Bad Day

When we went to Shriner's back at the beginning March, Dr. D was concerned that Princess has a mild case of Cerebral Palsy (CP). But he wasn't entirely sure at that point. Well, since then, we have seen things that make us wonder if he is correct.

Princess still toes in on her left foot when she walks. It's especially pronounced when she is tired and walked a lot or is wearing shoes. She also toe-walks. She's been pretty much toe-walking all day today. She's also been complaining of her leg hurting. And tonight, when we gave her a massage, she had a small knot behind her knee on the left side. So if she wasn't walking, she wanted to be carried.

We've also noticed some sensory issues. For example, she has been terrified of the vacuum cleaner for about 8 to 9 months now. I've done everything you're supposed to do: got her a toy vacuum, encouraged her help me. I eventually found her curled up against the wall in her room while I vacuumed. So I had been having her brother play with her in her room while I vacuumed the front room. She hasn't even wanted to touch her toy vacuum cleaner. This month, we enrolled her in a co-op preschool. In their playroom they have a toy vacuum cleaner. She hasn't wanted to play with it at all, until this week! That's when I caught this:

This is a HUGE step in the right direction! We've been trying some essential oils on her and I'd like to believe that they have helped in this progress.

There have been other sensory issues as well. But today seemed to be a little more unusual. Today, I decided since she had been having the leg pain and the toe walking that she should take a bubble bath. She usually loves bubble baths. But tonight, when she got in, she wouldn't stretch out and she kept touching the bubbles like they were weird. She'd touch them and then look at her hands. Shortly after she got in, she wanted out. So if she was having some nerve pain, the bubbles probably felt strange.

Princess has been doing things that seem to be like an autistic child, but are probably sensory related. She's been doing things like "grounding." When she gets overstimulated by sound or large groups, she will either want to be held or literally lay on the ground. She has also been "stimming." Where as an autistic child might repeated hit their head, rock, or other things, Princess goes into periods where she repeats the same thing over and over. Usually it's a whiny "Mommy" mixed with "Tinky Nee." On occasion it's been other things, but usually the whiny "Mommy."

So, with her medication tonight, I gave her some Tylenol, hoping it will help. Hopefully she'll have a better day tomorrow. Today has just been difficult, not just on her, but also on me. It's difficult to watch her do these things and know they aren't normal but being we haven't gone back to Shriner's we still don't have an official diagnosis. So it's still technically an unknown.