Monday, February 25, 2008

On a completely unrelated note.

It just must be said that I have developed a crush on John Stewart. I am aware that it has nothing to do with anything, but I'm just sayin'. If he were like an inch taller, and played guitar...

Medical jargon and hoo-hah to follow:

Scarlett's pre-surgical consultation and bear jamboree was this morning. We met with Dr. Mehlman, who went over the surgery with us again, this time with no heads spinning or smelling salts needed. That first time I think Kevin and I were left like stunned victims of a drive by mugging; looking at each other and thinking "what in the hell just happened?" This time we were much more prepared, with questions and pie charts, and even a song and dance routine. We worked on it at the slumber party. We wore matching hats.

Right. The Doctor. We are looking at a 90 percent chance of a successful closed reduction. They will inject a dye into both hips to look for abnormalities, or any blockages of the socket. If those are clear, the way he thinks they will be, she will have one tiny incision, and then be casted. This part we already knew. She will also have an MRI after surgery, to check their work.

I feel good, not great, about the odds. Odds haven't worked in our favor lately. We are trying not to be pessimistic [or rather, I am trying, Kevin is succeeding, the bugger], but I am aware that she could have to have a more invasive procedure. So, let's all think happy happy thoughts that Scarlett's hip will pop right back into place.

Tomorrow: Sedated echo cardiogram to follow up on her heart murmur. Like my friend Wendy, I might write a poem about it. And it may contain vulgar language. If you are lucky.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Slurp...slurp...


Mom is healing nicely from her surgery. Thanks to all who have inquired after her! We are all hoping for a vast improvement, and it seems we are headed in that direction. We are also all just a little in love with her neurosurgeon, whose only flaw seems to be that he is from Cleveland. And seems proud of it.

However, every time I aimed a camera in her direction in the hospital, and later at home, she threatened my life. So...I thought I'd show her that not all pictures have to be good, to be good.

King of the hill...







In an effort to take better pictures, I'm now constantly on the lookout for natural light.

Unfortunately, someone needs to tell my daughter and dog that in order to get those pictures, they need to look at my camera. So my mother's big, beautiful windows, with all that amazing light, pretty much went to waste.

I did manage to capture this little power struggle. Your cushions? I think not.

I know it's blurry...

But could you just eat her?

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Like Herding Cats.





What happens when you try to take a picture of your very cute Valentines baby.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

One down.

After a false start last week, Scarlett did get her PE tubes placed today. So hopefully, she'll be ear infection free for a while.

Once again, I was thrilled with the level of care we received at Children's Hospital. The staff is knowledgable, caring, and when they say they'll walk you to a destination if you are lost? Yeah, they mean it. I thought she was going to try to join me in the stall.

Anyway, we consider today our dry run for what's coming up. For now though, Scarlett is doing great. I think she's even hearing better. I can hardly sneak up on her and yell "BOO!"

Oh, and when they say your child might be queasy upon waking from the anesthisia? They should also tell you that the nurse will be right there to catch the vomit in her hands. It is a full service operation.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

I can't even use the red eye reduction.




I am NOT the insanely talented photographer who took these pictures. That would be my friend Chris. He just gave me permission to use them. I *heart* Chris, and not just because he told me that only good picture I got that day, which happened to be of Otto the lab, "captured Otto's essence". I'm just glad he didn't post the other picure of me, which "captured Libby shoving maple scone in her craw".

Years ago, before marriages and babies, we had a fairly sucessful dinner club. Once a month we would get together to try out new restaurants, or share old favorites. We would bounce back and forth between fancy and pricey, and cheap and funky. The poor vegetarians actually had to put up with a trip to Bar-B-Que Revue, which goes so far as to have a giant fiberglass pig in their front yard. But no worries, you can make a meal out of their cornbread and mac-n-cheese, which I'm almost sure contains no meat.

We improvise now with the occasional potluck. This time it was Brunch at the Duvall family farm, which was just ideal. With a very managable adult/small person ratio, we all managed to enjoy a meal, coffee and conversation.

