Update on MRI

Today Holland had his MRI. Egypt spent the night at my parent's house and I dropped Romania at the bus stop this morning so it was just the two of us. He couldn't have anything to eat, only clear liquids, so he was pretty cranky all morning. We just took it easy and didn't do school. He played the Wii, played with the cats and Legos until it was time to leave. I'm always amazed at how well he handles being in the hospital. The intake nurse was very nice and the anesthesiologist Dr. Wong came in beforehand to answer any questions. The whole procedure took about 45 minutes and he came out of it beautifully. He was still a bit cranky he couldn't eat right away, but I took him out for Sprite and some McDonald's french fries later. The hardest thing for him is to be "still" and he was told not to do any activity tonight other than sitting on the couch and doing quiet activities. We find out next week what all the headaches mean, but the nurse said that headaches are common to spinal cord issues.

The Immunization Crisis

For the past week and a half, I've been on the phone almost daily trying to track down medical records for the boys. We're on our third pediatrician and somehow records never got transferred when we changed peds. Neither facility can locate the records. One place went private and sent all their records back up to a teaching hospital and the other facility changed computer systems. The receptionist tried to tell me since we weren't in the system, they didn't have our charts. Luckily, our former doctor walked by and I joked that "you lost my boys!" She was able to explain to the receptionist that they would have to locate the records by hand (what a concept! Something has to be done without a computer!) I still have not heard from either facility.

The whole reason behind this is Holland's school waited until 2 weeks ago to tell me they didn't have his immunizations and he would have to leave school on February
20th if they didn't have them. What they do have is incomplete. In some cases they don't have record of 4 sequences of shots. I know that I didn't miss any, but no way to prove it. Last night I was watching a movie and got this weird feeling that I had seen a yellow folded card that I could picture his immunizations charted on. I went through several drawers, craft boxes, and receipt boxes. I did find the record that came from San Diego where Holland was born (with his given birth name. Wouldn't that be fun to explain??) And then as I was standing in the school room looking at a stack of drawers, there it was. The record I must have used when Holland went to preschool!! I was so thankful because it meant he didn't have to miss school or go through about 6 more shots.

Doctor, Doctor, Therapist, Therapist

There should probably be one more therapist in there. Holland had an appointment with an Occupational Therapist today. I was thinking it was more for strengthening his back and some small motor issues I've noticed, but the OT pointed out many things I hadn't noticed. (Which is why I'm not an OT). I brought his IEP, writing samples and a list of the meds he is on. I had seen a change in his handwriting over the past year or so. When I was schooling at home, he had really nice handwriting. Very careful to copy the words, spacing was right on. He had all the mechanics. But by the end of his 2nd grade year and the beginning of 3rd grade, I saw a drop in legibility, spacing, and letter formation. After a short observation, the OT thinks that his writing problems could be linked to his medication. I knew that tremors were a possible side effect of one, but assumed it would be noticeable in daily activity. She had me watch him write and sure enough, there was a shakiness to his writing. This is probably not something that can be remedied with therapy, but not to worry, he has plenty of other things to be concerned with!

He has trouble copying body movements. She had him stand facing her and he was to copy her movements. He had great difficulty with some of them and after watching him I wondered how he lasted so long in karate. He could not touch his right arm to a lifted right knee and then switch. He would lift one knee and then touch the standing leg with the wrong hand. He also had trouble raising his arms fully extended above his head. She asked me if he had ever broken his arm. Nope. But he's double jointed in his elbows and after she pointed it out, I wondered why I never noticed it! We're going to meet with the OT once a week and looks like we'll also see a Phsyical Therapist to help with movement related to his Spina Bifida and tethered cord. I also filled out a lengthy sensory questionnaire. It will be interesting to see how all his sensory issues relate to his current struggles and frustrations. We're slowly getting more of the picture here. If this were a 500 piece puzzle, I'd say we've successfully completed 6 pieces so far.