Current State of Affairs

Catchy Title eh? But as I am in a great big hurry, it'll have to do....

Salamander:
Salamander as of this past Wednesday morning is back in the 'green zone'. He has recovered from whatever threw his systems out of wack. Still not entirely sure exactly what happened, but I got some really good suggestions from several wonderful caring people, so we will go into the next episode better prepared and, hopefully, better equipped to ride out the storm. Fact is that he seems to have a 2-3 week period of 'everything going to pot' [pun very much intended] every 2 to 3 months or so. We'll be in for a good period for a while, but when the next episode strikes I need to do some serious investigating, as there's got to be a reason (or reasons) for why this keeps happening.

As Salamander is starting to feel better again, I continue to see all kinds of amazing gains. His pragmatic language skills continue to improve, his play skills are becoming a lot more age appropriate and in general he is 'loosening up' (in the broadest sense - physically and mentally). His interactions with Potatey are becoming a lot more like you would expect between two siblings with a relatively large age difference. Salamander is starting to establish position as the older brother who can teach his younger sibling many, many things (as opposed to the other way around, which was very much the case until about 2 months ago). His ability to read, understand what he is reading, and then generalize what he is reading to day-to-day life is taking off too. Overall he is much calmer, much more able to regulate his emotions, as well as able to recognize when his emotions start to overwhelm him. Overall, his true personality continues to emerge and other people now too are getting an opportunity to meet this truly amazing kiddo (that I have always known was 'in there' but had gotten too 'snowed under'). I am soo incredibly proud of this kiddo.

DH:
I eluded in an earlier post to the fact that DH is dealing with some wacky neurological stuff, and that most recently he had an episode while he was out in Puerto Rico. He's been off the road since that happened and has been seeing various medical professionals in an attempt to tease out what the H#LL is going on here. The first visit to the GP did little to shed light - all basic vital signs are just fine (DH could benefit from loosing about 10 - 15 lbs, but can't we all), blood work normal, ECG normal, neck X-ray normal. The first visit to the neurologist generated some 'interesting' feedback. Although it is a bit premature to share the neurologist's initial thoughts (as we are currently waiting for the results of a comprehensive MRI), I'll put them out here anyway. I can always amend later.
The neurologist's suspicion is that DH has a ruptured disk at the C3 level (aka in the neck region of the spine, right where the bottom of the skull and the neck meet). A ruptured disk can results in the actual bones starting to rest and rub over each other, which can then results in nerve pinching, nerve inflammation, etc., etc. If this is indeed the case, that could certainly explain a lot of the symptoms we've been seeing (not all though). The neurologist also expressed doubts, considering that DH has probably been walking around with this for a while, whether non-invasive treatments would do much good in this case (and I would tend to concur as DH has been wearing a neck support for the past week or so, but the symptoms haven't lessened - in fact we are starting to see more). Bottom line, if he has a ruptured disk and if this has progressed as far as the neurologist suspects it has, DH will need surgery. YIKES.
Thank goodness I have made acquaintance with some of the country's top neurosurgeons as part of my job, so once DH has received some more conclusive information, I will start making phone calls to 1) get second opinions, 2) if surgery is needed, make sure we get the best one for the particular problem.

Potatey:
Well, Potatey is Potatey. He rolls with the punches. He is having an absolute blast in pre-school (and rapidly worked his way up from being the new kiddo on the bottom of the pecking order to being firmly in the top 10). It is such a joy to watch this kiddo develop. His ability to use language is absolutely amazing and very advanced for his age. He is totally into singing and dancing now, and it cracks me up to hear this little voice come from the backseat of the car singing 'Early in the morning, down by the station.'. This child just radiates an enormous zest for life. He is happy (most of the time) and so obviously so very comfortable in his own skin and secure of his place in the world. This may seem like trivial drivvel, but things were never like that with Salamander at that age (Salamander at age three had very much begun the withdrawal process; looking back he must have been so overwhelmed, so confused by all these experiences he just could not process or understand. And compound that with the physical ailments that were plaguing him - no wonder the child was crabby, grumpy, moody, sad, depressed, etc).
We are rolling into the terrible 3's I think with Potatey - he is very quick now to make his displeasure known (but at least he expresses his discontent in words instead of throwing a tantrum of atomic proportions), and definitely has a mind of his own and hellbent on doing things on his own.

We are seeing more and more allergy flare-ups (food and environmental), which is concerning. And this is something I do need to get to the bottom off, fast.


Well, I got to wrap this up (yes, I know, I myself am conspicuously absent from this 'State of Affairs'). Hope to have more time later..