Ophthalmologist
Nate's eyes are still crossed (as I'm sure you may have noticed in some of his pictures). Hi eye doc, Dr. Z, was leaning toward surgery at our last appointment in October. However, she was confident that he could see just fine. She didn't want to rush into a surgery too soon because she was worried that the muscles may get too loose and over time cause his eyes to drift out. She thought doing the surgery closer to the age of 2 was safe. The appointment is Feb. 15 and I am guessing we may be making plans over my spring break for the surgery. It's outpatient, but Nate still would have to be put under. This surgery would be his fifth.
Neurologist
It's been nearly a year since Nate's last sleep study. He still has apnea and requires oxygen when he sleeps. It's really become second nature to us, and to him I think. However he still has occasional episodes where he "alarms" during the night (his pulse oximeter detects a low oxygen level, usually below 90 for an extended period and will alarm-similar to an alarm clock). We still don't have any definitive answers as to why he has apnea and whether he will grow out of it. We are hoping that the sleep study will show improvement and possibly provide more answers for us. His sleep study is Feb. 18th.
We are also seeing the neurologist for his "hand mirroring". It's hard to explain, but his hands will do the exact same thing at the same time. For example, if he is pointing to things in a book with his right hand, his left hand is off to the side, finger pointed, following the same motions as the right. Our OT is looking for some answers and is hoping neurology can give us some insight. This has limited Nate's fine motor skills and could become more cumbersome for him as he gets older if we can't break it. Our current plan of action is casting. Fortunately we just discovered air casts, which would be like a big arm floatie that we could take on and off and wouldn't be nearly as permanent as a cast.
Pediatrician
Ironically enough, this is the one I dread the most. Ryan and I decided on a delayed vaccination schedule for Nate early on and our ped hasn't been shy about voicing his displeasure. It seems like every time I go in we hear a lecture about the importance of getting vaccinated. Which I know. Nate is currently up to date on all his vaccines except for one- the MMR. Oh, how I dread this one. I don't know why, exactly, but I am terrified of him getting this shot. Ryan and I looked into trying to find it separately so we could space them out instead of doing the booster but had no luck. I haven't actually made this appointment yet. Still working up the courage, I guess.
We are committed to getting Nate the best care possible, even if it means we are seemingly running from appointment to appointment or specialist to specialist. It may not be fun (especially for him) but it's necessary and just a part of life for us now. We are blessed to have good health insurance and live near such great hospitals. It is such a relief to know my baby is in good hands!
So here's hoping for good news in February...
Cute picture to go along with the blog. Thanks for keeping us updated. Maybe you'll see some results after these upcoming appointments.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to see Nathan crossing his fingers. That is very hard to do. Gramma has been teaching him to stick two fingers up for his upcoming second birthday in June, but his mother is stopping me, due to she doesn't want him to turn "2" yet. He always takes special pictures...
ReplyDeleteI thoight that was pretty good too, to see his fingers crossed. I can't see his other hand in the shot though, were his fingers crossed on his other hand? If not, maybe the mirroring thing isn't that critical, just a habit. How about when he puts up the 2 fingers? Same on both hands? Maybe it is a talent.
ReplyDeleteHi Stephanie-I totally understand your fears about the MMR. We actually did get them spaced out-and we just go to Wellgroup in Chicago Heights, nowhere fancy. I'm surprised your ped. can't do it for you. That said, my husband (who works at Children's Memorial) has absolutely no fears about vaccines (I'm the one who requested the spacing.) Our ped. was fine with spacing the shots out, but made it pretty clear that he didn't feel there was any connection between the shots and autism. He said he felt that all his autistic patients demonstrated characteristics of autism prior to the vaccine. Something to think about, I guess, and hopefully help you feel less stressed about it!
ReplyDelete(That fingers crossed photo is adorable!)