Andrew's having surgery...

We've been updating our family blog and thought we should also post here since a lot of you follow Andrew's blog rather than our family blog. As we posted on our family blog a few weeks ago, we mentioned Andrew's Surgery coming up. I am providing a link to the description of the surgery Andrew will be having.  CLICK HERE
It explains the procedure but Andrew will be having this surgery at St. Louis Children's Hospital. The same hospital where he had his Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR). His neurosurgeon there is who referred us to the Orthopedic doctor who will be doing this surgery too.
Andrew will be having a Selective Percutaneous Myofascial Lengthening, (SPML). The reason for this is that even though he had SDR when he was 3, Andrew still continues to have tight tendons in his legs. Mostly the left. He walks on his toes and tends to fall a lot more lately as well as using a crouched gait because his tendons are so tight. We've had him wearing AFO braces on his legs and have increased his PT and it does not seem to be helping at this time. Even though the spasticity was eliminated with the SDR, children with Cerebral Palsy still have tightness which only stretching and surgery can help. It was inevitable that he would need this lengthening surgery but since Andrew recovered and did so well after his SDR that we were hopeful to one of the few who's child would not need the lengthening surgery.
We will be leaving next Tuesday for St. Louis and hope to have an easy flight without delays or problems. He will be seeing Dr. Park the next day after we arrive for a follow-up Neurosurgery visit as well as Physical Therapy, assessments, xrays and whatever other tests he'll need pre-op. We then meet with Dr. Dobbs for his Orthopedic Surgery appointment. They will explain the procedure in detail and let us know what to expect during and after surgery. Andrew's surgery is scheduled for the following day on the 30th. He'll be staying in the hospital and we hope all goes well and we should be able to leave by Friday.
Our anxiety levels are rising as the date is near, but Andrew is hopeful that this will give him a chance at a better life. One where he won't have to use the leg braces anymore. One where he won't have as much PT. He really wants to play basketball and wants to try wrestling, so he's hoping this will give him that chance. As parents we always want the best for our children and right now, we feel like this is the best we can do for now. We can at least try to provide him with the chance to be like the other 7 year old boys.
We'll keep you all updated on his progress. We'll also be getting ready to post before and after video and pictures which will also be on our Familiy blog too. We'll post links and updates as soon as we have anything.
Thank you all for your support.

Hippotherapy...

So, for all who's interested, And I assume you are or you would not be here, Andrew's Hippotherapy is going great. He still loves going and unfortunately, the colder weather is upon us. It's harder to get out there for him to ride, but thankfully, every session has had nice weather except one. 2 weeks ago, it actually snowed! But earlier in the day it was pouring rain and very cold, so we skipped the session. So this is his last 2 sessions for this season. We are planning to take a break for the winter and see if he would like to take swimming lessons. We will get him back on the horse come spring time. We wished that his Hippotherapy could continue through the winter but there is no indoor riding ring and the facility does not have the capability of clearing the trails for safe riding in the winter. We will still go and visit his friends, Lilly, Grace, Sheba and Dell to keep that friendship alive even though he is not riding. There is a winter program available but we feel that forcing him to go during those cold winter months, may deter him from wanting to go and ride come spring. So, it's best to find something else for the winter.
Andrew had his halloween parade at school last Friday, and it was adorable. He was a skeleten this year and fit the costume perfectly. The way he hangs his arms and his posture, made the costume look even more real! Halloween night was a fun filled night. This is the first year that Andrew has been able to go up the steps of each home to ring the doorbell without any assistance. A feat that comes naturally to the average child his age. But to see him carrying his treat bag, with his mask on and climb those steps without any railings, was something that brought tears to our eyes! Something that shows how much progress he has made in the last year. A year ago, we would have to hold his hand and his bag so the could make it up and down those steps. But this year he did it all by himself, without falling... except the one time that there were some tricky short steps in the middle of the neighbors walkway... still have no idea why they built it that way, even as an adult, we fall on them! lol.
Now that elections are over, Andrew has learned a bit about politics! He was sad that he could not vote. He knows what the president and vice president's jobs are. He knew that he wanted to vote for "the brown guy", "The Rock O'Bama" as he calls him! lol. When asked who the other candidate is, he says "oh that's just John Mccain, he's old". Nobody told him to say it, he has his own opinions! He's watched a few debates and has soaked it all in. He really wanted to go vote and said that the president is the boss and if he does not vote, the president will be angry with him! lol. So we've had to explain to him that one day he will have the right to vote and that if he tries really hard, he may even be able to be the president. That made him even more excited and he said to me last night "Mommy, I want to be president so I can be the boss of everybody, then no one can tell me what to do"! So you never know. One day Andrew could be president. We've always said that with his ability to bargain, boss and be so convincing, that he will either be a lawyer or a politician... I'm not sure which is worse!
Soon we'll be posting some photos and videos from this fall and we're getting ready for Christmas already!

