2012 Checkup Week

So again we are blogging on location in Minneapolis, for our 4 year check-up update!!! We got here last Friday (7/27) and spent the weekend doing lots of fun things before buckling down for all of our appointments this week. Friday night we went for a quick visit to the Mall of America where we picked up a truly fabulous pink hat that we have barely taken off since we found it. On Saturday, we went to the Como Zoo and Como Town and we enjoyed seeing the animals and riding lots of rides. Sunday took us to the Minnesota Children's Museum where we had a blast learning and pretending. Throughout the weekend, we enjoyed our stay at the posh Sofitel hotel where we practiced our worst french accents and just appreciated the gorgeous decor and big cushy bed. :)

Yesterday we began our appointments with Dr. Polgreen, our Endocrine doc, who is enrolling Gracie in a new growth study to follow the pattern of bone growth in children with certain types of MPS. It was a brief visit, spent going over the various scans and xrays required. Gracie was her usual charming self, and she really impressed Dr. Polgreen when she told us all what the definition of symbiosis is. :)  I wish I had a picture of the doc's face. It was priceless! We went on to a quick appointment at the BMT clinic for a history and physical before zooming over to St. Paul and the Gillette Clinic to see Dr. Walker, our Ortho doc.

I must admit, going to see Dr. Walker is always stressful to me. For the past few years, he has been warning us that Gracie would be needing some hip/knee surgery soon. This year I was really concerned that I would hear that the time had come. Thankfully, that was not the case- and we got the wonderful news that for now, her hips have stabilized and we can table the hip surgery discussion for another 2 years. Also, it appears that her knees are showing signs of improvement and may not need surgery at all. I was so relieved and excited to hear this news... it made for the end of a good day.

We also moved into the Ronald McDonald House yesterday evening, but we had to head to bed pretty early to prepare for our early morning appointment in Surgery.

This morning we were all up by 5am and we headed over to the hospital's surgery floor. Gracie is still so young, so many of her tests need to be done while she is under anesthesia. This morning she had an MRI, lots of blood draws, and a nerve conduction study on her hands to see how the Carpal Tunnel surgery from last summer worked for her. She went into the OR somewhere around 8am and we were able to see her in recovery by around 11:30am. She did great and tolerated the anesthesia very well. When she woke up, the first thing she asked me is if I remembered when Donald Duck was bitten by a baby duck on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. :) Our girl was just fine and we had a good laugh with the recovery nurse.

From surgery, we took her to the cafeteria for lunch where she inhaled a chicken/cheese quesadilla! She was a hungry little monkey!

We headed upstairs to get an EKG, and then to meet with neurologist to hear the results of our morning tests. We were very excited to learn that her carpal tunnel surgery was a total success and that she has regained full conduction of the nerves in her wrists and hands. Woohoo! Her MRI looked great as well. Nothing concerning to report there which makes us very happy.

So that wraps up the first 2 days with nothing but good news to report so far. We have lots more coming up in the next few days. We start our day tomorrow with a visit with the opthamologist, followed by ENT, an ECHO and our cardiology appointment (another nail biter for me). We'll be sure to keep you all updated. Thanks so much for all of the thoughts and prayers.

Much Love.