Switching Up Routines

It's always hard for us when we have a major change to our routine, especially a routine that has been in place for a year!  It was our first day without physical therapy services, and I'll be honest: I was nervous about how Judith would react, and I wasn't sure what to do with myself since I was missing out on one of the rare opportunities for face-to-face adult interaction that I get in any given week (pathetic, I know, but such is the way of life during RSV season, especially when you don't have Synagis to back you up).  By 2:30, I was trying to figure out why it felt like the day was dragging, and I remembered it was because we wouldn't have PT today.  To celebrate, Judith decided to take a nap during the time when she was so accustomed to working hard.

We're almost a week into the breathing treatments, and we've had a good stretch of cooperation!  It helps that I discovered the goodness of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Disney Jr. every morning - that show is like baby/toddler/preschooler crack, and Judith is hooked after 2 episodes.  As far as kids' shows go, this one is pretty good and doesn't drive me nuts like some of them (::cough cough Barney cough cough::).  It gets us through the majority of the treatment, and I'll take any special distraction we can!  She's also adjusting nicely to the mask.  I know that for many kids, the mask is a huge issue.  However, the more she's using it, the more she's adjusting to it.  I'm always amazed at how quickly she adapts to things, and I attribute a lot of that to everything she's been through in her short life thus far.  Plus it helps that she's used to using her spacer twice a day, every day - that has a mask on it, and Judith knows our key words for her treatment, so I can turn those around and use them during neb treatments!

Granted, I'm typing all of this and painting a glorious picture of this calm, cooperative toddler, and that's not exactly the case.  She has her moments, and today she was extra wiggly during treatment time.  Even so, I'm getting the bulk of the TOBI into her lungs, and that's the important thing.

I feel bad for Buster & Lady.  They're not terrified of the nebulizer, but they certainly don't like it.  The machine is loud, there's vapors in the air, and Judith looks like a little dragon breathing the mist through the mask.  For some odd reason, cords, tubes, and wires freak Buster out, and he's paranoid to jump up or go near an area that he perceives as "obstructed" (realistically, he can easily clear said cord, tube, or wire, but chooses not to unless we coax him... a lot).  Lady has taken to plastering herself against me while I give Judith her treatment - I love the dog, but it's mildly annoying when she does this and sinks into the crevice between cushions on the couch, making it hard for me to move if I need to readjust to Judith's squirming.  I know this is an adjustment for them too, and I'm hoping they adapt, otherwise I'm going to hate to see how they react once Judith can get The Vest.