These past few weeks I haven't stopped, it's been go go go around here!

We had Ian's cousin's wedding 2 weekends ago, Allison's 30th last weekend, a 40th this weekend, plans with friends the following weekend, then Easter and Ian's Mum's bday the weekend after that, then we move house the weekend after that. Add in the physio, OT and Botox Clinics, the extra shifts at work, a quick trip to Terrigal, Isla starting a new Kindy - argh! We should manage some time to ourselves somewhere around April!

Isla has been wonderful with all the goings-on, even had her first sleep over ever at Nana's place (my Mum's) the night we went to the wedding. Much harder for me than it was for her, even though I've spent nights away from her she's always been with Ian, so it was a big step for us to have her sleeping away from the two of us. From all reports the two had a great time, and Mum is still exhausted!

We spoke to Isla's OT, Mel, last week who said that she expected Isla to come out of the assessment a few months behind, but, amazingly, is in the normal range. I am so excited, it's probably the first time Isla's had an assessment and the word "normal" has been used!

Last night (wednesday) Ian, Isla and I went to Terrigal to catch up with Bron, Andrew and Cooper while they were in town for Coops' ABR. I can't get over how improved Coops is now, his posture, his vocabulary, his stability, it's nothing short of amazing! And, he's crawling around, such a beautiful sight! Bron looked beautiful, sporting a gorgeous little bump *wub* Here's a pic of Gorgeous Cooper!


Allison's 80's inspired 30th was a crack up, I have a tonne of pics, none of me, I really should have got one with Allison in her feral pink legwarmers...there may be one floating around somewhere.

Sunday, March 18, 2007


It's been a while since I updated...


We've had a few OT sessions, and Isla is doing really well. Mel seems pleased - I guess, it's hard to tell. Isla's mirroring is becoming less noticeable, and her tremors are happening less and less :)


Speech Pathology is going really well, all of our work has really paid off. Isla now has a range of verbs equivalent to an average 3 year old! Now we need to work on concepts, like asking her what people are doing in stories. Should be fun. SP is the only one of Isla's therapies that I really enjoy. We've been told by Kate that we really don't need to see her anymore, but she asked whether I wanted to her to check up on her in a few months time, so I said yes. We see her in May.


Isla can now walk about 4 metres on her own, and is trying to run! She's still a little unsteady, and falls when she's not concentrating but such an improvement. We have the Botox Clinic on Wednesday so we'll see where we go from there.


Isla still has that "thing" on her eye. We've seen 4 GP's and one Opthamologist about it. If it's still there in another 3 weeks we have to go back to the Opthamologist and have her scheduled to have it surgically removed under GA at Campbelltown Hospital. I'm pretty certain it will still be there, she's had it for 5, almost 6 weeks already...

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

So we visited a new GP on Saturday, as we still haven't heard from the Neuro regarding the MRI results. The GP confirmed that it does definitely sound like blank seizures, and has given us a non-specific referral to Westmead Children's Hospital for whatever Neuro can see us the fastest so Isla can have an EEG which will measure the volts/electrical activity within her brain (or something equally as interesting) Sounds like lots of fun!


Botox Clinic has changed to the 21st of March now, although Michael isn't sure whether they'll go ahead with the injections or wait and see. She's progressing really well with the help of the AFO's so I think they may be reluctant to change anything at the moment. I'm very pleased with this attitude, the less invasive the better I say!


We had OT today, and again another comment about how "Michael wouldn't like to see you sitting like that Isla" Argh! It's either W sit or lay on the floor...take your pick! Isla was an angel for Mel today though - we did lots of activities and Mel was blown away by how well she's speaking.


I was under the impression that we were seeing the Speechie today too, but that's not for another 2 weeks. Kate will be stoked! I sat down the other night (thinking we had Speech Pathology as well as OT) and wrote out a list of all the words & phrases Isla can say = we're up to 247 :D BUT since then (Sunday) I've remembered a whole lot more that she can say so I'd estimate we're closer to 260+ :D :D I would like Kate to continually review Isla though. I'm not sure whether her vocabulary is on track/behind/advanced. I do know though, that her pronunciation is a lot better than a lot of children of similar age or slightly older which is wonderful.


