Busy Day

Today was spent mostly at the hospital for two doctor appointments. I somehow managed to make an appointment with Holland's gastroenterologist and Egypt's rheumatologist on the same day. Even at different times! I never could have planned that so carefully if I had tried. After dropping Romania at the bus stop and then quickly gathering some distractions and snacks for the hospital, we drove up and had a valet park our van. I tell you. Whoever invented that was a genius. How easy is that? You drive up to a curb. A nice guy gives you a little ticket and goes and parks your car.

Holland's doctor was even on time. Just gotta give him more Miralax and some rice bran. He's not having stomach aches, but doc said he's still backed up. Ugh. He asked if Holland had any questions and he actually remembered that he might get to start eating oatmeal now. We have to get blood work done to see where his gluten levels are at. If they're still low, we can introduce real oatmeal - the catch is it has to be gluten free. Betch'a didn't know there was such a thing as gluten free oatmeal? Well, Bob's Red Mill has it. No fake oatmeal (none of those tasty Quaker packets). I don't even think those are real oats. Gluten free oatmeal actually looks like what real oatmeal should look like. The taste is a little different and it takes longer to cook, but we doctor it up with brown sugar and cinnamon.

So after seeing this doctor, we go back to the valet, get our van and drive over to the next office building (the main hospital) and I went one time around the parking garage, found no spots and then drove up to the next set of valets and handed over my car again. What's great about this is it's complimentary. We got another parking stub and walked into Diagnostics to wait until our check-in time. My parents met us there and my dad took Holland so he wouldn't be stuck at the hospital all afternoon. They ran some errands and got lunch. We got Egypt checked in and then the nurse got us to do all the vitals and talk about the procedure. I was sure she'd be more scared than last year because she was 3 1/2. The nurse let her pick the flavor for the mask (bubblegum) and then the doctor came in and I signed a bunch of forms and he talked about the risks. He was fairly certain it would just be the one joint, but she had been complaining of her left knee hurting, so he said he'd check that while she was out. The whole thing lasted less than 10 minutes. I was in the gift shop buying her some books when the doctor came in and said it was over. We got to go back to the room and be there when she woke up. She almost sat straight up and we had to lay her back down. She got a popsicle and a wagon ride to the car.

We have a follow up in four weeks to check the joint, but so far, it looks good. The doctor said "just a quiet afternoon" before she went in. Then he kinda laughed when he said this while watching her bounce around the room. It didn't take her long to want to run and play. She makes a horrible sick person. It's very deceiving :-)

Two For One MRI's

Stranger things have happened, but we seem to have had our share of trips to the hospital and emergency room (see yesterday's post!) Both Super-Hero dad and Holland are having MRI's this week. Super-Hero goes in today to have them look at his shoulder. He's been having pain for quite some time and like any normal man, he waits until he can't move it at all and THEN he goes to the doctor. At first, the orthopedic doctor sent him to do Physical Therapy. He went probably 15 times total and did his exercises religiously twice a day. Things were not improving and he thought were even getting worse. So they scheduled an MRI today to figure out what's going on. He probably got hurt landscaping our backyard and then scar tissue formed over whatever didn't heal properly.

Which brings us to MRI #2. With all of Holland's medical issues, little things like headaches were getting pushed to the side. But after his "holy moley" ear infection cleared up and they didn't go away, the pediatrician said it's time to check out his brain. Is there some Guiness Book record that we have broken for the most ailments to one person? I'm kinda thinking we're close if we haven't already beaten it. I'm not even trying to predict the outcome of this one. Because we have to go back and see the surgeon that did his tethered cord surgery. He's been having bowel problems and tingling in his feet and legs. Both are symptoms of scar tissue forming over the cord that was cut.

The next doctor

We have an appointment for Egypt on May 7th with a Pediatric Rhematologist. It's at the same hospital where Holland had all his appointments for the tethered cord and his surgery. My pediatrician told me she was glad I got in to see this particular doctor because he's so good. She said if he wasn't available she would have sent me across state lines! So glad I didn't have to do that. She has been so good in referring doctors that I would go anywhere she told me.

As I was getting everyone ready to leave for school the phone rang and it was Egypt's pedi. She had blood work done last week and we were waiting for the results. I've never had the doctor call back about lab work, so I was kind of uneasy. She said two of the tests made her suspicious. They were both tests that could be interpreted as being positive for rheumatoid arthritis. The one test that was supposed to show if it was arthritis came back negative, but with the other two showing signs of being high, she wasn't ready to rule it out. So glad we are seeing this doctor next week. She favors the other leg - you can see it when she sits and she walks up the stairs on her toes.

Feel the Burn

I actually made it to the deep water exercise class today. I almost didn't even bother. Holland woke me up at 5 to open his door and go to the bathroom. Of course after that, I couldn't go back to sleep and he just played in his room. So I layed there thinking about how I couldn't go back to sleep and how I'd have to get up in 90minutes. Then there's the craziness of trying to get three kids ready to catch the bus and drive the other one to school.

I made the childcare reservation this morning, so I forced myself to go.

I was the youngest one in the class. Didn't help my ego at all. I think the average age was about 60. But most of them looked like they were there to visit and I was paying for childcare, so I was gettin' my 5 bucks worth! I definately felt it. Especially since I had just done two days of workouts at home. But, no one could see my sweat! Big plus for that.

I already will have to interrupt the swimming schedule on Wednesday. Holland is going to see an Occupational Therapist. He'll be evaluated for fine motor skills (trouble with handwriting, writing in one direction, putting things in order). I can't believe we're going to see yet another doctor. My insurance company actually set up a care management person for us. Maybe we've been red-flagged.

What's my prize?

Today we saw a Urologist. The first thing he asks the doc is if he gets a prize. Why are kids so embarrassing sometimes? You'd think they had barn animals raising them looking at their manners.

Down to just one more doctor before we find out what's going on with Holland. This doc had more information than the others (tests sent to him) and he's really leaning towards tethered cord. When we started our conversation, he said there were about 5 red flags for him. The fact that he has spina bifida and that he's reverted back to enuresis is not a good sign. He has gaps in his spine in two different places. If it's tethered cord, he said the surgery is pretty simple, just an overnight stay. It would be wonderful if it is that easy to fix. I'm supposed to get him to the toilet every 2 hours. (Is he crazy? It's like telling a sick mom to rest!) I'm supposed to buy this $50 watch (which I'm sure will last a whole day here) that vibrates to remind him to go. It would probably become some science project.