That was kind of my last two weeks.
I continue my walking and I'm really battling fatigue. Fatigue and rain. I've discovered if I walk when it's chilly (like 45 degrees or below), I lose feeling in my hands and feet for awhile, so I've stopped doing that because I don't like that feeling. That basically means I haven't gone out and walked as often as I planned because we have yet to have summer in northern Wisconsin. It's raining and cold today, too and I'm basically over it. I hate living here.
I did get some information about a Weight Loss Exercise Class led by the physical therapists I saw last year at the hospital system I'm in. I recently had a doctor tell me I may be a candidate for a weight loss surgery and I just don't think I can do it. It would be great but the diet to follow before and after? I can't, you guys. I would be starving myself. I want to eat what I want. I know my portions and what I eat isn't my issue right now, it's my lack of movement, so I think I'm going to join this class and see what happens. It meets twice a week, it's $5 a class and it's an hour each time. I feel like if I have someone showing me what to do I will be much more successful. PLUS! It's an hour out of the house so I'm always up for that.
Well it's been a few months and we came back to check it.
It turns out that she still has fluid in both ears (like WAY down there) and she has a 30% loss of hearing in both ears, which puts her in the mild hearing loss category. Mostly this means a lot of her speech issues is an apraxia and hearing loss combo and that explains a lot of her deficits. Most letter sounds and combinations, she can't hear. If you go outside and hear a waterfall or tree leaves rustling? She can't hear that. When I whisper to her? She can't hear that. When we talk quietly during bedtime story? She likely can't hear it.
It explains SO MUCH.
It also really sucks and is heartbreaking.
The plan right now is for her to have surgery in mid-July and have her ears completely drained, tubes put in, and her adenoids removed. Right now it's pretty clear she doesn't breathe like you and I do, and that might be why she's not able to keep her tongue in her mouth when she speaks. The tongue muscle isn't doing it's job so while we're doing exercises for that, we need her to breathe normally for it to really work. So that's why adenoids are coming out.
We'll be holding our breath because after her surgery we'll know (hopefully pretty quickly) what kind of hearing loss she has. It's either due to the fluid/lack of air flow in her ears, it could be because the parts of her ears aren't functioning properly, a mix of those two, OR it could be a brain thing. Meaning she can hear it, but her brain doesn't know what to do with the sound, if that makes sense. It's kind of a toss up. But I feel like she fully understands what we're saying, and I feel like she knows what she wants to say but it's abundantly clear she doesn't know how. The thought is there but she doesn't have the ability to form the words.
I'm just bummed at the timing of this. She'll have her surgery mid-July and our current speech pathologist is only with us until July 31, then she becomes part of the school district's speech team. Which is great, I'm sure they are great, but Lucy has formed an attachment to our current guy and I feel like he has a good handle on where Lucy's deficits are and where to go. We'll be really bummed to not be in his hands anymore.
So that's the scoop. I'm really nervous about it. I know the surgery is like 10 minutes and not an issue at all. My issue is a fear of anesthesia and it's all me. In my head I know it's routine and fine but I also know that my procedure was routine and went very wrong quickly and it's not anything near the same time but trying to not let her see my fear is tricky. So I'm certain I'm going to cry the entire time. No question. HA! But let's hope her hearing loss is something we can correct and it won't slow her down.
