Latest Round of Doctor Appointments

Jaxson has been a very lucky boy and not had very many complications associated with achondroplasia.  This past Tuesday we went back to John Hopkins hospital for a round of checkups, which included his orthopedist, a hearing test, ENT and geneticist.  It was so wonderful of all the doctors to work with so we could get all of our appointments done in one day, although I’m not sure we will choose to do it this way again.  Four appointments was a lot on all of us!

Peyton has never gone to any of Jaxson’s appointments with us before because he usually has school and I never really thought he would do well with all the waiting.  However, last time we had an appointment, he made a comment about why he never gets to go and meet Jaxson’s doctors so we thought it might be a good idea to take him along this time.  I made the appointments while Peyton was out of school on spring break so all four of us were up, dressed and out the door Tuesday morning by 6:15am. 

First we met with the orthopedist.  We brought our x-rays with us, which I had done the Friday before at our local hospital, because our insurance won’t pay for John Hopkins hospital to do them.  (Yes, we have all had our issues with health insurance, right?!)  Anyway, we were a little concerned and wanted to talk to the doctor because we have noticed Jaxson’s right leg is starting to bow a little.  His left leg appears perfectly straight, but the right seems to be giving him some trouble and he has complained of his knee hurting him from time to time.  We were told that it was not really an issue right now and not to be too concerned.  The doctor says it is typical to see one leg a little more bowed than the other and that since he only complains of the knee pain on a rare occasion that for now we will just watch and see what happens.  As he gets older if the bowing becomes more severe than we will explore options at that point, but for now this seems very average.

Next up was the hearing test.  Jaxson had ear tubes placed last March so they’ve been in for a year and this hearing test was just a checkup.  He loved all the little toys in the room and the animals that played music when the technician wanted him to look a certain way, but seemed to be getting a little annoyed because she kept asking him the same questions over and over again.  All was good when she gave him his choice of stickers in the end and he found a Diego!

Immediately after the test we went to see the ENT.  The test results all came back great, but because the sound bounced off his ear drums the doctor could tell that the tubes no longer appeared to be in place.  When he checked his ears, he confirmed that the tubes were still in the ear canal, but neither were actually still in his ear drums.  So, off we went to the procedure room where we laid him on the table and the doctor asked me to hold his hands (because he was going to feel it……..)  I started to tell him to just leave them alone if it was going to hurt him and they would work themselves the rest of the way out on their own, but Jaxson was a CHAMP!  He never moved or tried to get his hands free from mine while they removed both tubes from his ear canals.

At this point it was a little after 11am and we had a nice break until our 2:30 appointment with Jaxson’s geneticist.  We decided to drive around Baltimore a little and find somewhere outside to eat and walk around a bit since the weather was so beautiful!

We found a little Mexican restaurant on a side street near the water so after lunch we walked along the dock and let the boys play with the ducks.

After such a beautiful lunch we headed back to see the geneticist and got more great news.  Jaxson is right on track of where he should be and we don’t have any major concerns right now!  So glad to hear good news and no more appointments for at least 6 months (fingers crossed!)

All in all it was a great day and I’m very glad we took Peyton with us.  I think he has a much better understanding of things and he was more than helpful in keeping Jaxson occupied while we waited for each doctor.  I couldn’t have been happier or prouder of both my boys or what was a very exhausting day for all us!!!