Appointments in progress

Well, I have been very busy the past few days setting up appointments. Henrico County has an Early Intervention Program (well every county has one) that provides occupational, physical and speech therapies for county residents. The coordinator came over on Monday to complete the paperwork and get the evaluation underway. They have a month from now to get that done. I guess they will determine what her needs are and set up a plan to help her.

I also spoke with the Feeding Clinic at the Children's Hospital here in Richmond. Evidently their Feeding Clinic is very well known and people come from all over the country for help. She said that she will get us in within the next two weeks. She is going to get us an appointment with a doctor that I called last week and was told the next available appointment was Feb. 27!!! Isn't that something? I'm very glad that we'll get to start that so soon. I am very anxious to see when we can start to feed Harlie by mouth.

I talked with a few nursing agencies. So far, no luck finding someone. I'm thinking that the holidays aren’t the best time to be looking (especially Thanksgiving week!). I've been told that we probably won't be able to find anyone for the night shift. Originally we asked for 3 nights and 3 days, so I asked for 5 days as a backup. Maybe that will help.

It looks like we'll be going to see Dr. Magee (plastic surgeon) in Norfolk in January. I am hoping that he'll be able to give us a good idea of what we can expect in the next few years. I think just hearing what he can fix and what he can’t will help me a lot. Overall, I think Harlie is doing really well. And I think Murphy is doing well with her, too. He doesn't seem to notice her issues. Except tonight, he pointed to one of the scars on her face and said she had a boo boo. He likes to kiss her on her head. Tonight he said, "Night night Harlie, see you later". It was pretty funny.

Well, Tom and I are hosting our first Thanksgiving. Tom will be doing the cooking, of course. (You would only want me to cook if you wanted nachos.) I am really looking forward to it. We do have a lot to be thankful for this year. Even though it breaks my heart to think of all Harlie has to go through - she's here.

Well, that’s all for today. I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Talk to you soon,
Christy