Eye surgery is over! .....at least for now

Hello everyone! Dylan had his second eye surgery on the 18th, this time on his left eye. When the Doc checked his pressure on his right eye (the one that already had the surgery), the pressure was 15! PRAISE GOD! It worked!! We are hoping to have the same results with his left eye. This is such a huge leap forward. Now that the pressure is under control, it is no longer damaging his optic nerve. Time will tell how damaged it actually is. Sometimes, relieving the pressure can actually reverse some of the damage. This is our prayer! Dylan is also really nearsighted as I have said before. We were able to get some glasses for him, but he is not a big fan of them and pulls them off the second I put them on. This will be something to work on. He can basically see clearly about 6-8 inches in front of his face. Everything else is blurry. He has gotten used to seeing like this, so it will be a big transition to see EVERYTHING clearly. Please pray for patience for me as I try to get him to wear his glasses, and that he sees how amazing the world is through the lenses. We also went to see Dr. Graham that same week. Again, Dylan received amazing lab results and praises from Dr. G. The whole time we were in his office, Dylan was crawling around and climbing on things and doing his new favorite thing.....break dancing! He loves to lay on tile or wood floors and spin around in circles with his feet in the air. It is quite hilarious. He will spin and spin until he gets dizzy--he loves it!

We now have 3 different therapies that Dylan receives every week. We have had a developmental specialist and physical therapist for the past 6 months, and I love them both! Now we have added a speech therapist. We have been having issues with feedings. Dylan cannot move his tongue back and forth in his mouth. This is an issue because he cannot control where the food goes and ends up gagging on it instead of mushing it with his teeth and gums. He LOVES to eat. So for now, he eats mainly yogurt and baby food. He can't have little puffs, cheerios or anything that is chunky.....yet. We will get there and the therapist feels that it is something we can overcome. We just have to 'wake up' his tongue. This was probably a minor issue when he was born and became more intensified through his journey. But knowing Dylan, there is nothing he can't conquer! In addition to a speech therapist, we will be seeing an occupational therapist to help with fine motor skills and feedings also. So are you counting therapists yet....yes, that will make 4!! But just to make things interesting, we may be doing vision therapy also!! I'm exhausted just thinking about it! But I want to do anything to help D get on track. All of the therapists feel that he is just delayed and not disabled. They have not seen any signs of him being incapable of learning and this is a HUGE praise!! There can be a lot of side effects from chemo and radiation, and some of them we may not see until later in life. Learning disabilities can be one. Another we just learned about has to do with his adult teeth. Because adult teeth start to form at 6 weeks of age, Dylan's growth may have been delayed or halted. In some cases, infants who undergo chemo do not form some of their adult teeth. He should have all of his baby teeth because those form in utero. As of now, he has two on bottom and two on top with two more coming in around his bottom teeth. We will be able to see if he is missing his adult teeth when he is at least 3 years of age....until then, I cannot let myself worry about it....and we can't do anything about it anyways :) And about the teeth he has now....he chews on anything and everything! He chews on cribs, tables, plates, my KNEE....pretty much anything he can get his mouth on!

In 13 days, we will be celebrating Dylan's one year of being CANCER FREE!!! Can you believe it?? I can hardly believe that it has been a year already! I'm in tears just writing this! He is such an amazing miracle and we are truly thankful for each and every day. Thank you to all of you who have cried, prayed, and hoped with us to make this day possible! Many prayers have been answered and miracles seen.....GOD is AMAZING!

WE LOVE YOU ALL!!

The Praskins