Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Doctors and Origami

Yesterday morning I took Ryan and Emma to the International Adoption Clinic at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. Ryan was there because of his melamine exposure. Emma was there because I think she's still developmentally behind.

Since we were at a hospital they had both babies wear bracelets. Obviously Emma was a bit hungry. Ryan loves this vest that I got him and refused to take it off.

The doctor was wonderful and seemed very knowledgeable. We discussed how to test Ryan for melamine exposure both agreeing that there is no determined best way right now. For now we went with testing his urine and blood and moving on to ultrasound if something shows up. He told me that if something new turns up for testing recommendation they will notify me to bring him back. Otherwise, he looks great. And of course we wait for the results of the blood and urine.

An interesting note, for the first time I got someone to tell me if he has a uvula or not. He won't open his mouth wide enough for me to ever see. Dr. Swanson says that he does not have a uvula but it looks like he DID have one and its been surgically cut! Now I have more research to do...

Emma was up next. I told Dr. Swanson that Emma has always been behind and has a pretty extensive medical history already--RSV and on a ventilator, heart murmur, asthma like conditions, eczema and most recently 4 incidents of staph on her face. I told him that I am not an over reactive mother. If anything, I'm under reactive. But she just seems off. In the end he agreed with me, mostly on her verbal skills. His biggest concern was autism but we both agreed that it was unlikely. She makes eye contact and responds to social cues. But at 16 months she only says one word, Momma. She'll mimic sounds but doesn't use any other words. So she now has a referral to a Developmental Behaviorist. She may not have any issues, and I really hope she doesn't, but if its something I can address now then I want to get on it.

But all that poking and prodding is quite exhausting...

So they had to take a little rest on the floor. Now see if I was an over reactive mother I would have been flipping out that my children were lying on the floor instead of taking their picture.

Ryan had to have multiple tubes of blood drawn so down to the outpatient lab we went. I could hardly believe my eyes when the tech stuck the needle in his arm and he just watched in fascination as the blood went down the tube into the big tubes. I can assure you that if Ross had been there getting his blood drawn he would have been pitching a fit before he even got in the room.

I told you all last night that I had a headache so I wasn't the most attentive mother last night. Throw in the fact that I've been harder on the girls about picking up their shoes, coats, toys and school work and you get this:

Jenna made this last night. She called it her origami. She wrote every one's name on their own triangle. What's so amazing is that she sounded out and wrote every one's name all on her own. Ryan was RIN, Ross is ROS, Emma is EMM and Trace is TRES. This is a child who couldn't remember all her letters at the beginning of the school year despite hours and hours of letter flash cards over the last year. She's come quite away in a few months. But while that on its own was remarkable I'm pointing out what she did to the names. Trace, Ryan and Emma's names are circled because they are "nice." Ross' name is "X" because he's mean. Julia and Jenna have an FYI because they are the only ones who have DS Nintendos. (???) And then there's Mom:

Mom has something that looks like 2 lollipops. I asked her what this meant and it means that I'm kind of mean.

"What?" I asked incredulously "Why am I kind of mean?"

"Because you've been making me do things, like work. That makes you kind of mean."

Just wait until she gets a job!

10 comments:

Jesse, James and Lindsey's mom said...

Glad the appt went well..hope everything turns out great. Lindsey is now holding her urine for hours!! She refuses to go pee sometimes. She has had a renal ultrasound and kidney function tests when we came home in 07 before the melamine..so we know that part is ok..I hope she does not have a UTI..keep us posted on the kiddos.

Kay Bratt said...

Staph Infection!?

Now that scares me. We had quite the episode with it starting in Thailand and when we got home to China. I should post about it but it is such a dramatic story that no one would believe it! Keep an eye on that, Denise....it can turn deadly. [not to scare you half too death but just want you to be on your toes..]

Kay

Shari U said...

Love the origami! Jenna is very creative. Can you tell me what games she can play on the DS? I just got one for my 5.5 year old for Christmas, but I'm afraid most of the games will be too hard for her. And yeah, I'd say you're a pretty under-reactive mom with both your kids laying on the floor at the doctor's office! Glad things went well at the check up and I hope all Ryan's tests come back negative.

Denise Grover Swank said...

Oh I know Kay! The entire episode has caused me to change pediatricians over it. I kept taking her to the doctor because she had an itching rash on her face. They would give her Keflex and send her home. It would clear up and and then come back. THREE times this happened one right after the other. Finally, the 4th time they decided to culture it but instead of sending her home with antibiotic they sent her home with a script for topical antibiotic ointment.

A week later I get a call saying the culture came back as staph. "WHAT???" I say. The nurse says "she on Keflex, right?" "NO!" I told her just ointment. She said the nurse practioner who ordered the culture was off that day and would call me the next. She never called.

Two days after the phone call we were at a new pediatrician who seems much more together. This was just one of MANY incidents with this clinic. Remember the converstation over Ryan's immunizations? With Emma's history I need someone who pays attention.

Crystal said...

I can't believe Ryan just sat there while having his blood drawn! I would have been having a fit! I hope the tests com back negative for him and I hope that Emma will be able to get n track developmentally with some help.

Did you get any research done on the uvulva? Why would it have been surgically cut. That's odd.

You really should quit being such a mean mom that makes Jenna do work!

Denise Grover Swank said...

Jenna loves her Nintend Dogs. Its something that's fairly easy for her to play, on the down side she has to "talk" to the dog. When they train their puppy they have to get it to "recognize" their name. So there's a lot of "Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!" going on.

Another game she likes is called Smart Girls. It has mini games,many of which she is capable of playing. I hardly ever have to help her with it, the sign of a good game. :>)

Brandy said...

It sounds like everything went fairly well and you are on the right path to getting her some help. She may not say much but she can shake her groove thang pretty good!

Shari U said...

Denise, Thanks for the response about the DS games. I have already gotten Petz catz, which sounds similar to Nintend dog. I'll look for the smart girl game, because I'm with you.....if she can play it by herself and mommy can be on the computer, it's a good game!

Kristin said...

Okay, where do I start? You know I can't email you because it may take days for it to arrive. What's the deal there????? So annoying!

First of all, I love Jenna's pictures. My girls would likely cross off Alex as being mean too. He isn't----he just likes to torture and mess with them. He doesn't quite see the fine line yet between fun and torture. He will soon, I hope!! I love Jenna's words!!! Must be that teacher in me but the fact she is using her sounds to write words just thrills me!

So glad Ryan's tests have come up fine so far. How strange though that his uvula has been removed. Wonder why? A google question for sure.

Emma. Well, I don't feel she's autisic either. I'm not there at your house but seeing her videos and photos, I would not think that. As the baby of the family, I am not surprised she is not speaking more. Heck, at least she is mimicking sounds. Abby wouldn't do that for a very long time. About sent me over a cliff. Is Emma behind in other ways too? Alex didn't talk until he was almost 3. It drove me crazy!!! But being the baby and having all the medical issues, I have to say I am not surprised she is behind. Then again, this comes from a special ed teacher. Well, currently regular ed but have been there done that.

Thanks for stopping by for koolaid tonight. :-) Talk with you soon---

Anonymous said...

Word of encouragement....

I have three kids. 2 bio and 1 home from China at ten months. NONE of them talked before two and definitely no words by 16 months.

I hope you are getting on it early only to find out that all is well!

My best to you and yours.

Traci