Liam had his 6 month recheck with Dr. Baszler today for an in-toeing issue with his left leg/foot that started about 10 months ago. I don't know who I felt sorrier for when he walked into the exam room. The first thing out of Liam's mouth, before Dr. Baszler could even close the door, was, "Doctor hurt me?" He was standing there with these huge inquisitive eyes and his little hand on his chest, wearing nothing but a long sleeve t-shirt and diaper, staring up at this gigantic man in a white coat. Dr. Baszler is probably 6' 3", so Liam really had to crane his neck to make eye contact with him. Before Dr. Baszler could respond, Liam repeated, "Doctor hurt Liam?" Awww.... poor kid! I felt so bad for him. He had already asked me that when he found out he was going to see a doctor, and I reassured him that the doctor would not hurt him. He also asked if "Liam get shot?" to which I also promised he would not. Our doctor has a very warm smile and kind demeanor, so he quickly earned their trust. The exam went well. He said he notices significant improvements, he doesn't recommend x-rays (and never has), and we should just watch it at home. I agree completely with his assessment, so I guess we are done with that issue! Yay!
The entire time I was sitting there talking about Liam's issue, I was fighting the urge to ask him about Maya's neck. She has had this high cervical spine clicking that started at the beginning of December. It never causes her any pain or neurological symptoms, so we have been waiting it out. Will did ask Dr. Baszler about it over the phone, and he also asked the opinion of a spine specialist. I still did not feel at ease, considering neither of these doctors had actually laid their hands on Maya. I felt that was necessary to give an actual opinion, so despite their over-the-phone diagnosis, I couldn't let it rest. It's her neck, for crying out loud! So, towards the end of Liam's visit, I swallowed my pride (believe me, I hated being THAT patient) and asked him about her neck. I thought he would listen to the click and tell me whether or not I needed to make an actual appointment with him. Oh, no. He gave her a full exam right then and there and asked me if we had time to do a series of x-rays on her! Um, yeah! Are you kidding?? I was a little nervous during his exam because he asked me if there was a family history of rheumatoid arthritis or that condition that makes all of your connective tissue super-stretchy. I told him that I didn't know of any, then he tested her flexibility a little bit. She could easily lay her thumb against her forearm, and the fact that she can touch her head to her butt or feet without any effort is a pretty clear indication that there is some hyper-flexibility going on there! He felt the films were necessary to make sure she didn't have any ligamentous instability. If the x-rays proved this to be true, she would have to be out of gymnastics for a couple of years, just to make sure she didn't do any damage to her spinal cord while the ligament became stable. That was my biggest concern - her having something wrong, us not knowing it, then her getting injured because we chose not to check it out. I thanked him about 100 times, got my "new patient" paperwork to fill out for Maya, and headed to the x-ray department. She was a total champ during the series of x-rays. I put on a lead apron and went in with her. I think they took about 7 films, and she sat perfectly still for each one. I was so proud of her! In the meantime, Liam was entertaining Chris, another radiology department employee and one of my hip-hop dance buddies! We were in and out of there pretty quickly.
After a small mishap with the automatic revolving door (Just picture Liam in one section in front of me, heading for the exit that lets out right next to the parking lot and Maya and I in the section right behind him. Now, picture me pulling on the door with all of my strength to stop it, so Liam could get out and I could quickly follow to keep him from walking out into the street... all the while screaming at him through the glass to "STOP!" Needless to say, it was a fiasco.) - those things are dangerous for small children and should be outlawed, by the way - we headed home, and I called Will to tell him what all we had done at the hospital. He didn't know that I was going to ask Dr. Baszler about Maya, so I had to call and confess that I had pulled one of the most obnoxious patient moves on his friend. Thank goodness they are friends. That might explain why he was so accommodating!
By mid-afternoon, Will was tired of waiting for the x-ray results, so he called up the radiologist. Another doctor had already read them, and this doctor looked them over, too, just for good measure. The verdict? All clear! YAY!! God continues to bless our children with health! Thank you, Lord!!
The kids had a major "on" day today. They were playing so well together that I let them BOTH skip their naps! They played without interruption or participation by me for about FOUR hours! I could not believe it. It was too much of a beautiful thing to make them stop and take naps. At one point, I could hear Maya downstairs saying to Liam, who was undoubtedly standing in the play-structure (a.k.a "the tower"), "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your golden hair!" Oh boy, what an awesome brother. Liam plays the part of the girl and doesn't even care! One of the many qualities that I admire in him - his ability to go with the flow! When he came upstairs, he too was reciting the line, so apparently at some point, he got to switch and play the part of Flynn Rider. Maya did inform me that when she fills up her vase this time, she wants to go see Rapunzel again and this time, take her brother. I agreed wholeheartedly. After their big day of play, the kids went down for bed super-easy. Ahhhh..... That makes Mama happy!
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