Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Progress


I can hardly believe it’s been over six months since I last posted here. I’m glad to report that the dearth of posting is mainly due to there being no major dramas recently. Finlay has just been getting on with life and doing what 4 year olds are supposed to do.

So this is just an overdue update for any of you that check in from time to time to see how Finlay is doing.

We’ve been struggling for a while with weight or, more precisely, lack of it. The different aspects of his disease seemed to be conspiring against us to stop him gaining the pounds: we find a solution to get round one issue just to find any positive effects are nullified by one of his other issues.

So last year we made a couple of changes to his feeding and drug regimens and at last he is steadily gaining weight. Nothing earth-shattering but real, sustained growth. He has caught up with the bottom of the growth charts again, weighing in around the 3rd percentile. Sitting here at 6’2” and just a few burgers short of 200 pounds it still amazes me that my son can be so small. But he’s never going to be a heavyweight and progress is progress. It’s really pleasing that our persistence is paying off.

So as I said in the first paragraph he is just doing what 4 year olds do. And that’s wonderful to be able to write! For the last six months or so, through the long, hot southern hemisphere summer, it has been possible to put everything about Finlay’s condition to the background. Never out of the picture completely (still multiple BG checks, quick calculations, boluses, medications: the never–ending grind of the chronic illness) but not the all-encompassing disease crisis management of the early years. We are now learning to view him as a growing, developing young boy. To look to his future with hope and excitement rather than trepidation.

And this year will see him take great strides towards that future. Our little boy is about to start school!!