special needs
Dystonia Awareness Month: My Toddlers Life with Dystonia
The First Time I Saw Dystonia The first time I saw dystonia was when my daughter was less than an hour old. At the time, I didn’t know what it was. Her tiny legs were shaking uncontrollably and stiff. The nurses thought it was a seizure, but it wasn’t. It stopped—and nobody mentioned it again. […]
Nursing for My Child: A Beautiful Gift in a Special Needs World
Bearing the Load Together When Paige was first diagnosed – a little 3 month old baby – the terms “24 hour nursing care” were thrown at me, and I felt as though they were weapons. I was scared of not knowing how to take care of trach dependent child, yes, but the thought of having […]
If Your Child Needs a Trach: Part 2
Once your child receives the tracheostomy, the information seems never-ending. I personally felt as though simply caring for the trach would take up 24 hours of my day. I couldn’t imagine stepping aside for a minute – I couldn’t imagine the time and energy it would take to constantly take care of secretions, bacteria, etc. […]