Sunday, August 19, 2007

Weekly Update -- 12 - 18 August 2007

Yea, I'm 31 weeks old!

Masinja had a much calmer week this week. He went back for a physical therapy check-up on Tuesday, because the physical therapist wasn’t there when he went on Friday. The occupational therapist wanted him to be seen by the physical therapist to make sure nothing was overlooked.

The physical therapist said that his neck muscles weren’t as tight as she had thought they would be based on what she was told. T.M.M. had been doing his stretching exercises as prescribed and it was already paying off. He has to go back on a weekly basis for progress monitoring but the physical therapist said that all should be well within a few weeks.

The highlight of the week was when Masinja held his bottle all by himself for the first time.

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That's all for this week.

Peace,
T.M.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Weekly Update -- 5 - 11 August 2007

Yea, I'm 30 weeks old!

Masinja had a pretty eventful week this week. He went to see the pediatric surgeon on Wednesday for a checkup. The doc confirmed that he has a hernia on the right side of his groin instead of the hydrocele that he was originally diagnosed with. The doc decided that it needs to be repaired sooner rather than later. He said that with a full term baby there is a 20 – 30% chance of a hernia on the opposite side as well, but with Masinja the chance is around 50 – 60%. So, he is scheduled for surgery on 5 September.

The doc also said that Masinja can start eating some rice cereal because he is always hungry and seldom satisfied. He ate cereal for the first time on Thursday. T.M.M. ended up wiping more of it off his face than he actually ate, but it was a start.

Masinja went for a physical therapy follow-up on Friday. The speech therapist said that he is right on target for his adjusted age – 2.5 months. Basically, they credit him with 4 months since he was 4 months early, so they are evaluating him as if he were 2.5 to 3 months old.

His neck muscles on the right side are a bit tight because he always leans his head to the right so that will need some work. The occupational therapist showed T.M.M. some exercises to do with Masinja to stretch and strengthen those muscles.

Here's a shot of the little ninja eating his curds and whey:

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That’s all for now.

Peace,
T.M.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Weekly Update -- 29 July - 4 August 2007

Yea, I'm 29 weeks old!


Masinja had his MRI/EEG on 1 Aug. He did well for a little boy who's been through as much as he has. He only cried when they took the tape off his head after the EEG, and when he came back from the MRI. He hadn't eaten in 15 hours, so he was pretty darn hungry!


We're not sure how soon we'll get the results, but the neurologist is supposed to call us. We'll let you know if something significant comes up.


Here are a couple of pics from the EEG:


spaghetti hair
Jihad!


That's all for this week.


Peace,
T.M.