This report from US News & World report came out mid July rating the top hospitals in the country. They had an overall ranking and then scored by specialty. Owen receives care at the Unversity of Michgan which was ranked 13 on the overall list. It was interesting to read where U of M stood as far as the categories that Owen will need concentrated care: orthopedics and neurology (they didn't rank genetics). In the neurology department, there are 5Michigan Hosptials ranked in the top 50 (and 4 of them are in Detroit!)
I thought you would be interested to see where your hospital ranks. Give me feedback!
Us News & World Report: America's Best Hospitals
Showing posts with label medial terms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label medial terms. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Well Charted Territory
Thanks to everyone who offered their stories and thoughts about the last post. It was especially nice to hear from Julie (finally!) It's nice to feel that I'm not alone. Sometimes you throw these things out there and are never sure if people will think you are insane or brilliant. Although, I always love to think it's the latter, I'm hoping it's somewhere in between the two.
Owen had a well check at his new pediatrician's last week (our previous ped retired) and here are the latest stats.
At 17 months old, Owen is 28 3/4th inches, 22.5 lbs with a head circumference of 52.5cm. Just to give a little perspective as to where that puts him on the growth charts I've plotted him so that you can get a visual!
Health Supervision for Children with Achondroplasia.
Owen seems to be falling in about the 75th percentile for height on the achondroplasia chart.
His head size is a little below the 50th percentile in his chart and off the pin heads - ahem - I mean average size baby charts. Sorry average height babies, that was a cheap shot!
I'll be honest. I don't really know what is going on in this chart. He's kind of in the middle so I'm assuming that's good. You're on your own with this one.
There were 2 shocking parts about Owen's measurements. #1 - He kinda had a growth spurt! His last measurement at 14 months was 27 inches. Almost 2 inches in 3 months is significant considering that he has grown 10 inches over the span of his entire life. Shocking fact #2 - He has only gained 5 ounces since March. He's thinning out! This is something I never thought would happen. OK, let me rephrase that. I'm not saying I thought he would stay his wonderful squishy self forever, I just thought the thinning out growth spurts were reserved for average height kids. At this point, I've pretty much gotten used to his growth progressing by fractions of inches so anything over an inch was a pleasant surprise.
In other news, I finally made an appointment with Dr. Pauli. Dr. Pauli is the former Chairman for the LPA Medical Advisory Board and commenly acknowledged as the doc du jour for little people. He is based in Wisconsin but has satellite offices in Akron, OH and Grand Rapids, MI. We will be seeing him in Grand Rapids sometime in October. We got the chance to meet him at the National Conference and thought he was great! He was actually surprised that there was an infant with dwarfism in Michigan that he hasn't seen!
Other upcoming appointments: Sleep study re-do in September. His Dec '07 study was inconclusive so we are doing it again. I should say, Dan is doing it this time. Once was enough for me! We have another MRI in October. His first MRI showed some narrowing of the foramen magnum and enlarged ventricles. Our neurologist recommended have another MRI in 6 months, so we will go back to poke around a bit. October will also be his first real orthopedic appointment. We had a consult in May, but will go back for X Rays and a full exam in the now very busy upcoming months.
I know I promised more Drew and Owen pictures, but I left my camera at my cousins so they will have to wait. I can however, tide the picture-lovers over with shots from our outing at the Grand Blanc Splash Pad!
Splash pad buddies, Drew, Owen and Blake
Owen had a well check at his new pediatrician's last week (our previous ped retired) and here are the latest stats.
At 17 months old, Owen is 28 3/4th inches, 22.5 lbs with a head circumference of 52.5cm. Just to give a little perspective as to where that puts him on the growth charts I've plotted him so that you can get a visual!
*Copyright Information*Ok, what you are looking at here are the charts for males with achondroplasia. The charts also include average height curves so that you can plot simultaniously. The grey area is average height and the unbroken lines are the achondroplasia curve. The height and circumference is in centimeters and weight is in kilograms. Here are the links in case you would like to examine further
These charts are copyrighted by the American Academy of Pediatrics
Health Supervision for Children with Achondroplasia.
Owen seems to be falling in about the 75th percentile for height on the achondroplasia chart.
His head size is a little below the 50th percentile in his chart and off the pin heads - ahem - I mean average size baby charts. Sorry average height babies, that was a cheap shot!
I'll be honest. I don't really know what is going on in this chart. He's kind of in the middle so I'm assuming that's good. You're on your own with this one.
There were 2 shocking parts about Owen's measurements. #1 - He kinda had a growth spurt! His last measurement at 14 months was 27 inches. Almost 2 inches in 3 months is significant considering that he has grown 10 inches over the span of his entire life. Shocking fact #2 - He has only gained 5 ounces since March. He's thinning out! This is something I never thought would happen. OK, let me rephrase that. I'm not saying I thought he would stay his wonderful squishy self forever, I just thought the thinning out growth spurts were reserved for average height kids. At this point, I've pretty much gotten used to his growth progressing by fractions of inches so anything over an inch was a pleasant surprise.
In other news, I finally made an appointment with Dr. Pauli. Dr. Pauli is the former Chairman for the LPA Medical Advisory Board and commenly acknowledged as the doc du jour for little people. He is based in Wisconsin but has satellite offices in Akron, OH and Grand Rapids, MI. We will be seeing him in Grand Rapids sometime in October. We got the chance to meet him at the National Conference and thought he was great! He was actually surprised that there was an infant with dwarfism in Michigan that he hasn't seen!
