Big Changes for little Ava

So today we had a big doctors appointment with Ava's therapists and an orthopedist that children of CCS (California Children Services) see annually.  It was a great time for this meeting to take place considering Ava has been home for almost exactally 6 months.  James and I both didn't want to really do anything in addition to therapy until after she had a full 6 months to show us what she could accomplish on her own.  As much as she has grown and improved during this time, there are areas that have not progressed as the doctors would like and so extra measures must be taken.  I wont go into too much detail b/c I am not a doctor and I'm sure most of you aren't either.  So here are the changes in layman's terms..
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1)  AFO (Ankel Foot Orthosis):
Ava's left foot is baring most of her bodies weight as she doesn't distribute evenly between the right and left side.  An AFO will help that right foot lay flat and will hopefully prevent problems in the future as she grows.

2)  Botox:
Strange huh?  Botox is commonly used for kids with CP to help the muscles.  In Ava's case the botox will be injected into her right leg.  This is something I don't know how to properly word so I'll just say what I do know about it.  I do know that, in combonation with the AFO, it is going to help her stay flat footed on the right side and distribute weight equally.  The effectiveness of botox lasts for 4-6 months.

3)  Medication for Drooling:
Most of you who haven't met Ava might be thinking...drooling????  Yep, our little sweet girl chronicly drools (a little string of drool, not a huge amount of saliva comparitively)  It is something that her and her occupation therapist have been working on twice weekly for several months.  We have seen slight improvement but not enough to feel confident that this is an issue she will be able to correct herself without medical help.  We are in the process of looking at the different medications and hope to find the best one for her in the next week or two.  This medication decreases the amount of saliva produced.  At the moment the muscles in her face are not strong enough to push the saliva to the back of the throat.  This is one that we are REALLY excited about if we find the proper medication for her.  The reality of how our life looks dealing with this issue is, never going anywhere without at least one rag to wipe her, changing clothes that are soaking wet at least 4 times a day,  not being able to comfortably allow her to play with other children's toys, dodging glances as she plays on public play equipment, etc.  It would be beautiful to not have this issue in our life anymore!   

As my Mother always told me..."Nothing is permanent...except for marriage and children"  I know that if any of these changes are not benefiting Ava, we can choose to stop them.  As a Mommy, it's both exciting and stressful.  Our life now is very comfortable and now these BIG changes are going to again require some extra time and patience from all three of us.  We will keep you all posted on how these new adjustments go down. 

  Thanks for keeping our little angel in prayer...don't forget Mommy and Daddy too :-)