A difficult year so far...

We have had a tough year. My father almost died after his heart valve transplant and my grandmother just passed away. She had lived with my parents for 2 1/2 years. It has been a very long 4 months since my father's surgery but he is improving slowly. He is just always exhausted, just from walking, and his heart will never fully function like it should. It is very sad to see and it was a very traumatic experience.

Sooo after that I couldn't put Brendan through SDR. I was fully prepared and ready to go through with it but then after almost losing my dad and watching him in a hospital bed for over a week before even waking up was very very hard on me. We didn't know if he was going to pull through and it just makes me think that anything can go wrong and what if Brendan doesn't wake up? I can't imagine anything happening to him so I just have to regain my strength for this difficult surgery. I need to be the one on board 100% and fully prepared for this to emotionally handle the surgery and the post care so the decision weighs on my daily.

On a lighter note Brendan is having a great year. He had botox in Feb and after being very weak for a month or so he has gained a lot of strength and looks great in his walker. He is walking longer distances and seems more confident in it. He turns all over the place and runs down hills in it. It is great to see. He loves being independant. He went swimming all by himself for the first time. We put arm floaties on him and in the pool he went with his stepsister. He floated around the pool 3 times and had a smile on his face the ENTIRE time. It was a great day and I am so glad my hubby talked me into it...I'm a little overprotective-haha. :) He is sleeping well with his braces and even has a new brace that he wears when he is with his father. It is made out of the AFO material and it goes from his hips to his ankles. He legs seem much straighter during the day after he wears it and he seems to be less rigid. So all in all I am happy with his progress this year. He is always smiling and joking these days and is talking up a storm. He can drive me nuts with all his questions but we can have conversations which I treasure. He seems to pick up more words and speak longer sentences by the day. He always makes me so proud!