Week of Doctors

In the last two weeks, it seems as though they should assign me a cot at Children's Hospital to stay as much as we have been there! Tuesday is our typical day for therapy. Now that both Hannah and Mila receive therapy, we are there for 90 minutes each week.

Last Tuesday after PT, Mila had her first appointment with the physical medicine doctor. We are seeing the same physician that Hannah sees. We really like his bedside manner and his willingness with the girls to "wait and see" how things go, rather than push all kinds of equipment, therapies, and surgeries on us. With Hannah he waited a while to let her get home and established before suggesting botox. With Mila, he would like to keep an eye on the hip that is dislocated (we'll need x-rays again in 3-4 months to check that it hasn't gotten worse), and he suggested we get AFOs for her feet. He wrote us a script for AFOs as well as a bath chair since she isn't supporting herself in the bath tub. (We later found out that insurance/medicaid will not pay for ANY bathroom equipment....it's considered a luxury! ~WHAT??~ taking a bath is a luxury??)
Friday we returned to the same Physical Medicine office, but this time for Hannah's botox follow-up. The doctor is pleased with the progress/change we are seeing with botox in the hamstrings. When I expressed my concern about her left foot turning in significantly and the heel never touching the ground, he decided maybe it was time to try botox in her calves, which will help her ankles flex better. (We had talked about botox in the calves before, but he took the "wait and see" attitude to see what progress she could make with botox in the hamstrings).

This week we have been to the hospital 3 times. PT on Tuesday, Nephrology on Thursday, Eye surgery on Friday! (And an overnight trip to the Amish Country with 'Big Belly Grandpa' and Grandma Karen)

We were referred to Nephrology by the adoption clinic because of Mila's past history of UTI. Hannah had countless UTI's in her home country, but with both girls, we haven't had one yet. The doctor we saw in Nephrology said constipation and UTI's can go hand in hand. When there is hard stool sitting below the bladder it sometimes does not allow the bladder to drain all the way, therefore possibly the remaining urine in the bladder picking up some bacteria and causing a UTI. His (the doctor's) suggestion was to put Mila on a schedule that works for her using Miralax, this way keeping the stool soft (but not too soft) and hopefully causing the UTI. We have been referred to a Gastro doctor as well because of Mila's NEC (perforated intestine surgery at birth) typically causes children to have diarrhea, rather than constipation. We'll see the Gastric doctor at the end of September!

And today, we spent half the day at the hospital with Hannah. Hannah has strabismus (lazy eyes). When we first brought her home her eyes were not consistent in how much they were turning in. With the patching and glasses, her eyes have become more consistent in how much they are turning in, so it was time to fix the problem.
We arrived at the hospital at 9:40am. Surgery was scheduled for 11:40am. (No food after 12:00 midnight last night, only apple juice this AM, and nothing after 8:30am.) They gave Hannah a medicine that made her loopy so that when it was time to take her back for surgery, it would be easier for her to part with Mama and Papa. Boy did it make her goofy! She sat on my lap and made the funniest sounds and failed around like a drunk 4 year old! When the doctor came in, Hannah asked (in slurred speech) "what's your name?" her told her Tom, then he asked what her name was. (Again, with slurred speech) "My name's Tom.......that's funny!" At 11:40 they wheeled her back to the operating room, making train sounds and all! 45 minutes later the doctor came out and said the surgery went well and Hannah was telling jokes before falling asleep! It took her a little longer to come out of the anaesthetic, so we finally left the hospital around 2:30!


Pictures: A silly pose with Papa after having medicine, the disgusted look (thank goodness there was no sound with pictures!), a girl has to have her purse...even on surgery day, the goofy look, and the cool shades they gave her to block out the light!

We are looking forward to a relaxing weekend. Next week we'll be back twice. Monday we go to be fitted for Mila's AFOs and she has a pediatric opthomology appointment and we'll go for PT for both girls on Tuesday. Thankfully we'll get most of these appointments done before school starts in 2 weeks!