The big news
Well we have heard the news that we have been waiting to hear since our journeys beginning. We are going home!
Friday, Cadence was relieved of her feeding tube. (Praise the Lord!) Luckily, timing has all worked out. Jon came out to visit us on Thursday with the plans to leave us on Monday. Little did we know that we would get to leave on Monday as well! We sat down with Cadence's Doctor, Dr. O'Toole Friday afternoon. She told us they are no longer concerned about Cadence. These are the things we know. She was admitted into the hospital on March 4th at 46.2lbs. Friday morning she weighed in at 60lbs and has regained her position at the 60th percentile on the growth charts! From this clinic, C has been diagnosed as a "selective eater" It is unlikely to change. As long as C eats enough of the things she will eat, there should be no threat of relapse in weight. She will need monthly check ups from her pediatrician and be placed on the growth chart. She needs between 1600 and 1800 calories a day. Very doable for the things she will eat. We learned quite a bit about the foods she was eating that we can tweak. For example, her peanut butter was reduced fat. Changed. Her milk was 2% and is now whole. We were even able to switch out her beloved Splitz yogurt for whole milk yogurt. As I have said in the past, for me (as a mother) I have never been aware of the actual knowledge of feeding a child. I know that sounds kinda crazy, but I never thought twice about buying syrup that was reduced sugar. I always figured that was a good thing. I am a bit floored at the lack of understanding on my part. What seems now as common knowledge was just irresponsible regular life choices before the last month. Simple, simple stuff completely overlooked. It is my hope in all of this, that if you are a young parent just going through the motions of life, or even someone someday wanting children and you are reading my blog, that you learn from my "mistake". Food is medication. You should know about what things are going into the mouth of your child. Just because you eat it - doesn’t mean your child should.
We will also be looking for a developmental specialist when we get home. We were hoping to see a doctor on Friday, but she ended up coming down with the flu. So we have the name of a woman we can look into which was referred to us while we were here in regards to the question raised of Cadence possibly having Aspergers.
I have a new desire to help others like us. My awareness has grown so much in the past month of the Ronald McDonald house. There are 2 in the valley and I have already sent off an email with questions of how and when I can start volunteering my time. If there is not a RMD house in your area, or you don’t have the time, please consider helping monetarily. NEVER drive or walk past one of the RMD house donation boxes without dropping some spare change (or even some cash) into it. I really don’t know what I would have done without this resource available.
I would also like to thank you, my family, my friends and even the friends of friends or family that have been reading this blog. Thank you to those who sent gifts and care packages. Thank you to those who sent cards. Most of all thank you to those who prayed. Without your prayers, Cadence, Jon and I could not have made this journey. It is because of you we are going home. We love you all so very, very much.
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