Felipe saw his pediatrician on Tuesday. Overall he is doing great and she was delighted to see that the new therapy technique has yielded such great and speedy results. He is at 50% weight and 60% hieght for a child his age. During the physical, the doctor checked to see how his hips were doing. Prior to Janurary, she had not felt any difference in his hips. The Ortho at Mt Sinani came for a consult during his week long stay there and she was the one who noted that he had a very slight (and couldn't be seen by regular physical) hip displacement. Reviewing the X ray she determined both hips were displaced by 30%. The new ortho, at Hospital for Special Surgery seemed to agree that the displacement is very minor and might even be considered normal for his age. So basically, we were to monitor the hips with X rays in September.
This physical exam, the doctor said she could feel the hip, the left one, coming in and out of the socket. Not a good sign. Felipe was not in any discomfort or any pain. She was concerned that it was something she began to feel, whereas a few months ago, it was barely noticeable that she couldn't identify it. She asked if I could call the Ortho and schedule an earlier appointment. The PT at home had also made a comment about his hips, his concerns that Felipe hasn't kept weight on his left leg for long. Thinking that September wasn't too far away, he thought it would be ok to wait till then.
Spoke with Ortho's secretary and nurse, they recommend him to come into the office immediately. Felipe has an appointment with Ortho on Monday at 9am. He will most likely get a physical and an Xray to see whether the hips have gotten worse. Again, this all is a domino effect from not being able to bare weight on his legs bc of his feet. If there is no weight baring on his legs, his hip sockets do not form deep groves. If there are no deep groves, the hips remain with a very little arch and can cause hips to get frequently dislocated. Surgery would be required to make the grooves deeper.
Praying that we have a solution and a plan for Felipe's overall physical therapy and rehabilitation by Monday. Since we have to go see Ortho we will have to cancel the Monday appointment at the gym, and depending when we get out of the appointment, possibly the speech and special instructor appointment.
Its a bit disheartening to hear that hip surgery is a possibility. So far he has been making such great progress and I don't want that to end or be derailed due to recovering from another surgery. And I was getting used to not being in a hospital environment for long period of time. Being away from home and by Felipe's bedside was very exhausting and not the greatest for my health. I ate whatever was available and usually ordered comfort food. I'm also making strides in being healthier and don't want to be derailed by more stress. However, stress is inevitable and so I'll have to take it as a challenge to be better even under the stressful circumstances.
In December, while I was in a particular funk with all the stress of trying to settle back from the rehab center, coordinating the services to come into the home, and trying to find an answer to his drop foot, I spent a lot of my time watching TV. They say its like "chewing gum for the eyes" but really for me it was my escape. And what better way to escape the stress of life by binge watching episodes of CHUCK on Netflix. CHUCK is this comedy/action series about a dorky, college drop out who unwillingly becomes the holder of information for the CIA and he has to become a semi-spy while the try to get the info back from him. Its a comedy bc he is so dorky, untrained spy and all the messes he gets into. But I mention CHUCK bc in the series he has a brother in law who he lives with, Captain Awesome. He has a real name but everyone calls him Captain Awesome. He got that name bc he does everything well. He is friendly, he is an outdoor adventurer, he is an avid biker, traveler, etc, and during the day he is a doctor. He is the boyfriend of chuck's sister who he lives with and the comedy surrounds it all bc they don't know that Chuck is a semi-spy and all the ridiculous things that Chuck has to cover up before he blows his cover.
Anyway, a long detailed explanation of my own moment of realizing that I would love Felipe to be his own version of Captain Awesome. Be physically fit, travel, be daring in life, intelligent, and kind. The whole physically fit part was in question for now, can he do contact sports? can run? can he walk? And Felipe's progress had given me hope in the direction of a "yes!" I will continue to pray for that hope and healing. However, even if he is healed, Felipe's "Captain Awesomeness" needs to have an example of "awesomeness" from his parents. I haven't been on a bike in years, why do I think he is going to be biking to and from work? biking along the mountains of the alps? biking on the trails before going camping?! lol So despite the usual waste of time TV watching can be, especially watching over 90 episodes of a series, this show pointed me in the direction of getting healthier and more adventurous so that I can be an example for Felipe. While Felipe is going through his rehabilitation of learning to walk, then I will learn to be more "awesome."
I'm determined to start with a bike. Getting a bike and getting a little baby seat for Felipe to have a front view and experience the joy of wind in his hair. While its a goal right now, I'm without a bike, helmet, baby seat or space to put said bike. However, as God has provided me while being out on leave, if its adventure worth beginning, things will sort themselves out. I have faith :)
Here is to being Awesome despite not always having awesome news.....ciao ciao
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