Appointments, Shmuppointments!

Busy, busy, busy! We have started our whirlwind month of appointments and so far so good.

Orthopedics was first to bat and once again the same old frustrations with our doctors appointments remain. Last August, I wrote a post about our irritation regarding the fact that no one seems to share information or know why we have made appointments. Not a lot has changed in a year.
We walk into our appointment and are asked "So what brings you here today?" Uuhhhh....well, my son's a dwarf and we were told to make an appointment with you when he started walking. We made that appointment and after giving him a perfunctory once-over, you told us to come back 6 months later so....here we are! Don't get me wrong, our doctor is very, very nice. It's just that having to tell the doctors why we are there is getting a little old, especially when we don't even know the answer.

Beyond that, another set of X rays was taken despite the fact that he had recently had a full MRI, skeletal survey and X rays. The orthepedic office was totally unaware of this even though they all work in the same health system. I suppose I shouldn't get too worked up about it. It wasn't a big deal for us, just a big deal for our health insurance. No wonder the cost of health care is rising. It would seem like a little efficiency would do some good. I am otherwise very happy with the care Owen has received, I'm just harping on details. Back to the point at hand...

Owen is fine! Everything looked good. He doesn't seem to have any skeletal problems (aside from the whole skeletal dysplasia thing of course). He doesn't appear to have scoliosis, and they were not worried about lordosis, kyphosis or any other "sis" that could possibly plague him. For now, we will come back in a year, and they will ask us why we are there! Hahaha!!

As you can see below - Owen really enjoyed getting his X rays!
After the appointment we took him to Halloween USA to try on some costumes. Do we go with
Bad Ass Cop?
or Charles Nelson Riley?
Next big news. Owen started back to his PT again at the begining of September. Everthing has been great and his teachers have been amazed at his progress. At the end of last school year, we sat down with his physical therapist and came up with an IEP or individualized education plan, for the fall semester. It included: learning to walk on uneven surfaces (check), stepping over ledges (check), kicking a ball (check), learning to stand from sitting (check) and learning to go up and down stairs on his knees (check and check). So basically his therapist are like "What do we do with him?". He's age appropriate for all physical skills. We have decided to suspend his in home therapy visits until he is 2 at which time he will be reevaluated and new goals will be set. We will still bring him to class once a week, but that will be the extent of his theraputic services for now! Yay!

And last - the Dreaded Sleep Study. Yes it's capitalized for a reason. That was the official title I had given it. Turns out, it wasn't so bad! I had to work that morning at 6:00 am and my wonderful parents were able to keep him from napping. Somehow, by the grace of God, he did not fall asleep on the hour long car ride to Ann Arbor. By the time we both arrived to the room, we were ready for bed! It didn't take him long to fall alseep and he slept like a rock all night,despite the fact that the nurse was in and out of his room. Thank the Lord for small favors! We expect the results sometime next week, but I have a funny feeling I know what they are going to say. I think the study will show that there are periods of time where Owen's oxygen levels deplete slightly but it's nothing that requires surgery or intervention. We should come back in a year. "Come back in a year" is what we have been used to hearing lately. But it's good thing!

Despite being a good sport through most of the sleep study, Owen did express his displeasure with the wires!
Next week, it's off to Dr. Pauli. I'm very excited to have an expert look at him. It will give both Dan and I piece of mind that nothing is getting overlooked. So help me god though, if he asks what we are doing there.... :)

RANDOM PICTURES
Go Chips! Dan gratuated from Central Michigan University, the same college as Amy Rolloff. He also minored in Hospitality, Amy's minor.
Owen's first day of school outfit!