2015 Give Me A Break!

We're almost at the half year mark, and still have not settled into some much needed routine.

January - 3 weeks of lung infection and non stop suctioning, followed by hospitalisation, then came a fall and re-hospitalisation.

February - Chinese doc visits to cure Daen of his protracted cough. Chinese New Year.

March - Appointments galore: ENT, Sleep Study, Neuro, Speech Therapy, Physiotherapy, Orthotics new Afos.

April - Lee Kuan Yew passes away. Send old helper back. Train new helper. I lost 3 kilogrammes.

May - Vera Gastroenteritis 2 weeks, followed by Daen Gastroenteritis. Both lost weight.

I have been trying so hard to get Vera settled into school but my efforts get thwarted over and over again with all that has been happening since the start of the year.

All these while I attempt to still deliver at my job.

Which was why this Monday, I lost it.

It was a fine sunny day, and I had just gotten Vera ready to enter the pool at school. We'd missed so many hydrotherapy sessions, the most enjoyable part of school for Vera.

Then, there was a lightning alert. We were not allowed to enter the pool.

I stormed to the office. There must be a mistake...it's sunny blue skies!!!

They told me it was activated by the met station.

I called a nearby pool, intent on finding an alternative place, but it was under maintenance.

At that point I felt really disappointed and upset.

Months of emotional strain got to me.

And now the stinger: The pain in Daen's ankle joint is back.

Just thinking about another whole cycle of injections fills me with dread.

Why does life as a parent have to be so hard?

Water Girl

It has been a long time since Vera had gone into the pool at school. 

Hydrotherapy is once a week, but due her many bouts of illnesses, we have had to stay away from school. 

Yesterday was the second time this year. 

And boy, was she happy to be in the water again. 

Besides the regular duck pedaling that she does, she's now added in vigorous upper body movements. Just this simple improvement brings me such joy. 

In the water, she comes alive, free of the weight of her limbs.

If Vera could tell us, what would she wish for? I'd reckon to swim every day, to be in her element. 

Bath Chair Base Solution

We've been bathing Vera in this Canetons Bath Chair for years. 

She's really outgrown it, so we've had to look for another bath solution.

Limitations:
1) Our shower area is really cramped.
2) We are looking at a basic special needs bath chair, knowing how costly they are.
3) We have limited space in the bathroom to store it.

We settled on the medium Otter Bath Chair at S$450 from DNR. There is still room for height growth, and the tilting allows us to wash Vera properly.

Next, we needed a base for it to sit on, so we can stand and bathe Vera.

The problem was, the accompanying Shower Stand base was too broad, and could not fit into our shower area. It was also extremely heavy and costly at S$350. Just for the stand.

We had to find another solution for the base.

I got excited when I googled and found another narrower version of the base for the Otter, available in Australia. It would fit our shower perfectly.

But when the quote came back, our jaws dropped: S$995. For a base.

That's when Daddy stepped in to work his magic.

He figured some sort of A frame would suffice. We could custom make it, but then he found this selling in Singapore:

A lightweight, foldable made-in-Japan frame designed to take a man's standing weight. It could lock in place and seemed stable enough. Price of the base: An affordable S$62

The next question was how to secure the bath chair to the base.

Daddy bought two L brackets and riveted them to the base. They would hold the chair bars.

Then he used stretchable hooks to anchor the chair to the base.

Voila! Vera's new bath solution:

The best part: Everything folds neatly under our sink, with space to spare.

Hooray for our handyman!