Author: katherineambos

Madison is a happy girl now that her kitty is home. Yesterday afternoon Stitch made a hole in the screen and escaped through the backyard. When this has happened in the past she usually returned within a few hours. At Madison’s bedtime lastnight Stitch was still not found. Madison asked over and over to see Stitch but she was gone.  Our amazing neighbour’s helped us search the neighbourhood for hours and by flashlight in the dark. Finally at midnight last night after 9 hours of being gone our neighbour’s found Stitch. She was in another neighbour’s backyard. James and Medford got 2 ladders. One to climb the back fence and then one to drop into the other yard. Sure enough Stitch climbed the ladder and jumped into James’ arms. Madison was very very happy to see Stitch this morning when she woke up. She didn’t leave Stitch ‘ s side most of the day.

Madison had her last summer class at March of Dimes today. She will be on a break until the end of September . We are so grateful for all the time she was able to spend there this summer, their amazing instructors who put time and care into planning excellent activities and helping Madison make so much progress. We can’t wait for her to get back and keep going with all her hard work.

Madison had her botox assessment appointment at Grandview this morning. Her physio Kate also attended to help the doctor understand Madison’s work over the last few months.

They started with an assessment of her movement through activity. Kate led Madison through a serious of activities so the doctor could watch her movement. He then did a physical assessment where he moved her legs in different positions to see her tone and her range with muscles and joints. He then talked to us about botox and how it works. Botox® works by blocking the connection between nerves and muscles. This causes temporary decreases in muscle tone which can last for 3 to 6 months.

He explained that he looks at two factors when deciding if botox is the way to go. The first is body structure- so looking at Madison’s tone and seeing if it has an impact on the growth and formation of her bones and joints. The second is performance – so looking at Madison’s tone and seeing if it has an impact on her everyday movements/purposeful movements and the speed in which she executes the movements. He concluded that structure is not an issue at all but performance is. Botox can help her performance.

He described Madison as being a moving target, meaning she continues to change so rapidly both developmentally and with her growth. He was very pleased with her range in most joints and feels at this time we will hold off on the botox and see him again in 2 months so he can see the change she makes over time. He celebrated our success with all of her therapies, stretching and activities and attributes that to how well she is doing and not needing the botox right now. After the summer we’ve had it was nice to hear.

In 2 months time we will re-assess for botox. If she receives it at the end of November it will be shots in her calf muscles and hamstrings being 8 shots in total. We are also applying for coverage to see if any part of the shots can be covered as they are costly.

It was also exciting to hear about their view on her classification level.  When she was first diagnosed we were told she was a level 3 and now they are saying she is a level 2. It was a positive appointment and it was so nice to hear how well they think she is doing and to continue exactly what we are doing with all her therapies.

Thank you to everyone who has helped us and been involved with Madison’s therapy. Today’s appointment was a win because of everyone on Madison’s team.

Madison then spent her afternoon at March of Dimes continuing on with her therapy and kicking butt!

Our apologies for not posting yesterday. There were issues with the blog site.

Yesterday and today were filled with Daddy Daughter time now that Mama is back at work.

In the last two days Madison has gone to March of Dimes twice, Grandview once, Nana’s house and had some backyard fun in the pool with lots of time with Dada. We are thrilled with the amount of therapy she has access to this week.

Today Madison celebrated her last day of summer with Mama and Dada. Sadly, Mama goes back to work tomorrow. Madison went out for breakfast this morning with Nana and Papa after a good sleep in. After breakfast she went over to Nana and Papa’s to get her new car seat installed for all her pickups from school. She was a good helper.

Madison spent her afternoon watching the Jays game with Dada. Her cousin Nate was there for his first game. She watch the TV intently looking for Nate.

The last of her summer was spent helping Mama do laundry, fold clothes and get things ready for the week. She blew bubbles, played with Stitch, coloured and explored her toys around the house.

