Patching begins...

Ethan has started patching.  It is going pretty much as expected.  The first day he absolutely hated it.  We were at my folks place in Vancouver when we started and he complained that he wasn't having any fun anymore because of the patch.  :-( 

We found the next day that breaking it up into two 2-hour sessions worked better for him and by the fourth day, he had gotten used to it enough that his first 2-hour session went to 4 hours and we informed him - much to his exquisite delight - that he was done for the day and didn't have to do a second session. 

Dina found a blog of a father who had to patch his son and made it more 'fun' for him by drawing pictures on his patch.  Needless to say we adopted this idea the very moment and it has helped a little.  We let Ethan determine what he wants drawn and then I do it.  So far: USS Enterprise, the Enterprise insignia, a Star Wars stormtrooper...  - you can see a theme here. 

One issue we've run into is that after only 5 days is that the constant application and removal of the patch is irritating his skin.  We called this in and they suggested (of all things) rubbing some Milk of Magnesia or Malox on the area before applying the patch.  Apparently this forms a kind of barrier between the skin and the patch adhesive.  We shall see to it's efficacy.  

We also had Ethan pick out a glasses frame and they should be ready sometime this week. 

- bob