7 years ago, I took our sweet baby Peter home and Chris and I began our life as parents. Upon leaving the hospital, the doctors and nurses mentioned the threat of jaundice of which I knew very little about, except that I should put the baby in sun to help him. What they didn't tell me was that my blood type and Peter's blood type differ to a degree that makes jaundice worse. I was so tired from having delivered Peter that all I could think about was going home and sleeping. I went home and slept, later to have Peter develop severe jaundice, not quite bad enough to be put under the lights but close. Going home, I felt that the jaundice wasn't a big deal, they didn't seem to stress the severity of it or what it is. Had I known about the blood type connection, knowing that he would get it bad because of it, I would have been better prepared.
Later when he was 6 month old, Peter's pediatrician in Farmington, NM suggested we see a specialist because his feet seemed to be deformed, he may have possibly had club foot. I took Peter as directed and nothing was found. Then later when he didn't walk until after 18 months his pediatrician in Socorro suggested we see a specialists to see why he wasn't walking yet. That led to further investigations, lots of therapist, early intervention, and a whole slew of specialists and doctors visits, eventually leading to surgery. We were told that he had "rocker bottom foot" and perhaps he was cramped in the womb resulting in his feet not growing properly. He had surgery on both feet and then braces afterward. The picture above is Peter at age 3 when a lot of these doctors appointments were taking place. After surgery, recovery and with Chris graduating college and moving to Texas we felt we could put it all behind us. We felt Peter had been treated and that the problem was more or less solved with the surgery.
Then during on of our homeschool days I was exercising with the kids. We were using elastic bands and stretching our feet. I noticed that Peter couldn't do what Sam was doing and that he was getting a bit frustrated. Upon further investigation, I realized that something didn't seem right, he didn't seem capable of bending his left foot forward. I then went to his pediatrician here in Houston. He didn't feel the need to investigate the problem if it didn't cause pain. I insisted that he needed to be reevaluated and thankfully the doctor consented to referring us to a specialist.
After seeing the specialist, he agreed that further investigation and treatment would be needed. He said that it appeared that Peter was missing a major nerve running the length of his leg. I was baffled how other doctors prior could have missed that. After the initial visit all the previous medical records from all those specialist in New Mexico needed to be requested a sent over. Luckily all the records were in one hospital system so you would think that would make it quick and easy. 6 months and 3 requests later, they finally got the records, proving that "3rd time is the charm".
The doctor called today to inform us that Peter has a mild form of Cerebral Palsy called Spastic Diplegia. I was blown away, why do doctors not tell you these things? They didn't fully inform me of jaundice and they never mentioned cerebral palsy. How are we to know the right questions to ask? How are we to avoid situations like this? I don't like not being told. Had we not moved to Texas, we may have never been told of this condition. Ignorance is not bliss.
There are things that happen all the time that we don't fully understand, but we all deserve the right to as much information as humanly possible. Withholding information is wrong. But even worse, my heart goes out to those less prosperous 3rd world countries where a sweet child like Peter could have grown up permanently crippled not having access to surgery.
Today during scripture study the kids wrote about their feeling about the verse in the Book of Mormon that says, "we lived after the manner of happiness." They wrote about how keeping the commandments and giving to the poor makes us happy. I thought about all the activities and things that are suppose to "make" us happy. When it really comes down to it, I can be depressed and unhappy in the mist of heaven on earth if I so choose. I could surround myself with everything good and wonderful and still be grumpy. Happiness is a choice. Counting our blessings helps us to get in the frame of mind so that we can choose to be happy. Happiness is a choice, a frame of mind, an attitude. I guess its really our attitude that makes us who we are.
The doctor told us that Peter would need braces the rest of his life and Peter got excited. He anxiously awaits further treatment and braces to help his feet.
3 comments:
So frustrating. All doctors are guess, some start from a better beginning. Others just have a knack for deduction; e. g. TV doctors.
How great that you thought to question what you were seeing and being told. That's one of the key indicators of a great mother.
Wow, you guys are doing a great job as parents! I'm a firm believer in midwives, all of my kids have been born at home; and we're planning on this one to be the same way unless we feel differently along the way. Why is it you have to "dig" the information out of Dr.s? Good job in being persistent! I've had that calling for the past year and 1/2 and it's callenging at times to get people interested. (Funny, you'd think with a recession, it being a commandment etc. it wouldn't be so hard.) Do you have a specific cirriculum you follow in homeschooling?
Thanks for the compliments! As far as homeschooling, I don't use any one particular curriculum, I don't really believe in following what someone else tells me to tell my kids, some curriculum is word for word what you tell your kid. Call it rebellion or boredom, I don't like someone else to tell me how to teach my kids. I do have some curriculum and use it more as a guide. I taught seminary for nearly 3 years, and I think the Lord was preparing me through that and the mission. I use a lot of the same techniques from teaching in the mission field and seminary. I wish you lived closer, Texas is a great place for homeschooling, so many opportunities it almost overwhelming! I recommend going to your library and looking at any and all books they have on homeschooling. Homeschooling for dummys and basic books like that helped me get a feel for what people do. There are a ton of ways to get the job done. The first step is to consider your own educational beliefs and goals, then looking at the established methods of homeschooling helps too. Like Charlotte Mason, unschooling, delight directed, classical education, there are a lot of methods out there. It might take a while to get a feel for it, but keep trying. I recommend this site: http://www.homeschooloasis.com/ and the book on the website: The Homeschool Jumpstart Navigator is a nice place to start. I would try searching around the net for homeschooling and see how people are doing it. I will try and post more later. Its hard to explain it all in one shot.
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