The Adventures of Dallas Bauer: Independence Day

To say it has been a while would be quite an understatement! Half of the year has gone by without an entry. Several times over the last few months I will run into someone that will say, hey, I follow your blog and there hasn’t been an update in a while….so it’s then that I start thinking about it again and it’s now when I have nothing else to do, that I can write an entry and update Dallas’s followers. J

Today is the 4^th of July. Dallas got very ill out of nowhere and we landed at St.Paul Children’s hospital for the day and will be here overnight. He has pneumonia and was working really hard to breathe and suffering a high fever. We got here and the best hands have been taking care of him. After some strong steroids, several neb treatments and IV antibiotics and fluids, Dallas is doing much better just 12 hours after admission. We hope to go home tomorrow.

Aside from this recent stay, Dallas had the best winter to date, with no hospital admissions all winter. When I left off in December Dallas had just gone through one of his puking bouts that we thought were seizures. This same thing happened in March and he was then put on anti-seizure medication, and then it happened again in June. He was admitted in June while the vomiting was happening and they were able to record it on EEG and determine that the vomiting was NOT seizure related. He now has the diagnosis of Cyclical Vomiting Syndrome. Basically this is a fancy name for vomiting that no one can explain. It just happens. So, off the seizure med he went and we move on.

Dallas had an outstanding year at school and continues to knock the socks off everyone. He is talking more and more and understanding more about life in general. We work on communication all the time and try to keep an understanding of his needs and wants. His school team and intervener did a beautiful job teaching him how to ask questions and begin to express feelings. Physically Dallas is getting stronger too. While he is still unsteady on his feet, he walks without his walker and has for some time now. He likes to hold someone’s hand, but also likes to walk by himself too. Dallas continues to have so many strong supports in his life between family, friends, school, and his intervener. We couldn’t be happier about where Dallas is today.

Aside from the news on the main attraction, our family is making a change. We are moving and our house is officially SOLD one week from today. We will be moving in with Scott’s parents while the building process continues on our new home. We are heading to the country and building a rambler, so it’s a big change but we hope it will be the best for our family.

As for Dakota and Dawson, they are both great. Dakota loved kindergarten and is excited for first grade at her new school. Dawson is high demand, but full of fun. He is an affectionate guy and loves attention. The more action the better and he loves his big brother and big sister.