Well after almost seven years of not being able to get into a swimming pool due to the risk and challenges presented by chlorinated water, Oscar and I headed to the pool for some fun while we were in Dunedin. Moana Pool is a place that Oscar had only been to once when he was about 1 year old and since that visit only a couple of swims to another pool around the same time. This means he has had an almost seven year absence from pool swimming and learning to swim and become water safe/smart.
It was a really quite emotional time taking him along to the pool. The buzz of him being able to go to the pool was fantastic and in the same experience the excitement and anticipation form Oscar was pretty special. Oscar didn’t have any memory or previous experience to draw on of what a pool was like, asking questions to get in his mind what the experience would involve. He asked if we have to make a booking and where do we pay and where do we go after we pay! Once we were at the pool it was great to see such excitement on Oscar's face, enjoying the pool and cautiously splashing around before we got onto the Hydro slide and had some fun riding down the water slide together. I felt pretty stoked that we were finally able to share these experiences together after such a void of swimming for him. He had so much fun and was absolutely buzzing and his most powerful quote to me was saying “This is like dreamland” Almost a tear to the eye and a jerk on the emotional strings seeing our little man enjoying such an experience.
After this swim it was a good wash down of all the pool water and some moisturiser to keep his skin hydrated and wait and see that there was no reactions….. There wasn’t, his skin is looking so good at the moment.
So after the time at the pool and all the excited sharing of the experience it was back there again for another swim the next day! Oscar had so much fun it was such a buzz to see him enjoying the water and having this fun experience he has missed out on for so long.
It really is a great milestone to now be able to look at getting him water smart and into some swimming in a pool in the near future.
I feel proud of his achievement getting in the water and look forward to seeing him share many more water experiences with us all as a family in the future, next for the water testing out is Harry in the near future all going well...
Our trip to Dunedin was also aligned with an appointment with the specialist at the hospital who has his scheduled appointment check ups with Oscar. He had a medical student working alongside him and described Oscar to his student as one of his longer standing patients who had come through a long line of severe skin challenges. The appointment was the usual messages of prescribed care and treatment but more so focusing on his now ‘almost perfect’ skin. Oscar was told at this appointment that we did not need to come back as he was now all better and on track to living a well managed itch free time ahead with his skin, providing we kept things all in line with what in the past has sent him into the itching and red skin problems. So all up a really positive trip to Dunedin for Oscar. Harry at this stage will still remain on the immunosuppressive treatment but is really making solid progress towards perfect skin also.
We are so happy for our little men finally feeling a lot better and Charlie is now enjoying more time playing with them as opposed to what used to be time spent waiting for them to feel less itchy and ready to play.
written by - Dad-Andrew :)
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