Here I am: Specialized Road Bike, Ms. Jess Babysit, and the Super Bowl

Tuesday, February 7th:

Theo had no adverse effects from the anesthesia, so he headed off to school the morning after his PET and MRI.

At school he went in his new stander and his PT, Ms. Vicki, said he did really well. It is very similar to the Gazelle that we have at home.

Theo also did really well with his snack. He kept asking for more and Ms Jess sent me this picture of his food pouch! I couldn't believe it!

Theo's OT cancelled, so I asked Ms. Cody if she was available (since we missed PT yesterday). She was! Ms Cody was able to come over to our house after Theo got home for some PT.

That night we watched the State of the Union Address and LeBron James pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the all-time leading scorer in the NBA. Kareem held that title for almost 40 years!

I figured out how to use the split screen. It's a very nice feature! I wish I had know about it sooner!

[The shot that broke the record]

When LeBron passed Kareem they paused the game and did a ceremony. It was kinda strange. The Lakers ended up losing the game too.

I have A LOT of feelings about LeBron. But he did just break a record that no one thought could be broken. Congrats to him! We saw history happen!

Theo had six observable seizures today.

The next day (Wednesday, February 8th) Josh, Theo, and I headed all the way down to Peoria to meet with his Developmental Specialist APN. We caught her up on everything that's been happening since we saw her in August, followed up on some things we talked about last time, checked Theo out, and then said to come back and see her in about 9 months. Can do!

[Theo slept on the way down to Peoria, but he was still very tired]

Theo had five observable seizures today.

Thursday, February 9th:

I received a message from Theo's teacher letting me know that the nurse wouldn't be in today. I told her that I could come and feed Theo and it wasn't a problem.

After I fed Theo I drove north to get my allergy shots and then went to pick up Theo from school. His OT cancelled again, so I took him home right after school.

Theo was very interested in army crawling towards the floor, so I asked Josh to sit on the floor with a toy that Theo wanted. Theo started to crawl towards Josh but then he got tired and took an hour long nap.

[Sweet boy]

Theo had eight observable seizures today.

On Friday, February 10th, we sent Theo off to school and I was able to get a lot done around the house since it was my "rest day" (I did do 20 minutes of Yoga though).

Theo was very happy at school and had a great day!

They made dairy-free pudding and Theo LOVED it! They said he kept asking for more!

After school I took Theo to PT where he got to play with Ms Becca and Ms Cody.

That afternoon I received an email from Lurie's with Theo's recent MRI and PET scans. I'm not going to pretend to understand them, but I think they are interesting to look at.

See that black mass towards the back of his brain (right side)? That's Theo's aneurysm.

This is looking from the top down. The black mass is the aneurysm and the grey areas in the middle are his ventricles. The grey mass on the left side caught my eye, so I sent a picture of it to the Neurosurgeons in Peoria. I don't remember it being so prominent in his other scans so I wanted to double check. They said that it has been there for a while and has not gotten any bigger. It is just showing up really well because of the high quality of the image.

Hopefully we will hear from the Epilepsy Specialist soon and we can get his surgery scheduled.

Theo had one observable seizure today.

Saturday, February 11th:

Ms Jess came over today to babysit Theo so Josh and I could go to lunch and look at road bikes. Theo was pretty excited when she showed up, so I wasn't worried about them at all!

Josh and I headed about an hour north to Oak Brook were we got some lunch at a Mongolian BBQ place. I'm not a huge fan of buffets or dishing up my own raw meat, but it was pretty good. Next, we headed to Erik's Bike Shop. We looked around at a few models that we thought would work for me (and they were in our price range!). Of course, they didn't have my size (54), but they did have it at another store that was about 30 minutes further north. I texted Jess to make sure they were okay (they were) and then we headed to Deerfield.

Once we arrived we found the bike, but I felt like it was too similar to the bike I already have. I was a little disappointed but then this beautiful Specialized Tarmac SL6 caught my eye. She was perfect! One of the guys at the shop was happy to explain all the differences between the different bikes and brands. He was very helpful! The bike has a carbon fiber frame and is only 17 lbs. The paddle shifters will take a little getting used to, but I'll make it work!

After we purchased my new road bike (EEK!) we headed to Gibson's steakhouse to get a couple pieces of their giant chocolate mousse. No, we didn't keep them both! We gave one to Ms. Jess!

We got home a lot later then we had planned, but I kept in contact the whole time with Ms. Jess and she kept telling me that everything was going great!

Theo and Ms Jess had a very fun afternoon together and I'm excited to have her come babysit Theo again!

[Isn't she pretty?!]

[Light as a feather!]

Pictures from Ms. Jess:

Theo had five observable seizures today.

On Sunday we made nachos and watched the Super Bowl. I'm so over the Chiefs (since I'm a Chargers fan), so I was kinda rooting for the Eagles. Honestly, I didn't care too much. I just wanted to see a good game and some funny commercials. And we did!

[Theo was being silly!]