Madison had an awsome summer! She worked her butt off everyday at therapy, enjoyed lots of time with family and friends and did lots of travelling to cottages and fun places. We all feel truly blessed for how much time we had together and how far Madison has come in the last few months.  Thank you to everyone who contributed to Madison’s awsome summer!

Madison got her back to school/photo shoot hair cut this morning. Last time she went she needed help to sit up straight and adjust in the chair and her horse ride at the end needed hands on her. Today she got a gorgeous hair do and sat up in her car all by herself! She rode the horse all by herself too! Her core strength has greatly improved. Check out her before and after pics.

Before

Driving her car

After

Dada took Madison and Mama out for dinner to Memories of Japan for our last weekend of summer. Madison loved watching the fire and the chef cook on the table in front of us.

Today was Madison’s last day of orientation at her school. She has been downtown for either school or therapy everyday for the last two weeks. Partnered with afternoons at therapy and swimming to add to the crazy jam packed days….we are finished and we survived!

Madison had a great morning at school. She loves playing in her egg chair and having story time. Nana and Papa Gregoire visited her school today to check out her program, see the building and plan parking for pickups. Madison got fitted for her new chair and her walker is placed in her classroom and ready to go. The next time Madison is there will be for her first day on the 8th.

During Madison’s nap today we heard her scream “Mommy! Daddy! Pee pee” and repeated it several times. We went up to her room and found her standing in her crib, butt naked with no diaper in sight and with her whole crib and sheets soaked. We hope she learnt her lesson of what happens when she takes her diaper off during nap time.

Madison finished her day with a girls night out for dinner with Auntie Liz. She had her classic choice – chicken fingers and fries with apple juice. Her Auntie Liz knows well about Madison’s obsession with books and brought her 2 new ones to explore during dinner. It was a great way to end a crazy few weeks.

Madison had a great morning of therapy at March of Dimes. Suzanne and Janine visited to watch Madison’s class and plan their trips there for Madison’s September sessions. She showed them her ladder walking, rope walking and crawling up a ramp. She also did some independent standing which went great!

This afternoon was Madison’s last swim class. Grandma Ambos visited to watch Madison practice her floats, bobs and kicking. Madison also tried opposite handed high fives that Ryan did in a pattern with her in the water. This will help her learn to reach far forward one arm at a time when swimming on her front or back. Sadly, the Variety Village pool is closing for a few months so Madison wont see Ryan for a while. Madison and Mama will keep up the swimming skills at a Durham pool in the meantime.

Madison had a jam packed day of on the go fun. Her day started back at school for another morning of orientation. She loved sensory play today which was squeezing chocolate pudding out of small holes in a bag. They also fitted her today for her school walker which she will use daily instead of binging her home walker back and forth. Suzanne and Janine also visited Madison’s school to see some of her final activities, see her classroom where they will be picking her up and to scope out parking for pickups.

Madison also had a great swim class with Ryan. The main pool was closed so her lesson was in the hot pool. We are all thrilled with her progress with her kicking, bobs and floats. She is a natural fish.

After swimming Madison spent some time with her cousin Nate, Uncle Mark and Nana. Her and Nate had a nice play together while Dada and Uncle Mark helped move furniture around, put garbage on the curb and empty out Uncle Marks old bedroom. Nana and Papa are putting together a nursery/bedroom for Nate, Madison and Grand baby #3 on the way for lots of play visits and sleepovers!

It was great getting so much done in one day, but we are going to try and not schedule so many back to back things for a while…crazy day!

Madison had two physio sessions today. One at March of Dimes and one at Grandview.

Ben and Madi continued to work on wall standing, side stepping and standing while using their hands to play. They also walked with their legs on either side of a beam to train their gaits.

At Grandview Madison worked on squats to standing and using a technique of vibrating her lungs when she blows out for bubbles. Her physio Kate does this by shaking her upper body while Madison blows out. This will help Madison increase her lung capacity for when she starts speaking with more than 3 words in a sentence.