First week with Meg

Meg and Easter

It has been a week! The girls are starting to get along really well. It will take about 6 months for them to become a well oiled machine. Meg is bringing her leash to Hope along with shows, drinks and toys. Meg is walking along side Hope's walker/wheelchair and with a specialized harness. Meg is also bracing (standing firm) so that Hope can use her to stand up. We are working on tugging so Meg can eventually open and close doors. She can shut normal doors for Hope, no sliders yet. Meg is such an amazing dog! We have also been working on car commands. We get to try them again tomorrow when we go to the doctor. I still have a written final and walking final for Meg. Not exactly sure if I am doing them tomorrow or in 2 weeks. The trainer is on vacation next week. That's okay with me though, gives us more time to practice! Soon Hope and Meg will be certified as a team and then they will graduate next year as a team.
Hope was approved for a Challenged Athlete's Grant. What does that mean? Hope will be receiving a $2,700 racing chair through this grant! She will have all year to practice and then rejoin the track team next year. It involves some PR but she is pretty use to the media now!
Tomorrow we go see Dr Shafron for Botox evaluation. She is still standing nicely but she knocking knees again. For some reason her quads (thighs) are tightening up again. I think it has lasted to long to be a growth spurt. I just wish we could find something to help. Her poor knees are building callus again from rubbing. I think we are going to try theratogs again but they are so hot and kind of annoying. Especially when you add dog care and normal braces to the routine. We could easily spend an hour every morning just getting Hope and the dog ready to go.
Next week I meet with the local public school. Hope has been attending an online public school this past year. It has been going nice but mom needs the mornings to study and get in some lab time. There are pros and cons to both. My biggest concerns with her going back to school is I won't see her anymore and there tends to be a rotating door for aides. We can't have that with a service dog. It means I have to cut back hours on a lot of providers too. But on the plus side it would give me a lot of weekend respite if I could find someone to work it and magical funding so we could go do things!
I know of a job opportunity coming up next month. I may apply for this part time job. It's with a work place that I love but it will add a big load to my plate. Part of filing for state services a while back required me to file for child support enforcement. Now they decided to do an update to my child support. I am losing a big chunk of money each month. Wish it could have waiting until after I was out of school. We always make it by though! Something will work out.
I'm on day 3 of Nicoderm CQ. Yes, I have quit smoking, again. Let's hope it lasts more than two and a half years this time. I threw a patch on Monday before school and had to leave my class half way through. I was so bad two class mates came running down the hall after me. Apparently I was white as a ghost and they didn't think I was going to make it out the room. After half an hour of sitting in the teachers office and them force feeding me crackers and caffeine, I was able to stand without falling over. Why I though it was a great idea to quit the week before finals and second week of boot camp, who knows! I haven't killed anyone yet though!
Finals, ugh! My last week of school for this semester is in 2 weeks. (and I get a week break that is already packed full) I had a final today (96% in the class) and I start the rest next week. The only one I am really worried about is Anatomy. We have a HUGE lab coming up on bones and muscles combined and then a written final on bones, muscles, skin, nerves and the brain. Just a few things! I got an A in Psych, can't remember if I told all of you that already.
I am taking on a new volunteering job too. Yes, I know, I'm crazy. I will be having physicians in my home to learn about life with a special needs child. My brain is mush so I can't remember if I already said I am doing a huge conference at Phoenix Children's Hospital on May 1st. I am one of the parents sharing my story and answering any questions other parents may have. I love it!
Sorry for the novel, a lot has been going on. That's the bulk of it! There's a lot more but I don't want to bore you anymore! I am going to try and update at least weekly, but it may not happen until after finals. Thank you everyone for your continued support!