Short Wet Summer....

So this summer is almost over already! It seems like it took forever to get here, and now it is almost gone. If you've been following our other family blog, you will see what we mean. But with August here, it means that we only have about another 4 weeks of warm weather before it starts to dip into the 40s.

Andrew is doing well. He started the summer session with a new physical therapist and speech until he starts kindergarten! Which, by the way is right around the corner! I think we are much more scared than he is. It's just so hard to believe that he will be going to a big school this year. I know we will cry and I don't want to in front of him. He's been reading "the Kissing Hand" which is a book about a mother and baby raccoon that the mother kisses the baby racoons hand and tells him that whenever he wants a kiss to just put his hand to his face and there will by mommy kisses. Andrews been asking all kinds of questions about kindergarten and seems a little nervous but yet excited. We will be out shopping soon to get him all of his supplies.

Andrew will be starting Therapeutic Horseback Riding Therapy soon. We are waiting for all of the paperwork to go through from his doctors etc to get clearance. We are VERY excited for this to happen. We've been researching the benefits for quite some time, at least 2 years, and now the chance for Andrew to have this type of therapy is finally going to happen!! It is a 6 week program, but we hope to try and continue for longer. We're praying that it is something that Andrew will enjoy. We know he loves horses and all animals, including reptiles... But we're sure that he will love the horses. Now, wheather riding is something he will enjoy, is another story. If Andrew gets any idea that it is "therapy" he will probably resist. We're told that it can be very tiring for him, so hopefully that will not deter him. But, if we can get away with him riding a horse and loving it and at the same time getting great therapeutic results from it, We BOTH win! So he should start mid August if everything goes to plan.

Be sure to check Matthew's blog and our family blog... links are to the side if you've forgotten them.

This will be a long post....

It's been so long since we've updated Andrew's blog. It's been a LONG winter and we're finally able to see the brown grass that's been underneath all that snow. You still see snow piles everywhere, but it is really starting to feel like spring... except when the forcast for this weekend calls for snow showers!!

So we had Andrew's Kindergarten prescreening and they were impressed by Andrew's intelect and had no concerns at all with him starting Kindergarten in the fall.

We just had his CPSE (Childhood Preschool Special Education) meeting on Monday and it went VERY well. He will still receive all of his services over the summe excluding Sp. Ed and 1:1 aide. we were surprised that they planned to do his CSE meeting for public school at the same time and were totally unprepared but luckily it went very well and we all agreed without any dispute about what services we were requesting for the fall. We are so glad that he will be able to go to the school that we want him to and we are so glad that they gave him all the services he needs without any issues!

He also had an eye exam since his Speech Therapist has observed some minor vision problems with his functional vision. We've also noticed his eyes going all different directions too but when we asked the ped. he told us it was nothing to worry about and he'd outgrow it. Unfortunately he did not out grow it and will be wearing glasses now! He looks so handsome in them and he enjoys wearing them. Yesterday he wore them to school all day without any problems. He likes to take them off when he eats because they get steamed up and he is afraid that he will break them. We try to explain that they are hard to break but just be careful with them is all.

