2nd Week In Review

Man -- another week got away from me...:)

So, from my earlier post, Monday was the day Sheri and Destin went to the rehab clinic. We knew that the doctor would notice that the D-man is pretty tight, and he walks on his tippy toes. She gave us the run down on what treatments are available.

One is straight out surgery where they will go in and stretch the tendons. We weren't really big fans of that, and the doctor said that Destin doesn't have an extreme case to necessitate such an intrusive measure.

The other option is the one that we are going with. Botox injections with serial casting. It sounds exactly like it is :). Destin will get Botox injections then wear a cast for about a week. This helps stretch out his leg. It's an iterative process. This could go on for a few weeks. The doctor said they have seen great success with the treatment. I just think it's funny that it's Botox injections. We are going to start it after Labor Day. Destin may also be fit for AFO's. These are braces that will help him balance and support himself while walking.

Another interesting thing happened at the rehab clinic at Children's. The rehab doctor saw some white matter in Destin's MRI. This white matter could have been blood from an injury Destin sustained while in Sheri's womb. Without going into too much detail, the rehab doc said this could be signs of PVL(periventricular leukomalacia) which is bleeding on the side of a child's ventricles. Most of these cases lead to a form cerebral palsy. The radiologist that did Destin's MRI in April
mentions it in his report but didn't say either way. Sheri and I were confused because we were not told about this. We probably should have assumed that though; with a lot of the communication issues we've faced with Children's Hospital. Sheri was making calls right and left to get this figured out. She had a long talk with the neurologist that was at Destin's MRI. She answered all of our questions and was a great help. We will probably do another MRI next April to make sure that the white matter is okay. Even if he does have a touch of PVL, it's not a degenerative deal. It will not get worse. This was somewhat of a funky tagent, but it was a big part of our week.

Wednesday was Destin's first real visit to the Kay Toomey feeding clinic. Actually, we were told to call it feeding school going forward. Susan Massey is the person who will be helping Destin. Susan, Sheri, Destin got to know each other for most of the session. The initial focus seems to be on hard munchables and drinking.

At play group on Thursday, it was Ben's last day. Ben has been coming to the group since he was 9 months. He turns 3 this week. He and Destin have been to the park a few times, and will continue to be friends, but we'll definitely miss him in the play group.

The D-man had a physical therapy appointment on Friday. Similar to the rehab clinic, the physical therapist were checking out his lower extremities. Destin's feet are pretty tight. The range of motion for most 2 year olds is 15 to 20 degrees, 30 being the best. Destin's range of motion is -8 degrees in his left foot and -3 in his right foot (yes, those are negatives!). He has a ways to go, but it's not impossible by any means. The PT said the botox and the casting will be very helpful in Destin's case.

Friday night, we all went over to the Mitchell's(MK, Ken, and Karter-Man) house. They needed some help moving some stuff for a garage sale. Michelle and Andrew were there as well. Sheri and Michelle were helping Kristin organize all "her crap" while Andrew, Ken and myself were responsible for moving the big stuff. I don't know if I've mentioned it, but Kristin is pregnant with twin boys. Bless her heart. They are making room for the two new additions.

We had the baby shower for Laura, Tim, and Baby-Z on Saturday. It was a great time. Sheri went down early to help the host, Nicky, set up everything. We got them a Boppy, Destin's favorite easy chair. We also got him a shirt from Destin, FL, and The Going To Bed Book. The Wojtalik's got some pretty good loot, and they are more then ready for little Z to arrive. Can't wait to meet him!

As you are reading, you've probably noticed we've been extra busy this week. So today we tried to relax. We went grocery shopping but that's about as ambitious as we got.

Again I'm hoping it won't be a week's time before my next post. This one may earn the record for longest post!

The Week In Review

The week got away from me, so here are the highlights.

On Monday, Sheri and Destin went to the pool with Michelle and Karter. They had a good time. It's been so hot here in Denver lately, you really can only be two places: indoors or by some water.

Tuesday, Becky brought some blocks with beads inside. Destin took a shine to them. We also went to eat at Illegal Pete's in Boulder with Dr. Joe, Emma, and Claire. Emma and Claire say that Illegal Petes' or, IP, is their favorite place to eat in Boulder.

The visit with the endocrinologist was on Wednesday. He didn't think that Destin had that much of an issue; which was good news. He was going to re-run the blood test to make sure; he thought that the low score was a fluke thing. Sheri and the D-man went down to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner, and to make some initial preparations for a 2nd birthday party (Shhh....don't tell the pea packer!)

On Friday, Sheri and Destin met Stacey and her girls at Cherry Creek Mall. They played on the breakfast food in the middle of the mall and had lunch at California Pizza Kitchen.

