I’ve already received one complaint about the lack of updates so I thought I’d write something before I received any more! Our weekend at home post-operatively was quiet and calm. On Monday, finally, our bath aid was delivered. We’ve been waiting for it for nearly 4 months and now it is here. It is fabulous and Massimo now really enjoys his baths rather than suffering them.
On Monday evening Marina came to look after Massimo so that we could go and see Shrek 2. As this would take us into the late evening, we had organised it so that it was a night when Helen was doing a night shift as she is here by 9 pm and we didn’t have to rush, indeed we could squeeze in dinner first. Unfortunately Helen wasn’t well that evening, so we got to go out for a quick dinner only – which was lovely!
Tuesday Massimo was back at St George’s Hospital for an MRI scan. This was just a day procedure, but a day in hospital is a long day! We were home by 4 pm, and Massimo was still a little dopey from the anaesthetic. We have no results yet either from the biopsies nor from the MRI but I will let you know when we get them.
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were average days. The weather wasn’t brilliant so we were stuck at home quite a bit although on Friday we went to Clapham Junction to meet Maz and Maddy. Uncle Toio and Leanne came to spend the weekend with us, which was really lovely. They were duly impressed by how much Massimo has grown and developed.
This Monday (12th) Jackie from Portage came in the afternoon and very kindly brought with her a giraffe chair which is being lent to Massimo by his Occupational Therapist. It is a special chair which gives him lots of support and enables him to sit up and play, rather than having to work hard at just sitting up. He enjoys it thoroughly and has discovered the joy of pushing all things off the table and onto the floor! She also came with a bag of toys which are actually a collection of kitchen utensils really. He was fascinated by a gold coloured scouring pad, and the whisk seems to have quite amazing properties, especially when used to bash against anything to hand! Tuesday and Wednesday we had some respite (3 hours each day) and visits from a Social Worker and Massimo’s Speech and Language Therapist on Tuesday afternoon and a visit to the GP on Wednesday afternoon. Massimo had scratched the inside of his right ear quite badly and I guessed this might indicate ear ache. The GP confirmed my suspicions and Massimo is on another course of antibiotics!
On Thursday we went off to Christopher’s and although Massimo decided to be quite grumpy quite a lot of the time, we did get a few smiles and we tried a few new things. Massimo had a go on a big boy’s swing, and although we didn’t get a smile this time, we suspect we’ll get one on his next go. He also had fun in the tunnel in the soft play room and started working out how to push himself backwards on the floor. He is still very tentative about it, but he has been practising at home. Friday we had a session with the physiotherapist and his ability to roll onto his front and hold his head and hold the position for a little while is definitely improving. In the afternoon we went up to the Northcote Road to meet Maz and Maddy for tea and a wander. All in all an enjoyable couple of weeks.