Update on Zeke's Doctor's Appointment

We arrived Blaine around 8pm on Wednesday night and spent the night with family - my brother's
ex-wife Annessa and my neice and nephew. Shelby made everyone pancakes for breakfast, which Zeke loved, and Alex made the coffee, which I loved!

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Our appointment at Gillette Children's Hospital in St Paul was scheduled for 10:15am. It was only 18 miles to the hospital from the apartment but I left at 9am just to make sure we had plenty of time to get there. I'd rather be early than late because it can really mess up the whole day of our scheduled appointments if we're not on time. By leaving at 9, I didn't anticipate much rush hour traffic and we were crusing right along until about 3 miles from the hospital. There was an accident somewhere ahead and traffic slowed to a standstill. When we were moving, it was at 10 mph or less. I hung in there for a while, since we still had time to spare but as the time crept by, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I veared off onto the next exit and took off in the general direction of downtown St Paul. My best friend Jane wasn't happy that I wasn't following her directions but she eventually got the idea that I needed another way to get to the hospital. (Btw: Jane is my GPS and she IS my best friend! :) We got to the hospital just in time!
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Once we checked in and provided all the necessary insurance information, we were sent to get
X-rays. The Children's hospital is so much better than our local hospital. In St Paul, they EXPECT that the parent will remain in the X-ray room with the child. I can choose whether to gown up and stand by Zeke or stand behind the glass with the technician. It really alleviates tension for the children, although Zeke's done it so often now that he absolutely loves it.

When I had to take Sophia for an X-ray at our local clinic a few weeks ago, they weren't even going to let me in the room. She was screaming and crying and already didn't feel good and her panicking wasn't helping them get her to lay still for the X-rays. You'd think they'd eventually learn that it's a lot easier and quicker with the parents involved, expecially with the little ones.

Anyway, after taking X-rays of Zeke's right foot and hips, we waited for his orthopedic doctor. She's the one who did the major orthopedic surgery a few years ago and also the right foot surgery last year. Turns out that she's now the Chief of Staff of the hospital. We think she is pretty amazing.

We met with the nurse for all the preliminary information and then we saw the doctor. She examined Zeke, asked us lots of questions and then watched him walk with his braces and without his braces. Everything looked good with his hips, legs and feet. She did have us go back to X-ray for some pictures of his spine. There was some concern at the last visit and during the observation about a slight curvature of his spine. But after she looked at the new X-rays, the doctor determined that Zeke just wasn't sitting up straight in the previous pictures and that his spine actually looks really good. Overall, everything looks really good and we won't have to see her until our next check-up in a year!

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