Matthew Won A Contest!

http://www.ageofautism.com/2008/12/holiday-autism-supplement-contest-from-lee-silsby.html

Happy Holidays Everyone!

It's been almost 3 weeks since my last post. It's been hectic to say the least...John has been back & forth; Matthew has been sick, had ring worm (a yeast rash), and now has a very yeasty gut; and I had hernia repair surgery last Monday and spent most of the week in bed (mom came to care for us). I'm slowly getting better and get my stitches out tomorrow.

Good news: John will be home for Christmas and Matthew's blinking has diminished. It hurts to sit at the computer, so I'll make this short and sweet: we wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy & healthy New Year! Hope you enjoy the video of Matthew singing Jingle Bells - he knows many of the words, and when he forgets he just improvises!

3 Weeks Later - Video Update

It's been 3 weeks since Matthew's blinking started. We've seen his pediatrician since my last post on this topic. He says it's a "tic" that *might* have been set off by the dilating eye drops and "may or may not go away". Unlike the eye doc's recommendation (to punish Matthew with saline drops), the ped said to ignore the blinking/don't bring any attention to it. So that's what I've been doing. Since Friday, it seems as if he's blinking harder with one eye than the other. I took this video tonight and emailed it to his neurologist to get her opinion...I'm sure she'll reply with "let's do an MRI!" but the answer is still "no more sedation!". I don't feel they are seizures b/c he repeats and answers questions while blinking. So tell me what you think...if you have seen a child do this who in fact has seizures, I'd like to know. I'm also looking for more info on tics and what can be done to decrease them. BTW, I received the results of his blood strep tests today and they are negative (= good, no PANDAS). We go to see the DAN doctor on the 12th.

Other news: John was home for Thanksgiving. It was just the three of us and Matthew was very happy to see his daddy again! John is in Norfolk this week but will be home next week. He'll be home every other week during December...which is good b/c I am having my hernia surgery on the 15th (mom is off for a month so she'll stay with me on the days he is away). It's a 2-4 week recovery period, and I'm not allowed to lift anything over 15 pounds for 6 weeks...that includes 40 pound Matthew!