Tuesday, April 7, 2009

More Medical Mumbo-Jumbo

Today consisted of two different Dr. appointments.

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First was Mika's Orthopedic, Dr. Siegel (finally!). It was waaaaaay back in January when our pediatrician, Dr. Cunningham, told us we should probably go see her because Mika was looking pigeon-toed. To refresh your memory, we also needed to make another appointment for her hips to be checked at about 21 months because of her hip dysplasia so we just lumped it all in now.

So, should I give you the bad news or the bad news first?

OK, I'll start with the bad news.

Mika's x-ray on her hips show that they are not progressing as we would like. I don't fully understand all the angles and such, but I know that at 1 year we wanted the angles to be less that 30% and at 2 years they want them to be less than 20%. At 1year they measured 28% and 27%. Well, now 8 months later they still measure 28% and 27%. Not good.

As far as the other bad news goes, Dr. Siegel explained that when a kid is pigeon-toed they look to see what joint/bone is causing it: is it the hips, tibia, or feet themselves? We already know Mika's hips aren't perfect, so that is a little bit of our problem. Most of it is her tibia's, however. Her right isn't as bad as her left, but they both still turn in.

So, here is what comes next: We are going to first deal with the feet. Dr. Siegel has prescribed what is called a Denis Browne Splint for Mika. I believe she wants to be this aggressive because a) we need to deal with the hips as well, and b) Mika's getting to an age where she can get out of/take off braces and splints. She will only wear this at night. We have an evaluation with the prosthetic/orthopedic people tomorrow to get Mika fitted and find out more about her wearing it.

At this point here next appointment is in 6 months, when she'll be 26 months old (2 years and 2 months for those of you who need it broken down). Looking back on that I'm not sure if it was a mistake, or if she really doesn't need to be seen with the Denis Browne Splint for 6 months. If the people tomorrow don't have any insight into this I'll call Dr. Siegel's office back and ask them.

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As for Urijah, he had his weight check today. He is a whopping 13lbs10.5oz!!! Eat boy, eat!!! I can't tell you exactly how much he's gained 'cause I can't find my record right now, but if I do, I'll update this post. The only bad thing is that I've had to completely stop nursing him because I just completely dried up. :-( I'm bummed about that, but happy my boy is getting fed.

His reflux is still going strong, unfortunately. So we'll just keep him on the Previcid until his 6 month appointment (which will be when he's 7 months, thanx to me not knowing I need to schedual his appointments 4 months in advance), then wean him off and see how he does.

Urijah did get 2 shots today - PC and HIB. He's a little grumpy so far but not bad, poor boy.

1 comment:

Lara said...

Hey Kailah!!

I'm so sorry to hear about Mika!!! I really thought the days of having to go to the Ortho were going to be behind her. :-( It sounds like they have a good plan on how to get things on the up and up though. Hoping to get a very positive update soon!

Urijah is growing!! YEAH!! It is a bummer that the bfing didn't work out!! :-( I would be completely sad as well... but the good news is that he is getting good nutrition from his formula and will continue to grow and thrive!!!

Here's hoping today is MUCH more restful than yesterday for you!!

P.S. how do you make your super cute signature?? I would love one for my blog!