We also wanted to update everyone about the March for Babies that will be taking place April 27. Anyone who would like to donate and sponsor our team, click on the link on the right of the top of the page. We are not even close to our goal this year and need to keep moving so that Andrew can get his Plaque this year! He will be sad if he doesn't. Weve gotten one every year since we started.

Thanks for checking out his blog and we invite you to take a look at our www.youtube.com/thefavilles we've uploaded some videos for you all to enjoy!

March for Babies Video

new blog!!

Just a quick post to tell you that our family blog is up and running. Now Andrew & Matthew's blogs will be specific to their growth and development and our daily posts will now be on our daily family blog. the link is http://thefavilles.blogspot.com

"look at all the presents"

"Oh My God... It's Spiderman"

Christmas Day!!!

WOWW!!! What a great morning... The boys slept until 7:30! It's a Christmas MIRACLE! The only reason Andrew got up was because Matthew was up in our room with a fever. He was just miserable. I got up to get him some tylenol and as he sat in the chair in the kitchen he was falling asleep... he obviously did not feel well at all.

Sean woke up Andrew and whispered to him that Santa had came and he hopped out of bed and flew into the living room... His eyes were HUGE. He just could not believe how many present Santa had brought. There is a video of him on the Picasa Web Album showing his commentary on the presents... very cute, check it out. It's labeled “that's a lot of presents!”

Matthew was not feeling well so he was not as excited.. poor little guy. But Andrew was extremely excited! He was very patient about waiting until we got our coffee before tearing into his gifts. After opening about 20 packages with just clothes, it was obvious that he was getting disappointed. Then came the good stuff. He got lots of spiderman and cars toys. But he was getting anxious that he would not get his most wished for gift... then we came to the end of the presents. It was the "best for last" gift. You HAVE to check out the video of his reaction.... it was a Black Spiderman costume. He literally SCREAMED he was so excited. It was the best reaction that I have EVER seen! So that was his Favortie gift.
The boys also loved that we got them the Leapster Max with gift certificates that their Aunt Wendy & Uncle Jeff sent. That was a huge hit too. We weren't sure if Andrew would "get" the concept of the games or if he could navigate the controls, but it's clear that his fine motor and cognitive skills have improved so much that it seemed much easier for him to play. We also got the "cars" game for it. We're so glad that it is something that he is interested in. Something that can grow with him as he learns more. He'll be able to use it until 5th grade because there are games all the way up to that age.

The rest of the day consisted of trying to clean up, organize and put together all of the toys. In all, it was a GREAT Christmas, even for us... I (or WE, I should say) got a new laptop, so now hopefully it will be easier to update the blogs more often. Sean got his new Golf Bag, which he needed so badly. And we both got a variety of little gifts and the Pottery Barn "Daily System" for our much needed organization.

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas and have a Happy new Year. And be sure to check out Matthew's blog to see his Christmas experience. http://roarslikealion.blogspot.com
Here is a direct link to the Picasa web album http://picasaweb.google.com/thefavilles/Christmas2007

PS... We will be starting the "Faville Family Blog" soon to post our Family blog. This will be more "daily" than Andrew & Matthew's blogs. We will be using the boys blogs for more personal posts for them. The family blog will be more of a daily journal. We'll keep you posted on the progress.

Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve was spent finishing up last minute wrapping and trying to get the boys to take a nap... that didn't go so well. They were just so excited about Christmas. We went to "Nana & Grandpa's" house for dinner of a special carrot, raising & celery stick salad, Gazpacho soup, King Crab legs, twice baked potato and Andrew's favorite.... Filet Mignon. The boys finished eating and we opened gifts. Andrew & Matthew go a nice big indoor bounce castle that will be perfect in helping to get Andrew jumping and help build his muscles. when he opened it he thought it was a pool! lol. They also got a variety of cool toys and clothes.

Then we came home to meet up with his Uncle Jay, Aunt Liz, Grandma & Pop Pop, and their cousins Kamden & Killyan. It was such a great night. The boys were so tired by the end of present openings. They got LOTs of fun things and had so much fun with the family playing with some of their toys. Uncle Jay & Aunt Liz got Andrew a Star Wars Light Saber which Andrew enjoys weilding around. This is great for his upper body strength and flexibility. Grandma & Pop pop got him lots of fun toys and some clothes.

