No More Wrinkles!

Tomorrow is a big day for us. Alistair has an appointment at Children's to have Botox injections...finally! We have been struggling with this loss of use thing and contortions in his right arm and hand for too long now. We went in to see Dr. Apkon at the beginning of June. It was decided at that appointment that he needed to come off his Artane completely and get back on his Sinemet...get him back to baseline where it was all good. She also decided it was time to take some additional measures and get us set-up for the injections. 

Since he has been off Artane and up on Sinemet we have noticed subtle differences. He seems more relaxed in the morning on the right side. But as the day goes on and he gets tired of fighting the tone in that arm, it comes up more and more until it is tight up against his chest. His left arm is much more loose as is his hand. He still doesn't keep his wrist in a neutral position...though he is getting his palm down to support himself instead of doing it on the back of his hand! 

The plan for tomorrow is to inject his bicep on his right arm as well as the some muscles in his forearms to help get his wrists back into neutral positions. They are doing this under anesthesia. Dr. Apkon feels the best way to get the best results is to do this with him out and relaxed so she can accurately pinpoint the targets using her e-stim machine. Last time he had Botox, when he was inpatient, they just numbed the areas. But he was awake and tense and she feels she didn't get as accurate as she had wanted. 

I am focusing on the outcome of all this, why we are doing it. I am not excited at the part where we walk him back, get him prepped and leave him after he is sedated. Last time we did that, it didn't end well. But I know I can't think that way. The best part is as soon as he is done, we are getting in the car and driving to Lake Chelan for the remainder of the week. 

Alistair finished 4th grade last week...crazy to think the school year is over already! It ended up being a good year despite the additional activities and needs. As he has done since all this happened, Alistair maintained a great attitude and outlook on everything and did great! He was a bit sad about ending 4th grade and is apprehensive about starting 5th...but we will just take things one day at a time for now! 

I will try to get an update tomorrow about how things go. If you could send positive thoughts to Children's around 10am, it would be most appreciated!