The weekend was fairly busy. We were out running errands on Saturday. Today, we headed up to see Dr. Joe and his girls in Estes Park. They have been hanging out up there all week. We took a mini hike around Sprague Lake and got some good photos.

The week ahead is looking pretty busy. On Monday, Destin is scheduled to go to the Children's Hospital Rehab Center. It has been recommended to us since Destin walks on his toes so much. They are going to look at his feet inside and out to see if there is anything different going on. He could be fit for some type of orthopedic to help him straighten out. We have Becky coming on Tuesday as always. On Wednesday, Destin has his first visit to the Kay Toomey feeding clinic. Thursday is play group. Friday, Sheri and Destin are going to the pool with Delane and Brianna. On Saturday, We have a baby shower for Laura and Tim Wojtalik.

As far as new abilities this week, Destin has been drinking better out of a sippie cup. He took about 2.5 ounces with Sheri tonight. We are going to continue to practice. We are sure the feeding clinic will help out as well.

I'm hoping to make time to do a couple posts next week, so I don't have to do a mongo one again next weekend.

Lots O' Stuff Part 2

In continuation of my previous post, a couple other "visits" have come out of his visit with the GI doc. Destin will be seeing a endocrinologist and a cardiologist.

As a result of Destin's blood test, it was determined that he has hyperthyroidism. Basically this means that he cannot put on weight as easy as other kids can. It's not an extreme case, his thyroid measurement was a little more then 6. Normal is between 7 and 16. We see the endocrinologist on Wednesday. He'll be able to tell us if Destin's issue will be able to be corrected by medication or something else (whatever that may be).

On to the cardiologist. We've known since Destin was born that he could have a minor heart murmur. On August 9th, we'll know for sure.

I also forgot to mention the meeting with the dietician at Dr. Barrios' office (GI Guy). She thought we were doing the best we could with the pea packer's diet. She did give us a protein powder to mix into all his food. Give him a few weeks, and he'll be a regular beefcake. (even with his thyroid issue!)

So enough doctor talk. We had a great weekend. Destin and I vegged out most of Saturday as Sheri had to run a few errands. Today, we hit the pool for a little bit in the morning and Cherry Creek Mall in the afternoon. Getting ready for another busy week.

Flickr Photo Bar

You may have noticed that I added a photo bar to the photos page. These links will take you to my Flickr account. Flickr is a great online photo sharing website.

Pop Pop/Dave/Dad has a spot too.

Most of the photos that are posted on Flickr will be in the photos section here. I just thought I would mention the photo bar since it's new...:)

Where To Begin - Lots O' Stuff

I guess the biggest change in Destin's life over the past few weeks is the Kay Toomey clinic. We haven't started regular visits, but we will be going once a week. Destin had a visit with Dr. Frank from the clinic yesterday. Dr. Frank is the pediatrician for the group.

Sheri and I are excited about it. We know that it's going to be a little bit of a journey, but we are ready for it. The first thing the clinic is going to work on is his drinking from a cup. This is our main concern as well. We believe that he's getting good nutrients and enough food to grow, but he needs a lot more fluid. We feel very comfortable there, and we're anxious to get started.

We had a visit with Dr. Dickerson before we left for vacation. He is now over the 20 lbs marker; a regular beefcake! Destin turned 22 months the day we left for Florida. Two more and we will stop counting in months..:)

Florida was awesome. We really enjoyed it. Gran and Pop Pop did too. They were kind enough to watch the pea packer when Sheri and I went to Chicago for Tiffany and Zach's wedding. We enjoyed the time between the two of us, and I think the three of them had a good time back in Florida. The annual trip to Destin just might have to turn into a two week trip in the years to come. We left right before Hurricane Dennis made his way into the gulf.

Since being back, Destin has had his visit with Dr. Frank, as I mentioned earlier; a visit from Becky, and a swallow study and upper GI test, which was today. Sheri said is was a little troubling because the upper GI test assumes that your child is drinking from a bottle or cup. They had to put a G-tube in to do the test. Sheri said that the D-man was fine though; heart of a lion. He has playgroup tomorrow, we are excited for it because he's picked up a few things these past two weeks.

He is sitting up a lot better and more often. He's discovering his strength more and more. It's neat to see.

I'm sure I left a few things out. I will have to run this by Mama Sheri. Maybe I'll have a "Lots O' Stuff Part 2".

Back In The Rockies

We are back safe and sound from beautiful Destin, FL. We were out of there well before Hurricane Dennis (The Menace) came through, but we watched him on the weather channel all weekend.

It was a wonderful trip. This was the first time we took two weeks to go down there. We think that it just might be better to do so...:)

I have tons to talk about from before the trip, during, and a little after, so I'm hoping to have some blog time this week.