We had a physical therapy evaluation for him on September 4th and the physical therapist was very concerned about the xrays she had seen. She showed them to a pediatric orthopedist who recommended that we have Asa seen right away. We had mailed off our Scottish Rite application the Friday before and we really did not expect to hear from them with an appointment time for several weeks.
I called the pediatrician's office to see if they could call Scottish Rite to have the application expedited. The doctor called and within an hour Scottish Rite called us and asked if we could come on Monday the 10th for an appointment. Sure...no problem.
I quickly called around and got care for the older kids. We took Ezra with us. We left on Sunday afternoon. This was going to be Asa's first big road trip. It is about 5 hours from our house to our friends' house where we would stay the night. The boys did okay. Slept some, snacked a lot, and played with the toys and books we brought.
Monday the 10th was my 40th birthday. More on that later. Mike wanted to take me somewhere special for dinner, so we chose PF Chang's. We like it and we do not have one in Midland. The boys enjoyed their egg drop soup and nibbled a little on the fried rice I ordered for them. They were both tired and out of sorts by then, but overall they did pretty good at dinner. Our friend Joshua joined us for dinner. We were staying at his house, so I thought we should invite him ;) It was a nice dinner.
We arrived at our friends' house and got the boys settled. They were both sleeping on a pallet on the floor. It was our first time to have them sleep together. First time in the same room and first time in the same "bed". Asa, apparently, is an old pro at sleeping with other kids, he rolled over and tried to go to sleep right away. Ezra, on the other hand, was a bit wound up. He giggled, and played, and wiggled, and strayed and finally, after an hour and a half, they were both asleep. It was so so sweet seeing them laying there together. And we did not hear a peep from either one all night!
Our appointment was not until 12:40, so we had time to go to the mall in Dallas and see some sites before heading to the hospital. We had a fun breakfast at The Corner Bakery in the mall and just enjoyed being with two sweet boys.
We arrived at the hospital at about 12:15 and filled out paperwork. We were shown to the Navy clinic shortly and waited for an exam room. Finally we were called and told we would be in the Football Exam room. None of the exam rooms have numbers. They are all named by an object that is associated with the particular clinic they are located in. The Navy team is in the Olympic Clinic, so all of the exam room doors are named after a sport of some kind. We got football.
We sat and waited. And wouldn't you know it, Ezra had to go potty. And as soon as Ezra and Mike left, the physician's assistant stepped in to start her evaluation. She did a physical examination and then wanted to see Asa walk and run. He was not really in the mood at that point. But Daddy and Ezra had returned by this point and Ezra was our ever willing model. "Walk like Ezra!" "Run like Ezra!" Never to be outdone by little brother, Asa happily complied with our requests. I was glad we had brought Ezra at this point.
The PA told us that she would give her report to the doctor and in the meantime sent us to radiology to get more xrays completed. Radiology was right around the corner and while Daddy and Asa took pictures, Ezra and I went to grab some grub. They did another set of pelvic xrays and a sonogram of his pelvis. Daddy said that Asa did not care for the gel they use for the sonogram and kept trying to wipe it off. But the technician handed him a stuffed Snoopy doll and he was good to go.
They sent us back to the Navy Olympic clinic and we waited again for a room. Again, we got the football room! While waiting, Ezra got very fussy. Daddy walked around with him and he fell asleep in the stroller. He slept for about 45 minutes while we waited. He needed a nap!
The doctor finally came in and did his own exam. And wanted to see Asa walk and run for himself.
Asa was having nothing of it. Nope.
Then they pulled out the stickers. And the boy sprinted and really, they could not get him to walk! It was quite funny.
His assessment of the situation is that the femoral head on the right side is completely missing. We knew that. There is also considerable deformity of the hip socket itself. We kind of knew that. He said that he could fix it. That there is no bone to work with, so it would be a very extensive surgery and could cause many painful complications. And since our boy is in no pain right now, functions well, has adapted to the situation...he does not want to mess with it now. He said, "We do not want to cause pain in a child who is not in pain now." At some point the hip will become painful and something will need to be done, until then let him run and play and enjoy himself.
However. The left hip also has some deterioration. And he has a lot of bone to work with and it will be a less complicated fix. And we need to fix it sooner rather than later to prevent more damage.
The doctor wants to see an MRI of the area first. An xray does not show you all of the cartilage and tendons and other soft tissue. An MRI will show us exactly what is going on. We will go for that MRI in November. Asa will have to be sedated so it will be a two day appointment. We will have the MRI early in the morning on the first day and then see the doctor early the next day.
The doctor did say that he does not like to do these hip repairs until the child is about 5 years old. Asa will be 5 in April, so we have several months to spend with him getting more bonding and attachment under our belts and him more time to grasp English and understand what is happening.
Until then, the doctor ordered some intense physical therapy:
run, jump, have fun and be a happy healthy little boy!
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