Lots of people this afternoon

Big thing of the day was that from 3:00 to 6:00 it was crazy here with lots of people.

First was Paul from Apria (RT) here to do vent checks on the boys' Trilogys and to check serial numbers of equipment.  I kind of think that somehow we are losing out on some equipment that was probably 'patient purchased' as we had rented it to own, but then Apria swapped it out and we never got to keep it.  For instance, in the paperwork Paul had it said we had purchase 3 suction machines over the years and we only have ONE that they told us was purchased.  There are pros and cons of purchasing equipment anyway, but still.  We do own all of our old blue cough assists, so that's a good thing.  We're only renting the 'new' style cough assist under Colin's name.  With the new insurance, I'm going to get one for Casey.  I hope they don't buck it but we'll see.

While Paul was here a tech from The Medical Store came to fix Casey's power chair.  The chair worked with the attendant control but he couldn't drive it.  Turns out it was the controller thingy that went bad.  It's partially fixed--Casey can drive it, but it still flashes the error until they get us a new cable.  Sigh.

And, while they were both still here, Deb from Biomedics came.  She was here for at least two hours.  She looked at Colin's AFOs, his night time leg braces, and his belly brace.  She added a strap that will help keep Colin's foot in place in his AFOs and added a padding here and there.  She glued the inside foam to Colin's night time braces so they be easier to put on.  She declared that Colin has grown quite a bit since he got his belly brace (TLSO) in March/April of 2013.  His torso had grown about 3 inches!!  So, she'll be putting in a pre-authorization for that.  We MAY try a two piece clam shell instead of the one piece.  I'm collecting some info and pics to show her of how some other families have had them made.  She's fine with it although she says it is bulkier on the sides so I'm still looking at options. 

Deb looked at Casey's AFOs and stretched them out and we used some soup cans to keep them stretched while they cooled.  She flared out a couple of spots on Casey's night time braces.  She reshaped Casey's left hand splint to make it fit better and for his thumb to stay better in place.  So those were all good things to get done.  She is a great orthotist!

Disappointing day (but it was beautiful weather!!)

The engineer from UVM was supposed to come today to meet the boys and check out their switch access and see if he may have some ideas on making things easier and more accessible for the boys.  Claire (OT from school who initiated all this) called me early this morning to let me know that he had to cancel for today.  Bummer!  He's working on some big project and needed the time to do it.  We'll look at scheduling again for a couple of weeks out.  BUT, she didn't call me too early because I already had my special brownies made!  So the nurses, Aunt Chris and I got to enjoy them instead of having to share them with the UVM engineer and school people :)  They were most excellent.  Very fudgy with chocolate chips inside and chocolate frosting.

Then we got the boys ready for their first neighborhood walk this summer.  Nancy decided to take Casey's manual chair instead of his power chair (she isn't the most confident of manueverers) and Casey isn't ready to drive on Route 7 (they only have to go a little way on the main road).  But, I'd like to be there the first time he uses his power chair for a walk like that.  Anyway, he didn't mind.  I wiped it all down and put the fresh covers on the seat so it was all fresh.  After being in Julie's car for a week it had pollen all over it!  The boys hit a garage sale but didn't want anything.  I'm pretty surprised but sometimes they're like that, ha ha.

I had the house to myself for 55 minutes!!!  The phone didn't ring (I should have thought to silence it) and the animals were quiet so I had some real quiet time.  I heated up some leftovers from dinner--yummy grilled chicken breasts and some spinach sauteed with bacon and walnuts and a big glass of water.  I sat for the whole meal!!  Watched my judge show and enjoyed the quiet and wondered how the boys were doing ;-)

Boys and their Nana's (two Nancys) did their own thing when they got back.  They were a little warm but it's not humid at all.  Beautiful, tiniest bit of a breeze, blue skies, about 83 degrees.  Ahhh!

My other disappointment came when I learned that Casey's vent did not arrive at the Apria branch.  I was pissed!!  It was supposedly ordered on Tuesday.  Thought it would be in on Thursday.  No such luck for Thursday.  Called today.  NOPE!  No one had tracked it or looked into why it hadn't come.  I was livid!  I tried not to take it out on the RT but where was the branch manager???  ON VACATION!!  Ridiculous!   I am very thankful that we weren't planning on going out of town this weekend.  Long story but RT called back and they have a vent that was going back on the shelf and the RT on call will grab it and bring it if needed.  I guess we'll have to bag him or I could try to set up one of Colin's for him...I'm kind of worried because this vent has the same tag on it saying it needs to be checked in June of 2013 which is what the one that gave the "vent inoperable" reading on Tuesday.

Brought Jaxon out for two Frisbees plays today.  One time he went down by the pond and dropped the Frisbee and started toward the street.  Not a good thing. But I held up the other Frisbee and called to him and he came back, thank goodness!

Watered the front (and only) garden this evening.  I went out with my rain jacket on (first jacket handy) so I wouldn't get eaten up by the mosquitoes.  This way I only had to swat away by my face.  I hate that they are so rampant this year.  They're even out during the day hours.