We're reading a lot of stories at the moment, we read the Tale of Jemima Puddleduck, which was an Easter gift from last year from gorgeous Aunty Jess. We also read some Donald Duck book in the waiting room at the Paediatric Allied Health Unit...It's really making a difference with her, she's identifying so many different things now! I hope I'm never ever too busy to sit down and read to my little girl.


2 years old is a gorgeous age, Isla is such a wonderful companion, so happy, so free spirited - but becoming more headstrong (must be Ian's genes coming through! LOL) No's are becoming more adamant, but I think she's just testing the waters a little...time will tell...


Much love to everyone!


A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Master Coops! Hope you had a wonderful day!

Wednesday, January 17, 2007


The last three days have been wonderful :)


Isla is progressing SO well, we're all thrilled with how she's doing developmentally.


So many words and sentences now, Dorothy, Kath, Hannah, Michael, Claire are the new favourite words! Isla has gone drawing crazy, and constantly asks for her "papey & draw" for paper & crayons! Too cute!


Isla managed to take 2 unaided steps on Monday and Tuesday night - it was absolutely amazing! Her standing is improving too, she's a lot more balanced than ever, I think it's partly the new shoes - they give her great stability and fit the orthotics perfectly! We're going to look for a basketball hoop for Isla, seems she only wants to stand/walk if there's a ball involved!


Still seeing Michael, our physio, he's very happy with her progress, he's hoping to have her on the treadmill next week! Would have been last week but it wasn't working. We're still going to OT too, but Isla has taken a disliking to Mel and does nothing but cry until she leaves the room - then cracks up! Not sure how much benefit it will be in all honesty. Mel said that it's really for her schooling days so that she has the co-ordination to do up buttons and use scissors etc - so I guess it is important to have that mirroring under control.


Botox Clinic is the 28th of March - very nervous leading up to this, I know she'll benefit a great deal from the injections, it's just having them done that's the hard part, but still there's lots of little ones much worse off than our little poppet, I guess you still have to count your blessings - right?


Nothing much else is happening around here at the moment. Ian is giving up smoking, so he's been going to bed around 8pm! The house is very quiet when the two of them are in dreamland!

Tuesday, December 05, 2006


We had our 2nd appointment with the Speechie (Kate) and the OT (Mel).


It went really well, Isla did really well, even though she was a bit cranky at first thanks to sleeping in!


Kate is really pleased with how Isla is doing, and said that her tongue tie isn't an issue for her! It was something that I'd always been concerned about, but she assured me that because Isla is able to make "T" sounds it won't be an issue for her. Kate gave us a list of action verbs for us to encourage Isla to use. Kate doesn't think Isla needs any more Speechie appointments, but will meet up with us again in February to see how she's progressing. :D


OT, well, it's all very confusing on that front. Mel has noticed that Isla has 'tremors' in her hands when she's concentrating, and said in order to get rid of them, we need to encourage her to crawl :S Isla's been crawling for 13 months so I'm a bit baffled as to why we need to push her to do it now, but I will discuss it with Michael. Seems like we'd be going backwards making her crawl now that she's started walking with her trolley

Multidisciplinary screening clinic assessment report - 31.08.06


Background: Medical History: Isla was born via an elective caesarean for placenta praevia at 35 weeks gestation. Her Apgar scores were 9(1) and 9(5) and her birth-weight was 2585g. Her mother experienced multiple (12 in total) haemorrhages during her pregnancy, with the onset being at 22 weeks. There were no complications during the delivery.


Isla began sitting (“w” sitting) at 11 months and crawling at 12 months. Her paediatrician is Dr F. She has been seeing Dr L, rehab specialist for Botox and Dr A, neurologist.


She has been diagnosed with spastic diplegia. She is an only child.


ASSESSMENT Isla’s was assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development 3rd Ed. This test looks at different areas of development, and gives a picture of the child’s skills at one point in time, providing information to guide intervention. Repeat assessment at a later age gives further information about the rate of development.


1. Cognitive skills (Occupational therapy) The cognitive scale looks at how your child think, reacts and learns about the world around him/her. Tasks measure interest in new things, attention to familiar and unfamiliar objects and play with toys, problem solving, puzzle skills, pretend play and pre-academic skills.


Isla performed at a 16-18 month level which was on the 25th percentile for her corrected age, and within the normal range. Isla was able to place pegs in a pegboard, blocks in a cup, and place a single puzzle piece. She enjoyed listening to a story , and demonstrated relational play on herself. She had some difficulty with finding hidden toys, and was not able to complete puzzles.