After opening gifts, Andrew wanted to go to bed so he wanted to place the cookies and milk out for Santa and remembered that Santa told them that they had to pick up their toys and clothes so he would not trip over them... Andrew remembered this and tried to clean up his room before getting so tired that he just HAD to go to bed.

Wow, What a wonderful Christmas...

We had an Awesome Christmas!!! It was a bit stressful leading up to Christmas, but the end result was worth all the work. We had two HUGE snowstorms the days leading into christmas which made it difficult for all the last minute shopping. The first storm dropped about a foot of snow. The second storm total was about 18 inches!! The boys loved making snow angels, climbing on the snow mountains and building snowmen and snow forts. There was too much snow to even go snow sledding! They got new shovels to help shovel the snow and enjoyed every minute of it!

You will notice a new slideshow to the right of the page showcasing a new web photo album that we've created with for you to view. You can click on the photos to enlarge them which will bring you to a new window where you can toggle through the photos using the arrows at the top of that page. You can order prints and gifts from the website also. If you have any trouble with it, let us know.

Andrew was SOOO into Christmas this year and the magic of Santa! The boys even got letters from Santa that were personalized to them. They got some Magic Reindeer food for them to sprinkle in the front yard so that Santa's reindeer would see it and it would make them come to our house in a flash! They were VERY into this and had a great time distributing the "food" in the front yard. The sparkles in the food shined bright in the snow and sun.

So busy....

So things with the holidays have been so hectic!! We had a wonderful thanksgiving and are anxious for Christmas to arrive. Andrew is excited for christmas and keeps asking when Santa will be here. It is going to be a great christmas this year since he is so involved with the coming of it. He's been helping to wrap presents and sharpen his fine motor skills using scissors and tape and using his new folding skills to wrap. He's also been doing a GREAT job with his writing skills lately. We owe his teachers and therapists a huge amount of praise for the work they have done with Andrew this year. We were a little reluctant at accepting a new OT and SEIT teacher this year and him starting in a new preschool class this year, but it has proved to be a good change for all of us. His teacher, Pam & Stacy are diligent at following through with his therapy and are encouraging him more and more to do a good job at his work. Andrew is really enjoying his writing exercises now that he knows he can do it. He's able to write his whole name with minimal assistance. Even though we are concerned about his writing habits, we are told that he should outgrow his patterns. He tends to write his letters from bottom to top and right to left rather than top to bottom and left to right. It kinda makes me wonder if he will decide to be left handed. Most of the time he uses his right hand mostly to write, but sometimes tends to eat with his left and the way he starts of his walking makes me think he is left handed, but we wonder if it is because of his weakness in certain muscles.
We are also so grateful for Michelle, his new OT, for the new perspective she has on Andrew's treatment therapy sessions. Although we dearly miss Marybeth and so does Andrew (Talks about her all the time), we are happy to see that Andrew has accepted Michelle and listens to her well. She has some new exercise that she uses on Andrew and it is a fresh start this year. I think he was due for a change as he was getting too lax with Marybeth and had some meltdowns with her... knowing her too well I think and trying to manipulate her too much. Andrew tends to want to call the shots. We miss Marybeth and enjoy hearing from her now and then. She is genuinely interested in the progress of her previous cases.
We are also very happy with Andrew's new SEIT who is a Special Education Itinerant Teacher who comes to Andrew's class a few times a week to help increase his congnitive skills and learning skills. Andrew has made major improvements this year and being able to curb his frustrations and try a little harder to succeed. He's now able to complete more tasks in one sitting without having to be prompted constantly.
He is also still working with an aide that has been a tremendous help with keeping him on track with dressing and encouraging him to be more independent. We've noticed a huge improvement in his listening skills and his ability to be more independent with helping himself rather than relying on an adult to do things for him. Now that he is able to put his shoes on & off by himself, put on his own coat and other clothes, zip them himself etc, it makes things easier than you will ever know. He now enjoys choosing his own clothes to wear in the morning AND likes to choose ours too! lol.

