THE SHADDOX BOYS

Jacob and Elijah Shaddox are brothers. Jacob is 21 years old and just moved into an apartment with his girlfriend. He graduated from a technical college with an Associate's degree in Computer Maintenance. He works for a school district as a computer technician. Elijah is almost 18 years old. He is hearing impaired, has Tourette Syndrome, OCD and ADHD. He is a junior in high school. Elijah lives with his mom Mary and her wife, his stepmom. Mary has a bachelor's in deaf education and a masters in special education, and is an educational diagnostician. Life is always changing and this blog has chronicled many of these changes and will continue to do so!






Monday, July 18, 2011

Elijah is Growing!

I took Elijah to the endocronologist today to see how he is doing. He has always been on the low end of the growth chart. He took a lot of steroids as a baby and is on medications even now that could slow down his growth.

We got some very good news. He grew almost two inches since February and is now in the 10th percentile in height. The doctor pointed out that Elijah is "crossing lines" which was good. He means the lines on the growth chart and Elijah started out in the 1st percentile and has made progress by crossing the between the 1st and 10th percentile. He has gained some weight, but at this point is not considered too heavy.

The doctor was pleased with his growth and said we could go back to his pediatrician monitoring him or continue to come back every six months. The main reason this doctor wants to continue to monitor him is because of the medicine that Elijah takes. I agreed and we will go back in January of next year! Its hard to believe we are already half way through this year. Keep your fingers crossed that Elijah continues to grow!

Monday, July 11, 2011

Cats!




Well I had to take Tiger to the vet today. I had noticed the other day that he was favoring his right front paw. Well, it was indeed infected. He also has fleas and tapeworm. The vet gave me flea meds for the other two cats as well as tapeworm meds for them. I won't say how much all of it cost, but it wasn't cheap!

We love our kitties though. Elijah started crying at the vet while we waited for them to bring Tiger out. He was so worried we wouldn't be able to bring him home. The cats have been good for Elijah. He has learned compassion, empathy, love and so many other things from his cats. He loves them unconditionally and they help me to teach him how we treat living things.

Jacob helped me give Oreo and Perky their meds. They each had three pills to talke. UGH! It was no fun at all. A friend who was over helped us with Oreo and she was really good at getting the pill down!

I take Tiger back in two weeks for a check up. If he continues to favor the foot then we will need to do an Xray. I will also take Perky and Oreo in to get their shots updated. I hope this all takes care of things for these three cats. I love them but they are expensive!