Peyton's First Dental Appointment

Peyton had her first dentist appointment this morning. We were in and out of there so fast, I thought something had to be wrong! The dentist was very nice. They raised up the dental chair and then reclined it all the way back so I could just lay Peyton down on the part that's normally the back of the chair. He used the little mirror and checked all her teeth. She fussed a lot, but he was quick about it. When he was through he said that her teeth looked good - no build up on the teeth, no cavitites; her gums are healthy and everything looks great. He said she had a little wear on her top front teeth but he said that's not uncommon when the back teeth haven't come in yet. Peyton got her free tiny little toothbrush and we were on our way. It was a good day for Peyton.

Moira on the other hand has had some sort of stomach bug this week. She was running a bit of a fever thorugh the night on Monday, so missed daycare on Tuesday and then returned Wednesday. I'd hate for her to miss her ballet!! She seemed to be in good spirits, but I think she had a bit of an upset stomach during the day. Last night she definitely had an upset stomach and at one point her temperature was back up a little. She stayed home again today.

I normally work from home on Thursdays to handle Peyton's appointments, so I was already going to be around except for the dentist appointment. Ron went in to work around 5:30 this morning so he could come back home by 8:00 so I could leave with Peyton. He watched Moira and then when I got home, he returned to work. We kept our fingers crossed all day long that Moira could go back to daycare tomorrow, but she's just not feeling 100%. She still has an upset stomach. She can't go back feeling like this. So, in our never-ending life-drama of "how will we handle this?", we're once again having to figure out how to handle tomorrow, as both of us have deadlines tomorrow. Ron has elected to stay at work tonight til his is finished. For the third time this week, I will get up at 3:00 am so I can get to work at a ridiculous 4:30 am so I can get in extra time in case I have to leave early.

Ron and I have barely seen each other for days it seems. We've been burning the candle at both ends for so long. Hopefully one day soon we'll catch a break! I am most anxious for Thanksgiving weekend, as we'll have 4 days off with no appointments! Christmas will be better as it will be a week and a half wiht no appointments while we are away!

Somehow I'm managing to fit in 3 chiropractor visits a week for myself. The doctor is wonderful. He's very family-oriented and he insists on checking every member of the family out within 2 weeks of you starting your treatment plan - which is a set plan of x number of visits for x amount of time and then be re-checked...and you pay for it mostly up-front so you're committed. He doesn't want to treat people who ocassionally come in just when they feel bad because then the problems are never solved. It's been nearly a month now and I feel a million times better, although I have a LONG road ahead. I'm to go 3 times a week probably through the end of December and then I'll have another set of x-rays done and see where we go from there. He did check Ron out as a freebie and laid out a plan for him to follow for chiropractic care. Kids are always free - he sees Peyton twice a week and Moira once every other week. The spouse plan is at a significantly reduced rate; however, there's only so many ways you can stretch a dollar when you have all the medical bills and normal debt that we have, so he hasn't started his plan yet. The doctor was asking me about him last week and said he'd like to see him back and I said he'd love to come back but it just can't happen right now. So, the next time I was in he asked for Ron again and said he was "running a special....spouses are free". I was very touched by that and very appreciative. Unfortunately, Ron's schedule hasn't been the best for starting this, but hopefully he can start going next week as well. The chiropractor's practice is very Christian-oriented and he has a sign behind the front desk "We work for God, not money." I believe this to be true!

So, that's the story for this evening. Hopefully Moira is feeling better by the end of the weekend so she can return to "The Barn", as she calls it (her daycare literally looks like a big red barn...and even though it's within the city, they are on a bit of property and they have a pony and a donkey as well as some other animals).

Join me next time, in the continuing story of "A Day in the Life..."

Have a great weekend!

Feeding Problems

I received a phone call from Peyton's pediatrician a few hours after my last post earlier today. She, of course, had spoken with the speech pathologist after the swallow study had been done last Wednesday and got her impressions of how Peyton did during the study. To the doctor, it sounded more on the grim side. She did speak to the gastroenterologist Peyton saw when she had the NG tube earlier this year. They reviewed the study and have decided that it isn't absolutely urgent for us to get in to see the gastroenterologist immediately. Yes, we do need to see her. The earliest appointment I could get is not until 12/06/07, and that seemed to suit the pediatrician based on the conversation they had.

Basically, the news from the study is not good news. It showed things about Peyton that were not good signs. The pediatrician explained that statistically kids who are in Peyton's current situation with her swallow study will more than likely wind up with the permanent G tube. She told me that we ought to prepare for that reality, though it isn't necessarily something that is going to happen soon. Although, it could - we just don't know. They will be very concerned about Peyton's weight (they are always tracking it very closely anyway) and will look for any signs that she's falling off the growth curve she's currently on. Being only around the 5th percentile for weight, we don't have lots of leeway.

I asked lots of questions and in a nutshell, I think that probably with all of Peyton's issues it may be a case that Peyton's developmental and neurological deficits are playing a strong hand in what is happening to her now. There are some parts of what is going on which will not really be aided through therapy, though we are to get into some feeding therapy with her and hope for the best. It may be that she has done as remarkably well as she can in terms of her feeding and may be at a point where she's at her limit for her capabilities and needs to have assistance. The eventual placement of a tube may not necessarily mean that once it's in she will receive no food by mouth whatsoever as we'd thought last week. It may just be for supplemental nourishment.

The doctor asked me if I was up on my CPR. I took a class before Moira was born but that was a few years ago. I could use a refresher. She stressed that anyone who is to care for Peyton must be current on their CPR training. Since Peyton has issues with her swallowing, it could be more possible that she could choke on her food. I, myself, think she's not even swallowing all of her saliva, so she might even choke on that. Of course, the doctors will continue to follow her and watch her very closely for any signs of pneumonia which she is at greater risk for since she is aspirating some of her foods.

It was a lot to take in today. It was a good news/bad news sort of situation. We'll get her therapy going as soon as we can and hopefully that will help a little. We'll see the gastroenterologist next month and get a clearer picture of what we can expect. Hopefully we don't have to go the route of the G tube anytime soon, but we'll obviously do whatever is best for Peyton.

I'll keep you posted on how the dentist visit goes tomorrow! Wish me luck!!

Feeding Issues

I am still waiting on the word of what is going to happen as far as Peyton's feeding goes. I did, however, finally hear from the geneticist's office recommending we make an appointment with her gastroenterologist ASAP. Well, ASAP is 12/06/07!! I've got a message in with the doctor's nurse to try to do something about getting that moved up.

Tomorrow I'm off to Texas Children's Hospital with Peyton for her first dentist appointment. That should be fun.