Don't Mess with Tesh! : Some news whilst celebrating 4 years post op for her!

It's appropriate to share some news we have today about Tesh. Today marks 4 years since Tesh had her cranial surgery. I can't believe it's been that long, but I can still remember all the fear and relief of it like it was yesterday. I remember how she fell asleep in my arms just before they took her away from me. All the fight for her with her health issues was coming near it's end with this last crucial step. The moment they called to tell me "her surgery went well and they are closing her up", I got off the phone and started uncontrollably crying, gasping for breath to make it stop, but I couldn't. When my family and friends saw this, they thought something was wrong, but really.... it was well. It was SO well.

Oh, Tesh. She's changed our home forever, that's for sure. Out of all 6 children, she's the one that gave me my only c-section. She's the one that has had us in and out of doctors offices (with siblings in tow) and why I sound as smart as I do about certain medical things when I talk to people about these experiences. She has also made our house louder.... And when I say louder, I mean it. Ever since she was a toddler, her screams have always rung in my ears. Screams for justice! Her particular preferences have been overwhelming to me as we try to communicate back and forth as to why she's upset. Her fears and anxieties will be through the roof at times. Her need for control remains, no matter what I do. If there's too much attention on her, whether it be bad or even good, she'll shut down and sometimes cry. There was even a scene where she FINALLY went potty (this was a few months ago) and we were all there to congratulate her. Her parents, grandparents, some aunts and uncles. We all were saying, "Great job, Tesh! What a big girl!" She then proceeded to cry and said, "Your happy makes me sad."  After having had 2 older kids in the house, I knew the way she would react to certain things was a little.... off.  Extreme.

So... all this to say, we had her evaluated yesterday. We waited 5 months for this appointment with the wonderful Dr. Noble here in Des Moines. (and he IS wonderful!) He said she has Sensory Processing Disorder. He said, "Nothing is broken. No wires are crossed. It's a combination of temperament, personality, preferences, anxieties... on steroids!"

I found all this good news because now we can pin-point it, research it, learn what it is, and know better how to help her cope. All this time, I thought I might be crazy for thinking anything was "wrong" with her, (because I know it could be a lot worse) but there IS something and we CAN better help her. There is so much here, so many faucets of information and uniqueness about her, too much to cover on a little blog post. But all I know is that for these last couple years, I've kept my concerns about her to the closer circle of people around us, and it's been something that has been eating away at me and it's finally done. Well..... the pin-pointing part. And now it's not eating away at me because we have some answers.

The real (hard) work now continues with occupational therapy in hopes to help her cope with her processing skills. And with a lot of patience from me and the close people around her. I look forward to reading "The Out-of-Sync Child" by Carol Kranowitz (suggestion by Dr. Noble according to her diagnosis, apparently my child will seem to be on those very pages)

It takes a community to raise a child..... It still takes a community to raise a child that is unique and weird and apparently on steroids. And let's be honest here... most of her unique weirdness comes from the queen herself. (ding :D) And to be further honest, we are both working on our coping mechanisms now.

I love her so much and I have full confidence that she will do well. In fact, the picture below is my proof that she's going to be an awesome fictional writer some day. Yep. She's in an almost constant state of imagination, which makes her seem like a weird random kid, but it fascinates me to watch her. I can only hope I can be a good mom and help unlock this world of hers, from her head... to paper... but for now, she's 4. Baby steps. 

I had no idea where she was or what she was saying... all I know is I wished I could see what she saw.