Other upcoming appointments: Sleep study re-do in September. His Dec '07 study was inconclusive so we are doing it again. I should say, Dan is doing it this time. Once was enough for me! We have another MRI in October. His first MRI showed some narrowing of the foramen magnum and enlarged ventricles. Our neurologist recommended have another MRI in 6 months, so we will go back to poke around a bit. October will also be his first real orthopedic appointment. We had a consult in May, but will go back for X Rays and a full exam in the now very busy upcoming months.
I know I promised more Drew and Owen pictures, but I left my camera at my cousins so they will have to wait. I can however, tide the picture-lovers over with shots from our outing at the Grand Blanc Splash Pad!
Splash pad buddies, Drew, Owen and Blake
Monday, April 28, 2008
MRI
Last Wednesday, Owen's achondroplastic rite of passage finally came! The MRI. We were lucky enough to have our consult scheduled on the same day, meaning we would get the results right away.
There were no big surprises for us. I knew what they were going to tell me before they said it. Everything looks good, but there are a few areas to watch out for. Owen's foramen magnum (the opening at the base of the skull that allows fluid to drain)has closed a bit and at 50 cm (19.5 inches), his head size has spiked on the charts. Also, his ventricles had enlarged since his first MRI at birth. This means that there could be some cerebrospinal fluid trapped in Owen's brain. All these symptoms point to a risk of hydrocephalus so our neurologist wants us to keep an eye on it. Simply put, hydrocephalus or "water on the brain" means that there is an abnormal accumulation of fluid in the brain. This could cause problems from clumsinesss to learning disabilities. The common treatment for hydrocephalus is a placing a cerebral shunt into the ventricles of Owen's brain to help drain the fluid. Our neurologist, Dr. Garton, was not concerned enough to take any action but wanted to see us back in 6 months for another MRI (Blue Cross should love that!).
Dr. Garton takes a conservative approach when it comes to shunting. He feels that kids with achondroplasia are shunted to early and too often and prefers to watch and wait. Dan and I appreciate this. We don't want to go mucking around in Owen's brain if we don't half too! The down side is that while waiting to see how Owen does, his head could keep getting bigger where a shunt would slow the growth. Once again, however, Dan and I would rather buy bigger hats then have an unnecessary shunt put in.
We will have to watch motor delays, numbness of the arms and legs (how the hell will we be able to tell that?!), obvious pain, clumsiness (hmmmm, we may already be there) and other signs that something may be off. Luckily there are no restrictions for him. He can still go to PT, play, walk and do everything he normally does. So all in all, pretty neutral news. Like I said, it's exactly what I expected. I have seen a growth in Owen's head but not any worrisome symptoms, so I suspected that this is what they would tell us. Dr. Garton did notice his lumbar kyphosis (cuvature of the spine), but didn't think it was bad and said it will most likely go away as he starts bearing more weight. We have made an appointment for an orthepedist in mid May, so we will get some more info then.!
Arrggg...I totally forgot my camera that day so I can only show you the latest pictures!
This was after the MRI. They put him under a general anesthesia. Hmmm...do you think it had any effect??
Last Thursday, it was Farm Day at the school Owen goes to for PT....He made some new friends!
Owen -that's one big...rooster!
4 legs good, 2 legs bad!
Suddently craving mint jelly...
Owen found his favorite animal!
There were no big surprises for us. I knew what they were going to tell me before they said it. Everything looks good, but there are a few areas to watch out for. Owen's foramen magnum (the opening at the base of the skull that allows fluid to drain)has closed a bit and at 50 cm (19.5 inches), his head size has spiked on the charts. Also, his ventricles had enlarged since his first MRI at birth. This means that there could be some cerebrospinal fluid trapped in Owen's brain. All these symptoms point to a risk of hydrocephalus so our neurologist wants us to keep an eye on it. Simply put, hydrocephalus or "water on the brain" means that there is an abnormal accumulation of fluid in the brain. This could cause problems from clumsinesss to learning disabilities. The common treatment for hydrocephalus is a placing a cerebral shunt into the ventricles of Owen's brain to help drain the fluid. Our neurologist, Dr. Garton, was not concerned enough to take any action but wanted to see us back in 6 months for another MRI (Blue Cross should love that!).
Dr. Garton takes a conservative approach when it comes to shunting. He feels that kids with achondroplasia are shunted to early and too often and prefers to watch and wait. Dan and I appreciate this. We don't want to go mucking around in Owen's brain if we don't half too! The down side is that while waiting to see how Owen does, his head could keep getting bigger where a shunt would slow the growth. Once again, however, Dan and I would rather buy bigger hats then have an unnecessary shunt put in.
We will have to watch motor delays, numbness of the arms and legs (how the hell will we be able to tell that?!), obvious pain, clumsiness (hmmmm, we may already be there) and other signs that something may be off. Luckily there are no restrictions for him. He can still go to PT, play, walk and do everything he normally does. So all in all, pretty neutral news. Like I said, it's exactly what I expected. I have seen a growth in Owen's head but not any worrisome symptoms, so I suspected that this is what they would tell us. Dr. Garton did notice his lumbar kyphosis (cuvature of the spine), but didn't think it was bad and said it will most likely go away as he starts bearing more weight. We have made an appointment for an orthepedist in mid May, so we will get some more info then.!
Arrggg...I totally forgot my camera that day so I can only show you the latest pictures!
This was after the MRI. They put him under a general anesthesia. Hmmm...do you think it had any effect??
Last Thursday, it was Farm Day at the school Owen goes to for PT....He made some new friends!
Owen -that's one big...rooster!
4 legs good, 2 legs bad!
Suddently craving mint jelly...
Owen found his favorite animal!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)