you are in life bad things sometimes happens to good people. I kept playing the "what if " game after we were told Cayden stroked out in my womb. I kept blaming myself for his life but I know that its not and that it could happen to others no matter how good a person you are or no matter how good you take care of yourself and the person God gave you to care for. Dyan

Asha, All he told me was that I scared him and he didnt scare me that he wanted to get hit by the car!!!! I was so scared that I yelled at him and that set him off even more. I cant wait until the terrible twos end because I really dont know how much more my heart or my hair will last.....lol. The terrible twos are hard when the child is two but dang its rougher when the child is actually four. He knows so much more words and can use those words against you!!!!! Dyan

Leah, Im sorry to hear about you beloved Jerry. My prayers are with you and your family in this time of need. I know he is with you now and throughout your recovery. I also know that he will be celebrating all of your accomplishments and the milestones you reach in your recovery. Dyan

Ok everybody there are some new pics of Cayden on here for yall to see!!!! This was the first halloween he is able to eat all his candy and he met a new friend trick or treating....I thought he would be afraid of some of the trick or treaters but he surprised me. He told me "those are all fake mom they are masks" The last time we took him trick or treating he wouldnt look at anyone because he was terrified of them!!!!! I wish I had my camara to take pics of his face when he was looking at all the trick or treaters. Oh then he decided because he wasnt scared he would scare me and he decided to run in front of a car!!!! I thought I was going to have a heart attack!!!!! He was very lucky I saw what he was about to do and pulled him to safety and the lady slammed on her breaks!!!!! I bet she needed to go home and change her pants because I could tell she was terrified too!!!!! Dyan

Asha, I have some pics in my gallery of Cayden and tomorrow I will post some of him in his halloween costume. We do let him be as independent as he wants.....well except with sharp knives and scissors.....lol The way he feels about us at times Im afraid he will show us how much he gets mad at us for making him do for himself.....lol Oh and we gotta let him fend for himself because the last time I tried teaching him something I taught him how to crawl wrong.........lol

Thank you Debbie, I will see what I can do I dont know if he will sit still long enough to take pics but I might be able to do it before he goes off to school. He will be wearing his costume to school for his party. I have a few pics of him now on my profile and will try to get more on there. Dyan

Fred, yes it is hard to get up and know that what you did before the stroke is harder to do now but you can do it!!!! My son doesnt know any other way of life but life after stroke. Here is a game he likes to play with us....its called the "you are a liar" game. Whatever we say he cant do he does.....yes sometimes it takes him a few months or days to accomplish it and no its not always when a "normal" child would have accomplished it but he does it. And each milestone he reaches we party until the next milestone he hits. I know all who have had a stroke later in life look back on what they could do before the stroke maybe if you think about the stroke as a rebirth and each new feat you have to meet as a milestone and party or celebrate each milestone you reach. I know I dont know what it is like personnally but I watch my son suffer but this is all we know anymore. Keep recovering Fred and I will celebrate with you on all your milestones!!!! Dyan

Oh he is!!!! We got him a pirate costume and he had to put that on and it even has an eye patch!!!!! He has been stripping for anyone who will pay attention!!!!!! Next will be his school.....He has to prove that he can do it!!!!! And right on time!!!! Dyan