Two Of A Kind

Today was the day. After seven long weeks of waiting, and agonizing, and second guessing ourselves, we met with one of the top orthopedic surgeons in the area for a second opinion on Jordan's upcoming hip surgery.

And the verdict is: DO IT. Uggghhhhhh. This is such a relief in that now we won't be worrying that we did the wrong thing by getting Jordan this surgery. But at the same time it means that Jordan is going under the knife on 25 February for a 5 hour surgery, a 5 day hospitalization, 6 weeks in a spica cast (under arms to ankles!), then 3-5 more days back in the hospital to start rehabilitation when the cast comes off.

Basically, her hip is dislocated, but still in the joint. To fix it while it's still in the joint is a BIG deal, but to fix it after it gets out of the joint is HUGE and much less successful, and that's when the pain & deformity really take hold. So, it's best to fix it before it gets out of the joint.

Of course Jordan doesn't follow the rules with her hip, no more than she follows any other rules of medicine. Considering the orientation of her "windswept" lumbar scoliosis , it should be her left hip that's drifting out of the joint, but hers is the right hip. That's our Jordan, keeping everyone on their toes!

In Good Hands

The January 2008 edition of Portland Monthly is out, and the cover story is "Top Docs '08." More than 8000 Portland area physicians were asked: Which doctor would you call if you or a loved one needed medical care? The doctors voted for up to 2 physicians in each of 48 specialties, then the statistically significant number of votes appropriate in each category were determined. In the end there were 329 physicians in 48 specialties named as the Top Doctors of 2008 in the Portland Area.

So, how did Jordan's medical team fare? Very well, thank you very much. Her pediatrician, gastroenterologist, 2 neurologists, physiatrist, orthopedic surgeon, and nephrologist all made the list as top in their fields. The only ones that didn't are her opthamologist, geneticist, & metabolocist and they didn't have categories for pediatric opthamology, genetics, or metabolics. I would be willing to bet that they would be on the list if those categories existed.

We have had a couple of doctors we've fired because we didn't like them, and believe it or not, I didn't see their names on the lists, either! I really do feel like we are in good hands with Jordan's medical team, and I am thankful for that.

Around The House

We're on the mend -- not that it's slowed us down too much. I was so pleased with myself earlier for surviving December I let my guard down and January was trying to beat me up. I've been doing a little more sleeping (unfortunately most of it is during the day) & fewer projects, but it's still been an action-packed couple of weeks around here. Jordan, thankfully, seems to be getting a little better. Hopefully the Cefzil is clearing up the infection, and the mucus will dry up soon. She sure can cough hard & long when she needs to (this is a good thing, except for the rest of us from 3:00 to 6:00 am).

I'm still chasing Jordan around with the camera trying to get a big ol' smile, but so far I'm only able to nab the grins. Here's one from her bath last night. Baths & walks over bumpy ground seem to cause the most smiles these days. Avery wanted a picture in the bath, too, and I love the way bath water looks in a picture
Scrub-a-dub-dub, fresh out of the tub
Avery & I played Legos for a good part o the day yesterday. I'm glad to see she's being more creative in her designs (although on this one she let me build the house, then she did the roof -- and by the time it was done ~1 hour after this pic, it was really creative!)
Jordan's morning & evening cocktail: left to right it's Cefzil, Depakene, Tranxene, Zantac, a water flush, Keppra, and CoQ10. I love that the 'q's, 'x's and 'z's get extra "play time" in pharmacy world (like 'v's in our house: Devon, Avery Olivia, & Driver). This is the moon from inside the house on Tuesday morning -- early morning -- I'm sure I was up because of a Jordan coughing fit.
Here it is from the front deck -- it was full & beautiful! Avery & Kate "did their make-up" in the car on the way to OMSI on Wednesday. Luckily it was only light pink lip gloss with sparkles, but it was pretty hilarious. They walked around all afternoon with globs of pink sparkles all over their faces (Kate's is harder to see in the picture, but look out her cheeks, too).
I found a dinosaur sandwich cutter the other day & had to get it. Can you believe it -- 1 sandwich, 2 brontosauruses. Avery was only frowning because I was stopping her dino-play for the picture.

Horsin' Around With Mountain Views

Some fun pictures I took on Friday -- the afternoon winter light was spectacular. All 3 mountain pictures were taken from the same location -- what a view they have from the WSU Vancouver campus! The horses were so friendly I was having a hard time taking their pictures -- they wanted to be close enough to be petted, not photographed.

Mt. Adams
Mt. HoodMt. St. Helens looming over the WSU Vancouver campus

Owwww, Those Ears!

Well, Jordan's on the road to tubes in her ears. She's sporting almost constant ear infections over the last few weeks, despite amoxicillan, augmenten, and now Cefzil. . . . Ugh. But, the good news is that despite all this, sh has NOT been in the hospital! Woo-hoo! This, too, is a big step for her. It was close on Saturday evening, but she was once again able to keep herself hydrated, cough up her secretions, and especially not aspirate on them. She's doing better on all fronts.

On the way to her doctor appointment down in Portland we picked up Avery & Kate from pre-school & went to OMSI for a couple of hours, to play in the play room & to watch the Dolphins IMAX movie. I joked to Robin (Jordan's nurse) that most moms would avoid germ-fests like a kids play area when they have a sick kiddo, but not me! Gotta get out of the house for some fresh air & fun. Of course, the pediatrician chided me about the same thing, but was glad to hear we are able to get out & do things with both girls now that we have Robin's help part of the week.

Christmas Babies

[From 2 December 2007] Seriously, I'm totally "caught up" with the blog with these poser pics of the girls in the Christmas dresses.

Now for some flashbacks:

Christmas 2006 (Avery 3, Jordan 1)

Christmas 2005 (Avery 2)

Christmas 2004 (Avery 1)

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse

On Sunday Avery & I joined Kelly & Kate for a girls' afternoon in Portland. The main attraction: Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse presented by the Oregon Children's Theatre. And because Lilly is a free spirit, and "the queen of everything" -- there was a fashion show before the play for all to take part in. Kate was very finely dressed, whereas Avery focused on the "free spiritedness" of the event. Basically, she was a rodeo queen on her trusty steed Black*. Yes, she picked out her own outfit entirely! And Devon encouraged her to take Black with her, even though I was against it. In the hands of a 4-year-old, it was basically a weapon, but she did well with it, and the only incident was brushing the head of the mom in front of us once (it wasn't even a hit, phew!).

Here are some pics from our adventures.

(above photo by Kelly Wood)

*As in her new favorite movie: The Black Stylin'. Yes, we've tried to get her to say "stallion" -- but it's a little too much for right now, I guess.