September 3, 2008
Today has been a little bit of a rough day. Everything started out normal. Forrest was off to the school bus by 8:00 and Eliza was up at 8:30 even though we had put her to bed by 7:30 the night before. This early morning preschool is really wearing on us. For most of the morning Eliza and I ran errands. After lunch Forrest came home and we rushed off to our round of appointments we had for this afternoon. Our first appointment was Eliza's 3-year well child. Everything is fine with her, but her doctor is very concerned about Eliza not talking. She would like to do an MRI to rule out any type of abnormalities and if in six-months if she is still not progressing she wants to send her down to the UofU for a full battery of testing to make sure there is nothing else that could be causing this.
Our next appointment was with Eliza's new speech therapist. I causally mentioned what my doctor had said assuming that she would say that all that testing wasn't necessary, and that she was coming along and it was only a matter of time before she was talking. But she didn't say that. She agreed whole heartedly with my doctor and even suggested that if in a year she hasn't improved that she will need to start using a computer to communicate. The speech therapist explained that Eliza was severely delayed and if things didn't start changing soon Eliza's future my be in jeopardy. It just broke my heart. I had pinned my hopes on her going to preschool and everything miraculously getting better, but now it seems that this might not be the case. We could very well be struggling with the ramifications of her delayed speech for the rest of our lives.
To continue the frustration Eliza will not cooperate with the speech therapist at all. She won't say sounds and words that we know she can say let alone try saying anything new. She seems to really like her new speech therapist, but she doesn't want to work with her at all. I don't know if this is because we are pushing her too hard or if this is something more we need to worry about.
For right now we are going to do everything we can to help Eliza and in six months we will re-evaluate to determine if we need to get further help or not. If you could keep her in your prayers I would really appreciate it.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
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5 comments:
We will definetly keep you all in our prayers!
Sorry to hear the bad news. We'll remember Eliza in our prayers. Let us know if there's anything we can do.
Can your doctor or speech therapist get you in touch with other parents of children with Eliza's type of issues? It might be good for you to talk to other people who have gone through this. If there isn't a local support group, I bet there is one online.
One thing is clear; we all get challenges in life. I don't know whether we get to pick them or whether they come by random assignment but I don't think anyone escapes. Eliza's challenge must be tremendously frustrating for her. I'm not surprised that she doesn't want to work with her speech therapist. Whatever the therapist is doing isn't working so for Eliza to keep trying is just tremendously frustrating. I think that is Eliza's biggest challenge -- to be able to stay happy in the face of a problem that she can never forget. I'm sure you wish you knew how this would all turn out. Knowing would be better than the horrible uncertainty and concern that you must feel. I wish I could offer you more comfort than this, but one thing I know for sure is that Eliza couldn't have better parents. She knows absolutely that she is loved and that knowledge will help her avoid crippling frustration so that she will be able to cope and do whatever is necessary to surmount this challenge.
Love you, and we're praying for you and Eliza.
- Dad
Actually I know someone who's little girl was diagnosised with this same issue a couple of months ago. I am trying to get a hold of her to see what she was told and what options she is pursuing.
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