Each year I feel like time goes by faster and faster. I always find myself wondering where the time went. I took a little time and ran some data for 2010. The numbers are pretty crazy.
If you look at our Resources tab you can see that there are many people contributing to Casey’s well being. It truly does take a village. Tim and I are so grateful to the amazing people we have helping with Casey.
In 2010 I ran numbers for doctor appointments, therapy appointments, and nursing shifts. I just focused on Casey’s health related visits. I did not add up the monthly (or more) visits from the nursing agency to come out to do paperwork, assessments, etc. I also did not add up evaluations from different professionals for services, new therapies, equipments, etc. I did not include numbers for the calls we made to health care professionals (some resulted in appointments, but many did not). I did not include numbers for the appointments and meetings Tim and/or I had on Casey’s behalf (school, services, etc). In addition I did not include special needs fun activities (play groups, parties, trips, or Casey’s Make-A-Wish). Not to mention, there is nothing tracking the time we spend making appointments/managing Casey’s schedule, ordering supplies, training staff on Casey’s needs, dealing with insurance or other billing issues, etc.
Casey had 65 doctor appointments in 2010. These include visits to the pediatrician, specialists, 4 EEG appointments, and 6 AFO adjustments. There was a period of nearly 4 months with weekly appointments to address her ear wound this year. Each specialist sees Casey at least twice a year, some as many as 6 times a year.
Next I added up therapy appointments. Casey had 248 therapy appointments. These include physical, speech, occupational and vision at home. This number also includes physical, water, speech and occupational out of the house. There are a few music and massage therapy appointments in this number as well. Sadly those are both on hold for now. Hopefully they will pick up again soon.
Finally I added up nursing shifts. On an average week we have Tuesday-Friday days covered (8 hours). We also have Sunday-Thursday nights covered (8 hours). On a good week we get a respite shift or 2 as well (3-6 hours). When I added these up for 2010 Casey had 461 shifts covered.
Happily, there are no hospital stays or surgeries to add to 2010’s numbers. That always makes it a good year. We are hoping to get Casey into school in 2011. I am not sure how much that will affect these numbers next year. I guess time will tell.