We had our second appointment with PT yesterday. It was not the greatest visit for Haley, she was a little out of sorts and I don't think she was really in the mood to work. We spent most of the visit trying to console her, she was not a happy camper. It is to be expected I guess, having her in a new environment, with a strange person and toys that aren't hers. She did meet one of her goals already, which is reassuring. She was able to consistently come to a sitting position while holding onto our fingers. It is strange that such simple things to us are such huge milestones in little ones. The PT wants to refer her to a pediatric neurologist because of some head "tics" that she has. She shakes her head back and forth for no apparent reason. Haley has done this "tic" for a long time and we have never thought much of it. It would come and go, but ever since the PT pointed it out to me last week, it really stands out to me now. Most people think that she is shaking her head "no" but now that I watch it closely, I really don't think that is what it is.
We also had a home visit from the child development service program this morning. We met with our service coordinator, who I believe is a child development specialist, and also a child psychologist. We just talked about what Haley does and how she handles certain situations. The psychologist did some developmental testing with her, seeing how she handled objects, how she looked at things, responded to certain situations, etc. It probably seemed a lot like playing to Haley. The psychologist said that Haley did have some overall developmental delays, that she is developmentally around 9 months. Its not a huge deficit, just at the low end of average. But she did explain to me that when dealing with someone so young, a few months behind can be pretty significant, and that is why early intervention is so important. They have so many services available. They want to refer her to occupational therapy to work on her coordination skills, and have a nurse come to evaluate her vision, and play therapy, possibly speech therapy. It is all very overwhelming right now, where will I find the time to fit it into my schedule?
I know some of you may think that this is all a little overboard, why does she need all this? I think they are trying to err on the side of caution since they are seeing some delay. They want to make sure and rule out some underlying condition. Hopefully, in the end, this was all overkill and not necessary, but I would rather go overboard that sit passively and watch her fall further behind. This is all pretty stressful for me. It is hard being a nurse and having some medical knowledge. Sometimes I wish I didn't know what I know, or have seen the things that I have seen. It would be nice to be "blissfully ignorant". When they start talking about neurologists and psychologist it sends me into a tailspin of "what if" scenarios. I analyze everything she does with a fine tooth comb....is that something, what did she just do? So, even if you don't agree with what we are doing, and all of the people we are having look at her, please don't judge or criticise us. We are doing what we feel is best, and if its overkill....so what???? what will it hurt in the long run? I'm not trying to be mean by saying that, I just don't need the extra stress of worrying about what other people think.
With that said, I will of course keep you posted on whats going on. I'm really going to try not to turn this blog into "Haley's Medical Progress Blog". I want to keep it a fun and happy place!!! Thanks you everyone for all of your support.
We love you guys!!!
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