Tom and Wendy also recently cleaned out their ginormous basement recently for additional playspace, and it was just like being home on Kugler Mill Road. I told Wendy that the only thing missing was the masking tape 4-square court, and, of course, the obligitory older sister flipping off the lights to leave me alone in the dark, and I would feel right at home.

[And yes. Spellcheck is still broken. And no, I cannot spell "restaurant." or is it "restaraunt." I'm never sure.]

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Update.

I've decided to go ahead and use our blog to update everyone on Scarlett's progress. Apparently, it is good for something besides pictures of Scarlett and Alice. And Alice licking Scarlett. And babies drinking beer.

So, first, Scarlett was diagnosed with DDH, or Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip, which means that somewhere between birth and now, her left hip became dislocated and started functioning outside of the socket. It is difficult to catch, and hers was not making the tell tale "clunk" of DDH. We are lucky that her pediatrician found it now, because it means that the procedure she is going to have, called a closed reduction, is less invasive than other surgeries.

The doctor will make a small incision near her hip and release a tendon that is too tight, manuever the ball into the socket, and then while she is still asleep, place her in what is called a SPICA cast. This cast will run from her chest down to her toes on her left leg, and about halfway down on the right leg. She will be immobilized so the bones can start to grow in the correct position, and the hip can 'relearn' it's location.

The surgery was originally scheduled for the 10th of March, but we were moved up to the 6th. She will be casted for roughly 3 months, with one cast change around the halfway point.

So while it will be a long spring, and in the beginning the learning curve will be steep, I believe that her happy nature will continue to shine through. She's a good egg.

Thanks to you all for your emails and calls of support. We truly appreciate it.

We'll do our best to keep you all updated on what's going on.

Paging Dr. Google.




You know, there's a lot of information on the internet. [Really Libby? A LOT?] Used to be to learn something, you had to go to the public library, pull the encyclopedia marked "H" and look up "Hip", at which point it would refer you to "D" for "Dysplasia". And after you had pulled every single reference book off the shelf, and been distracted by the sketches of various body parts, surely you could just leave them spread all over the desks for the beleagured librarians, right? [Those damned kids and their damned rock-n-roll.]

I'm not sure if it's better or worse that all I do now is type a few characters into that little blank bar and wait to be flooded with information.

Actually, I know the answer. It's worse. Way worse.

I've also figured out that a lot of the big bad voodoo daddy articles I'm finding don't even pertain to my kid, so I really have to stop looking.

However, I have stumbled across a few sites put together my moms and dads who have been down this road before. And they are lovely people with encouraging words and lots of helpful hints. And one of those hints was to invest in that all important 70's iconic couch substitute; the bean bag chair. Very good for support.

Well looky at what I found at Target. Although I did manage to get her sitting in it for a moment or two, her favorite thing to do is crawl over, and bang away. Beans make good noise.

Monday, February 4, 2008

I lack the motivation or brain power to come up with witty captions, but everyone should see my kid the first time she wore pigtails.






A mishmash of pictures snapped over the weekend. I left out the one of Lisa pole dancing in her pink wig.
By the way, spellcheck stopped working on my blog. Please ignore anything spelled incorracctly.

Friday, February 1, 2008

The next time I tempt fate, I invite you all to tape my mouth shut.

If you are family, and are reading this, and haven't spoken to us, we apologize profusely for not calling. But I have a note from the doctor. One that reads, "Please forgive Kevin and Libby. Shortly after meeting with the pediatric orthopod, they both had a stroke."


So, just to get you all up to date, Scarlett's pediatrician noted at her 15 month appointment that her hip felt a little loose. "Some people are loose jointed" he assured me, but then proving once again, why I *heart* him, said "I'd still like to have someone else take a look."


Scarlett was diagnosed today with DDH, or Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip. Her left hip is not in the socket. Caught relatively early, it is still going to require surgery, and then casting. The really crappy part of this treatment is the latter. She will be in a full body cast [from mid-chest to toes] for 3 months.


Surgery is scheduled for the 10th of March. This is where [and you'll have to trust me on this one] it gets funny. Remember when I said I was looking forward to March, and that I had broken up with January, and was barely tolerating February?


We'll see you in June.