2. Speech and language skills (speech Pathology) The language scale has two parts. Receptive Communication looks at how well your child recognises sounds and how much your child understands spoken words and directions.


Expressive Communication looks at how well your child communicates using sounds, gestures or words. Overall Isla displayed skills on the 8th percentile representing average development. Today Isla presented as a bubbly little girl, who was very communicative with the therapists. She readily performed for social attention and had engaging interaction skills.


Receptive Communication (Understanding): Isla performed at a 10-12 month level. Today Isla showed that she could understand the meaning of “no!” and respond to simple social requests (eg “blow a kiss”). Isla did not identify any of tour toys (eg ‘ball…cup…doll”) , but she did identify familiar people/things (eg “where’s your Mum?”). Isla is not yet able to identify pictures in books when named by an adult, although at home Isla is beginning to find familiar pictures (eg “cat”) in her favourite book.


Expressive communication (talking): Isla performed at a 16-18 month level. Today Isla used single-word approximations (eg “tuh-dah”), babbled in play (eg “ba-ba” and readily imitated babble and words. Isla said 3 words for us today (ie “Mum”, “ta”) and at home she has a reported vocabulary of approximately 15 words. She shakes her head and says ‘no!” to protest. Isla combines gesture and words to communicate her needs (eg puts hands upwards and says “Mum” to be picked up). Isla did not name any of our toys/pictures today. She was unable to answer “yes/no” questions correctly.


Feeding: Isla eats a variety of textured family foods and can drink from a sipper cup/pop top. She is also learning (open) cup drinking, which is a fantastic skill for building tongue-tip strength. Today Isla was observed to drool saliva more form the right side of her lips, because she is teething.


3. Motor (Occupational therapy & Physiotherapy) The motor scale has two parts. The fine motor part looks at how well your child can use his/her hands and fingers to make things happen. Tasks include reaching, grasping, block building and drawing. The gross motor part looks at how well your child can move his/her body. Skills include rolling, sitting walking, climbing, balance and ball skills.


Overall Isla displays skills on the 5th percentile representing low average development. This is a combination score reflecting average fine motor development, and delayed gross motor development.


Fine Motor (Occupational therapy) 17-19 month level. Isla demonstrated a mild increase in tone in her upper limbs, presenting as a stiff quality, and clumsiness rather than abnormal patterns of movement. Currently she is managing age appropriate activities, but may have difficulty as the requirements for precise control increase. Isla is able to hold a pencil in her palm, and scribble spontaneously, she can copy a stroke but not with direction. Isla is able to isolate her index fingers to point, and use a pincer to place pellets into a container, and post coins into a money box. She does not have the motor control to stack blocks on top of each other.


Gross Motor (Physiotherapy): Isla is a charming little girl who is using crawling as her main form of mobility. She crawls with an increased lumbar lordosis and with her legs abducted and externally rotated. When she sits she tends to “w” sit and is unable to sit with her legs out in long sitting or with her legs crossed . She occasionally walks up on her knees. Isla can pull herself up to stand but not yet through ½ kneeling. She was previously up on her toes when she stood or cruised but it was difficult to assess today as Isla was in bilateral short leg casts. She did however, display a tendency to incline forwards in an attempt to stand up on her toes. She has two more weeks of serial casting at PAHU and then is scheduled for a review with Dr Lowe (paediatric rehab specialist) in Botox clinic. She has increased extensor tone with the lower limbs having more tone than the upper limbs and her right side is slightly more then the left. Her deep tendon reflexes are brisk. She is currently receiving Physiotherapy with Michael in Campbelltown. Isla would benefit from ongoing physiotherapy to improve her gross motor skills as well as continue to monitor her tone.


4. Social - Emotional (occupational therapy): Isla is a delightful little girl who was a little unwell and irritable today. She tries to feed herself with a spoon and fork, and can drink small amounts from a cup. Isla assists with dressing, enjoys her bath, but W-sits for stability. She attends Family Day Care 2 days a week.


Summary and recommendations: 1. Discussion with Michael , treating Physiotherapist, regarding ongoing Physiotherapy management. Attend Botox Clinic at PAHU on the 20.09006 and AFO Clinic on 26.09.06 2. Isla will be offered Occupational therapy and Speech Pathology intervention through Campbelltown PAHU. She will be placed on our waiting list as high priority