Around Riley's birthday, he had an MRI to check the progress of his recovery from surgery (remember that?). I went to Children's with him and Marci to meet Dr. E and see what the MRI results said.
Well, way back last year when Riley had the MRI that showed the syrinxes (cysts) in his spinal column, it was determined that he would have the decompression surgery to try to remove or reduce them. The surgery went without a hitch and he's been recovering ever since.
When we sat down with Dr. E, he showed us this new MRI result and pretty much said the syrinxes were gone! In looking at the before and after MRIs, it was clear that they were much, much smaller. So that's great news!
The thing is, Riley is still having issues with regards to the Chiari and Syringomyelia. He still has problems with fine motor, swallowing, headaches, tummy aches and speech (fine motor). We are getting a lot of help with those things, from speech to occupational therapies, pain management with accupressure and medications.
All this, and he's 5!
Riley's first day at Kindergarten.Speaking of 5, as you see in the other posts, Riley just turned 5. With that came his first go at Kindergarten. After some hemming and hawing about whether or not Rye should be in full-day or half-day K, we made the decision to put him in half-day. Logistically, realistically, physically and therapeutically, it just worked better that way (isn't that a cool sentence??!!). He goes for 3 hours a day and I think it's perfect for him. He comes home and we get to hang for a bit, play some DS, watch some TV, practice counting, talk about his friends and his lunch time. It's a hoot.
We were a little concerned as he was coming from Phantom Lake, his school last year, where he was in a specialized class for kids with special needs. In that class, he was the closest to "normal". His teacher said if she didn't know any better, she'd think he was in the regular classes.
Anyway, so far at his new school, it's been fine. He does get some special therapies still, but it's cool that he's in a regular class. And he's been working so hard! Simply holding a pencil and writing is a very difficult task for him, but watching him do his homework (homework in Kindergarten?!) and seeing the work he brings home is inspiring. So cool to see.
He's been learning songs (some song about apples in a tree. Too cute!) and he's super excited about an assembly tomorrow, where they get to sing a song called, "We Stand As One", or something like that. It's funny what the kids get excited about!
It's been a treat seeing Hay and Rye go to school each day, then hear about their days in the afternoons. Just today, after school, before we went to see Dad, I sat on the couch with one on either side of me and watched some Tom and Jerry. I started thinking about our neighbor's kids down the street, in 6th and 8th grades, and realized this stage of their lives isn't gonna last forever, and I got a little wistful. I gotta lighten up on these kids and just enjoy what we have now.
Good times, indeed!
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