So, time is running out and I've got to run, but I'll try to update again before christmas. Christmas cards will be out as soon as our photos come back. Be on the lookout... Also, be sure to check out Matthew's website too! http://roarslikealion.blogspot.com

Halloween Party

Andrew & Matthew at Karate

New Blog....

So if you look to the right you will see the link to Matthew's Website. We have set it up so that you can now see what Matthew's been up to. Stay tuned for our "Family Site" for news and info on what we are ALL up to these days. Andrew's site will become strictly for Health Info and progress. If you'd like to read our thoughts and what we've been up to, we will try to post on the "family Site" more regularly on the "Life of the Favilles"... I'm sure it will be quite boring, but some may get a kick out of it. It will include little sayings that the kids make, little things they do and all of the other things that we'd like to blog on. It's too hard to keep a book at home with all this stuff and what better way for all of you to keep in touch with us at your own leisure without having to get an email.

Thank you all for your interest. See you there!

By The Way...

If you missed some posts, you can always scroll down to the bottom and click on "Older Posts" or look on right side bar to see the archived posts.

Andrew & Matthew Take Karate....

So, taking Dr. Park's advice, we decided to take Andrew to his first Karate class. We agreed that Matthew could benefit from a martial arts class also to help with his attention skills and for discipline.

The class is for toddlers starting out in the art of Karate and as they increase their ablities, they move to a different class. It is a half hour class and the boys ABSOLUTELY LOVED it!!

Andrew took to the class like it was his job. He followed along with the instructions pretty well, only lagging behind because he could not do the moves as quickly as the other children. There was even a classmate of Andrew's in the class, Catherine, so that was a bit of motivation for him also. They set up an obstacle course that they chidlren had to go through and Andrew did very well.

The best thing is that he wants to go again next week... so we will see how he does in the next few weeks before we enroll him full time on a weekly basis. The class is pretty expensive, so we want to make sure that it is something that he really wants to do. We want him to WANT to do this so that it will be therapy for him that he does not realize that he is doing actual "therapy". After he is enrolled, he will get his own Gie (sp?) (or robe with a belt) to wear that has a cute little dragon on the back. The Dojo is the only one in the area and the Masters are very highly regarded in the community for teaching children respect, self confidence, discipline and highering their education and at the same time will help to motivate and strenghten our chidlren without the use of encouraging violence. It is such a misconception that karate or other martial arts will encourge fighting etc, but it is actually the opposite. These places, if you go to the right one, will only help to better our children all around. It is a fact that children who participate in the martial arts are more focused and do better in school. So it is another advantage and reason for us to enrool the boys.

Matthew was a little too young for the class right now so we may wait until next year to enroll him, but Andrew seemed to really take to it. We may just get him swimming or skating lessons at this time to help him blow off some energy at the end of the week.

So I am in the process of uploading some photos and videos and will have it for you all to view, hopefully by tonight.

I have to leave to bring Matthew to Vermont to see an ENT to check to see if he needs his tonsils and adenoids out due to his severe snoring and breathing problems (stuffiness, runny nose and heavy breathing)
We'll update on that, hopefully I can start up Matthews blog soon too.

Sorry so long...

Sorry this update is so late....
As many of you know, we did finally make it home. Due to the weather we were unable to fulfill our middle leg of our flights on Angel Flight home on Tuesday. The East coast was expecting some pretty severe storms and the pilots were uneasy about the safety of flying through those storms. So in the end we booked our flight home and we ended up having to rent a car to get the rest of the way home. All went very smoothly and Andrew, again, LOVED the experience of flying and going to the BIG airport on the big planes. He had fun playing with the pillows provided on the plane and was making everyone laugh.

We are just amazed at the coordination of these Angel flights and for them to give us the opportunity to take Andrew to a much needed appointment. These people deserve much recognition and we Thank Everyone who was involved!!

Andrew's Angel Flight Slideshow

Album of Angel Flight to St. Louis

Photobucket Album