Annual Check up

Well, its been a while since the last post and for good reason. Jake is enjoying his time away from Dr.'s and hospitals and just being a little boy. Thursday brings a mininum of 5 hours of meetings with the entire Craniofacial team at Children's. We always develop a little anxiety heading into that hospital as any parent should feel but with the trips come a mixture of emotions. Always hoping there aren't any unforeseen complication or issues that need medical attention and some relief as any trip there reminds us that things could be much much worse. This is an interesting trip for us as we traditionally were seeing the team at Cedars but are starting to think we may switch to Children's. Our biggest apprehension always being the zoo that is Children's Hospital but I think the team and structure is more sound if we can get by the long waits and harder appt scheduling.
Dr. Urata is our lead Dr. and he does service both hospitals but seems to be more integrated at Children's. We'll update status after the long Thursday.

Enjoying Summer

Tubes II

Jake came through a little cranky but all for the better. Dr. Newman after performing the procedure informed us that there was a lot of fluid in his ears and that it was very good that we did this now for Jake. We are happy that this hopefully will put an end to the nonstop ear infections and constant need for antibiotics. Jake although initially upset right after waking up seemed quite pleased once we were leaving. It was as if he thought wait we don't have to stay a week like those other times, ok great! He immediately stopped crying and was happy to head home. Let's all hope this works for Jake and it looks like smooth sailing on the procedure front. Jake is doing very well and each day he picks up more and more words and gains a tooth or two.

Tubes

Well it's time to end the ear infections....Jake goes in tomorrow morning to put tubes in his ears to prevent the massive amount of ear infections he already has and to proactively prevent any damage to his ears or hearing. It is very common procedure that a lot of kids have and we are happy to go through with it to alleviate the ear infections.....We start bright and early tomorrow with a a 6am report time to the surgical center. Kind of scary that after everything we have been through, this small outpatient procedure doesn't seem like a major deal. Jake still has to be put under but he has been through so much worse that this seems minor in comparison. Of course we'll be only happy again once we are holding jake post-op. Think good thoughts for Jake.

Clinic Update

Well, it was mostly good news for our favorite lil guy. Jake's Dr's were very impressed with his progress and development since his last head surgery. It's always nice as a parent to hope that some of what you perceive to be good signs are reinforced by the medical team. To prevent further complications though, it looks like Jake won't be able to avoid all procedures in '09 as tubes for his ears are being recommended. He has had at least 7 ear infections and the Dr. wants to ensure that there won't be any hearing issues or complications caused by such. For everything we have been through, this does seem minor. Overall, were were pleased with the reports and the probable future surgeries will be a thumb straightening when he is five and his midface between 7-8.