I {HEART} My Healthy Kids

At the beginning of the new year, I usually sit down and write a list of things I need to accomplish. I can't really call them resolutions - they're more just "to do list" items. One thing that needed to be a priority was to get all three kids into the doctors for well-child visits. I have always been pretty on top of these, but for some reason I dropped the ball last year. Emma had her well child visit on time but I had never taken her to a podiatrist as my pediatrician had advised.

The first thing my pediatrician suggested for Josh was for us to get him to the allergist to find out exactly what caused his Anaphylactic shock in June. I thought I had done the right thing by having the epi-pen with us at all times, but apparently that isn't enough. So we went to see a specialist. Poor kid is allergic to everything! Look at him. I had explained to him exactly what was going to happen, but for some reason he heard 2 minutes instead of 20 minutes when I told him how long he would have to wait with the crap on his back. The nurse gave me a tongue depressor to scratch in between the marks, but I don't know if that even helped. Unfortunately, after all that misery, we still don't know what his Anaphylaxis was from. So, we will keep testing. In the meantime, he will suffer from seasonal allergies (wonder where he gets that?). One interesting finding is that he is highly allergic to cats but not at all to dogs.

The next priority was to get Emma in to see someone about her feet. She has always had issues with her feet. She didn't walk until she was 18 months old and that was after physical therapy and little baby orthotics. She has continued to walk on the insides of her feet so we thought we would check into the next step (now that she's nearly 9 years old). Fortunately, we found a great doctor (he happens to be my dad's doctor and has been wonderful for him). He diagnosed her with Pediatric Flatfoot (there's some other 4 word medical term for it, but I like the simple name). The problem is actually more in her ankle rather than her foot. I always just figured she didn't have an arch, but there is a lot more to it than that. Her clogging has helped a little because her ankle muscles have been strengthened, but there's definitely more that can help. We are starting with customized orthotics (if that doesn't work, we may have to consider surgery). She is actually really excited to have them. I'm hoping the excitement doesn't wear off when flip-flop season comes around and she will still be wearing running shoes. Look at her smile just at the idea of having her feet casted for the molds. I think she is actually just excited to have something done about it (finally).

And, finally, we had Erin's 5 year well-child visit. Again, I had prepared her for shots and she was okay with it because this is her ticket into Kindergarten. However, I didn't realize she would be getting six shots (after adding the seasonal flu shot and the H1N1 vaccine). And, I had no idea it would be the beginning of several trips to Primary Children's Hospital to visit the cardiology department. During her exam, the doctor found a heart murmur. I actually didn't worry too much because it's quite common in skinny little kids (she's in the 10th percentile) and both my mom and Jer's mom have had murmurs since they were about 8 years old. But, when she started complaining of chest pains a week later, I decided to call the Pediatrician back and let her know. She had us come into her office and then sent us to PCH for an xray and EKG. The next Monday, she called and said the EKG was abnormal and we would need to be at PCH at 8am the next day. Once there, we sat for 3 hours while they ran more tests. And, finally, we found out the initial EKG had been performed incorrectly (the stickers were placed too close together on her chest) and after doing a bazillion more tests, they felt confident in sending us home with a clean bill of health. Holy cow! What a scare. My baby had a heart problem one day and the next day she was fine. I was a little upset at first, but really what better news is that? I'm going to just say that it was all of our prayers that made it all better.


So, after a crap load of visits to every doctor and specialist out there, I am happy to say that my kids are healthy. Isn't it crazy the things we go through as parents? I have spent so many nights with my eyes wide open worrying. It is a huge relief to know that everything is okay, but the worrying never ends. I know for a fact that my parents still worry for me and my siblings. So, I will continue to look forward to living in a perfect world after this life where I don't have to lose sleep over my children's well being. One more reason to be grateful for my testimony. I don't usually get sappy on my blog, but I really am so happy to have all that I am blessed with. I'm so grateful for the gospel.

If you sluffed church today - you can count this as your own little testimony meeting. It is the first Sunday, right?