Starting the new normal

For any family who has a chronically ill child or a child with special needs it takes a lot out of you to enter the hospital and then leave and pick up where you left off. ( I am sure it is the same for the "typical" parent it just doesn't happen as often. As your child gets sick you slip into COPE mood and wait for the cope mode to subside and you find your grove in to what is "normal."

Hind sight for this malfunction was definitely 20/20. Shunt malfunctions have the same "symptoms" as typical toddler behavior, but we have definitely been able to see where that typical behavior was not so "typical" and ended us were it did.

Shunt failure symptoms include:

1. Change in appetite.
   
2. irritability
3. fussiness
4. sleep problems
5. vomiting
6. More clumsy
   
7. headache

All of the symptoms are things that a typical kid could go through at any given time. We thought his appetite change was that he had stopped going through a growth spurt. He was not to irritable but was definitely not as "happy " all the time. He has always had sleep problems and the clumsy part. Well he definitely isn't' NOT clumsy.

Looking back there is so much that I noticed but by itself there is no indication for issues. Together ... Alarm.

So now that we have Tyler back and he is new AND improved and keeps going longer and longer we start the new normal. Me and Dallas are slipping out of cope mode and into extremely tired and stressed parents. Tyler, in the mean time, just wants to play and play and play.

The next week is nothing but appointments after appointments to find this cute kid's new baseline.

I feel so lucky that we get to have him back. I hate thinking of how close I was to losing my sweet little man. He is very much a miracle.