So, I wasn't completely honest about everything that happened at Maylea's 9 month check up. Ever since we switched to Dr. Stewart he has been concerned about the size of Maylea's head. Compared to the rest of her body it is SMALL. Her length is off the charts, her body has been between 50% -75%, but her head started at 20% at birth and has slowly worked its way down the scale. At her 9 month check, it was less than 5%.
Maylea's appointment was at 3:00. I text Joshua on my way home from work that day (around 4) and asked how it went. He replies, "Sitting here waiting. Dr. is having x-rays of her head done. He is concerned it is starting to fuse together too soon." I am a little shocked, but not concerned....her momma has a small head!!!!
Joshua gets home and I ask more questions. He really can not tell me anything b/c once they had the x-rays done (which Maylea HATED) they left. This was a Thursday. On Monday afternoon, I call the nurse and say, that I wanted a little more information and wondered if they had heard anything. She calls back and fills me in a little (Joshua did a good job of telling me everything) and says that she still has not gotten a report. She said it is unusual that she didn't have one and would call when she did. She then says, "If you don't hear from me by Wed. call me back."
So on Wednesday I leave for work and of course I forgot my phone at home. Joshua shoots me an email in the morning that said the nurse called, but he was on another line. He called her back and it said the office was closed by he left a message anyway. Around 11 AM I have an email from Joshua that says, "Please call me ASAP!!!!!" Okay, now I am panicked. I know the nurse called, you NEVER ask me to call you, and I don't have my dang phone. I can't call long distance from school!!!!! I borrow a cell phone from our secretary and Joshua doesn't answer. In the mean time I have calmed down and realize: Email him back and give him my number, he can call me. With in a few minutes, Joshua calls and says that the x-ray showed signs of early suture fusing and that we will be going to Children's Mercy to see a specialist. I immediately started to cry. Children's Mercy, what??? That is where kids who have major issues have to go.....the thought of it for some reason freaked me out!!!! We had already done some research and knew that if there were any sign of the sutures fusing surgery was the only option.
Children's Mercy got ahold of us and we had an appointment at 10:00 AM last Friday (2/5/10).
We got the kids up, fed Maylea a bottle, and were out the door by 7:30. Dropped Cooper off at daycare and were on the road. The closer we got to KC the worse the weather got. A trip that should have taken an hour and a half ended up taking 2 hours.
Here is what the weather was like in KC
We get to the hospital and I am immediately impressed with it. The place is run very efficiently and they are very secure. Joshua and I had to present a photo ID and then we were given a "badge" to wear that stated which department we should be in. We found our way up to the surgery center, got checked in and we were in the exam room waiting by 10. Mary, the nurse practitioner, comes in to visit first. She asks a few background questions and what all transpired for us to visit them. We tell her the story and the history of our visits with Dr. Stewart. She leaves to look at our x-rays (that we brought with us). When she returns she has the Dr. with her (I can't remember his name right now). They have looked at the x-rays are don't see ANY signs that the sutures are closing. They can see that we have a happy, healthy, well developed little girl. We do a little talking and because x-rays aren't always accurate and b/c the sutures that generally close early aren't even showing on any of the x-rays they want to do a CT Scan.
The nurse gets it scheduled for 1:00 that day. So, we are leaving with 2 rules for the day. Rule #1: don't let your daughter go to sleep. We like to just have them get so tired that they fall asleep for the procedure. Rule #2: in the event that we can not get your daughter to sleep we will have to sedate her. Therefore, NO FOOD!!!! WHAT???? ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? Any body who knows my daughter knows that isn't going to happen. Food is serious business when it comes to Maylea.....I mean, A BIG DEAL!!!! She hasn't had anything since 7 AM and that was just a bottle. Joshua and I look at each other, look at the time, and say, "this could be a long 2 1/2 hours."
We go down to the snack bar and get some coffee. There was no getting food for ourselves either. If Maylea sees us eating she wants some too. We find ourselves a place to sit and we wait. I have to say, Maylea was AWESOME!!! She started to get a little fussy and tired about 12:30, but all we had to do was hold her and walk around. I could not have asked for a better little girl that day considering the situation.
You can see in some of these pictures how "kid friendly" the place is. They have little waggons you can use to pull your stuff and kids around. The colors are all so bright, murals, kids art work, even their signs are "fun" to follow.
Maylea and I went into the gift shop a few times to look and play. She took an immediate liking to this ball so I went ahead and got it for her. We played with it for a little while, but as tired as she was getting, nothing kept her attention for too long.
They finally called us in right at 1:00 for the scan. We got in there and it was like I was getting a massage. The lights were dim,and the music was so peaceful. It took us 30 min., but we finally got her to sleep (THANK GOD!!!). We had her asleep twice, but as soon as we put her down she would wake up. I finally asked the nurse, "Can we please give her a bottle. I am very confident that if she eats she will go to sleep." Momma knows best!!!!
We get done with this about 1:45. Stop to get some lunch and head home. We will wait until Monday to get the final results.
We get the call yesterday. Everything is just as expected.....we made a trip and went through all of this for nothing! We are thankful that we go the outcome that we wanted, but it is still SO frustrating! Needless to say, we will be switching our little girl back to a pediatrician!!!!!
