Signs of Greatness

Today Connor had two doctor's appointments: one with GI and one with the developmental clinic. Our GI doc took a look at the horrible knotty mess that is Connor's g-tube site, and said that he couldn't really do much in the way of cleaning to it without risking pulling out the stitches. He said that other than being kind of gunky and messy it looked pretty good, though-- not infected or anything-- so it should be okay until we change the Malecot tube out with a Mic-Key here in a couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to having my very own boy with a cute little beach-ball plug instead of a crazy ugly Tubie alien parasite.

That book still gives me the creeps.

The appointment with the developmental pediatrician also went well. Connor showed off his sign language, standing skills, and infectious laugh, and our doctor declared herself delighted with his progress. When we saw her a year ago (shortly before this picture was taken) he was just learning to sit with support, used about ten signs (he has 45 now) and spent a lot of time staring at his hands and pretending the people around him didn't exist. She was amazed at how far he's come. We know he's doing an incredible job, but it's always nice to hear it from one of the experts!

She put in an order for Connor to get a hip x-ray, as his PT has expressed the suspicion that he might have shallow hip sockets. We went and got this done right after the appointment, and had to strip Connor completely naked for it, as the diaper was in the way. I put Jer in the line of fire, but luckily Connor was polite and even though he didn't care for the way we were holding his arms and legs down, he didn't use the "nakee time" as an excuse to pee on his Dad.

She also made arrangements for an OT to come to our home and take a look at both it and our vehicle to see what kind of modifications we can perform or equipment we can get in order to make them more accessible for Connor. He'll be making three home visits. This is really exciting-- we can't wait to see what he comes up with!

Finally the good doc set us on the road to getting a handicapped parking sticker. Jer and I haven't bothered thus far because Connor was pretty small and easy to carry, but now that we're putting him in a wheelchair it would be really nice to be able to park close to the ramp. We're going to turn some paperwork in to her and then drop it off at the DMV office. Voila! Handicapped parking placards. Who knew it was so easy?

All in all, it was a very productive day!

~Jess