Life is Sweet...Potatoes

No big deal, guys. Just feeding himself sweet potatoes.

You guys. It's NOT avocado (he's obsessed) and he's doing it himself! Plus, he looked at the bowl and the spoon. Not bad for a kid with a visual impairment. 

We had an ophthalmology appointment this week. The good news is, everything looks stable. No change. Which we expect*, based on his diagnosis, but we all know Wyatt is pretty much a medical mystery so we have come to expect the unexpected with him. The bad news is, we have to go back in six months. We were hoping they would say a year, since dilation is super annoying for a toddler and the eye exam is miserable for both of us, since I have to pin him down while they perform it. 

*Optic Nerve Hypoplasia is simply underdeveloped Optic nerves. They shouldn't change at all since it's congenital and you can't regrow the nerves. The issue isn't with his "vision" since his eyes are great and his brain looks fine. It's simply that the nerves don't send the message correctly from his eyes to his brain.  However, what he can "see" CAN improve, since you can train the brain to interpret the message the eyes are sending. It's a very complex way in which we see, and since his Optic nerves are underdeveloped, he has a harder time navigating those complexities. But, he's showing us we can never underestimate his willpower! 

His wheelchair, stander, and bath seat will be delivered this week. I'm really excited for all three of these pieces of equipment. The wheelchair will provide support for his torso and neck, allowing him to sit up to see the world better. Talk about awesome! It will also allow us to safely push him around. While his current stroller isn't completely impractical, it isn't supportive enough and this will allow us to support him better and we can always remove some of the supports as he develops more. The stander will allow him to practice standing in a safe way and allow us to interact with him without having to hold him. I suspect he will tolerate it about as well as he did when we tried it out at PT, which involved protesting and attempts to lift his legs. And the bath seat. Oh the bath seat! We will finally be able to bathe him safely. He is currently in a bath seat that is too small and has no safety straps, which means in a blink of an eye he could roll off and have the potential to aspirate or even drown. Needless to say, baths are not my favorite time because it's a little scary. 

We also got great news this week that a charity has graciously offered to gift Wyatt a portable seat. This seat has the potential to be life changing in terms of his ability to interact with his environment as well as keep him safe. The seat can be used on the floor, in a chair, in a shopping cart, and so many other places. I'll snap photos and post an official thank you once it arrives. We are completely in awe of their generosity, as insurance doesn't cover many items he needs. 

He has a cardiology appointment in two weeks. We anticipate things will go smoothly, as he's not showing signs of cardiac issues. However, it's always a possibility that something has changed, so continued prayers that his heart has remained stable.