Blog — Kim Rankin

May 12

May 12 Very Two

Monday morning I told crews at the ambulance house that, "someday Nathaniel will have a very two-year-old moment, probably when he is mad at me or wants to get a reaction, and pull his trach tube out." At 6: 31 Monday night, he proved me right.

Rich, Peter, Nathaniel, and I had gone for a walk and were coming up our sidewalk. Peter was ahead of the stroller; Rich and I behind it. Peter looked at Nathaniel who was in his stroller playing with his Ligntening McQueen matchbox car, then turned to unlock the door. Two hands were on the stroller tray playing with a car. Not angry. Not having a temper tantrum. Nathaniel was waiting happily with a smile on his face. Peter turned the key, pushed the door open, turned back towards Nathaniel and yelled, "He pulled his trach out!"

May 5

May 5 One Step at a Time

Kim Rankin

I have enjoyed watching Nathaniel adapt to having his right hand in a cast. He is very creative. Like in the way he decided to look at a book today. He carried his Daniel Tiger book around all day and refused to go outside unless I let him take it along. I am not sure about that cast pillow, but he seemed comfortable and happy in moment. Pretty happy playing with big brother in "bean dirt" earlier this week too.

Apr 28

Apr 28 Hand Sugery and Expectations

Kim Rankin

Hand surgery is behind us. Probably by the time I finish writing and uploading this post, the first three days post surgery will be also be behind us. Three days is the length of time I hear hand surgery pain is the most intense. Managing Nathaniel’s pain has been tricky and some unexpected respiratory issues complicated our post surgery hospital stay. But today I catch myself taking deep breaths and releasing loud exhales of relief. The big day is over. The surgeon cut Nathaniel’s right thumb metacarpal, rotated it one hundred and ten degrees, and pinned it back together. The doctor then sliced a segment of muscle on the pinky side of Nathaniel’s hand and brought it over to support the thumb and increase thumb to finger opposition. Wow. The whole thing amazes me. We will know the final outcome of the surgery in five weeks when Nathaniel’s cast comes off. But for now we rest in the surgeon’s explanation that things went well. I am glad the last four days are behind us.

Apr 19

Apr 19 An Evening with Chickens

Kim Rankin

There were three places I wanted to be on Saturday night: my sister-in-law's surprise fortieth birthday party in Wisconsin, our church's annual fundraiser to support outreach to the marginalized in St. Louis City, and an Eagle Scout ceremony for a young man Rich has encouraged for years.

Instead I spent Saturday evening standing outside a chicken coop with Nathaniel.

Apr 14

Apr 14 PULL! LIFT! CARRY!

Kim Rankin

I write so much about Nathaniel's communication needs, that I have not put into writing the other areas of development that we are addressing in therapy. There are many. Nathaniel continues to have a global developmental delay and some significant sensory processing needs. He has consistently received Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy in addition to his twice weekly Speech Therapy. We had a long day of appointments at St. Louis Children's earlier this month and the collective decision was to start some new weekly therapy there to address some of the sensory needs. We go tomorrow for our first visit, which increases OT to twice a week now. We are putting PT on hold for a time to allow for the extra focus on OT.

Mar 27

Mar 27 Calling 911

Kim Rankin

Calling 911 brings help, right? For most of my life I have understood that to be true. Growing up in a small Ohio vacation town as the daughter of a police officer and volunteer firefighter I was familiar with the world of emergencies. Multiple summer mornings I woke to the scanner tones and heard the dispatch give our address as the location of the call. The first few times it happened I flew out of bed in a panicked pursuit of a stricken family member only to learn it was someone at our front door looking for help. Symptoms of a heart attack. A fishhook caught in an arm. Heat stroke. A Lake Erie rock thrown at the back of a head. Our porch steps were an open triage unit if the police car was parked in front of the house. If my step-father called for additional help and a transport to the hospital, our small yard filled with black cases of medical equipment, a gurney, and the guys who graduated high school a couple years ahead of me who were now volunteering. 911 called. Help arrived.

That paradigm might have been turned completely upside down on Nathaniel’s first night home.

Hi.