Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children

Today Joel, Grant, and I were at TSRHC from 7:55am til 1:45pm - whew, that makes for a long day! Thank you, Nana, for watching Kate!

We went to the Rainbow Clinic to see a developmental pediatrician in the hopes of finding answers to why Grant is delayed and any further direction in intervention. This appointment was really amazing how it came to be: One day about 7-8 weeks ago my mom happened to be working with a nurse who she normally doesn't work with. They started talking and this nurse mentioned how her husband is a doctor and that he works with kids who are developmentally delayed. My mom was like, "OMG, my grandson is developmentally delayed!" So they continued talking and come to find out her husband is THE director of the Rainbow Clinic at TSRHC! So she said she'd call my mom later and get the info she needed for referring Grant. Since Grant had been there previously she said it shouldn't be too hard for him to get an appointment. Pretty cool, huh?

I knew we might be there for a few hours this morning but didn't quite anticipate it to be that long! We saw 10 different people during the time we were there in this order: nurse coordinator, certified nurse practitioner, dietitian, occupational therapist, physical therapist, Dr. Adams - the developmental pediatrician, (we were in the same room for 4 hours!) then onto family service coordinator, social worker, radiology nurse, and finally Kevin in orthotics department.

While I can't say that we came away with new and profound insight, we did feel it was a worthy trip. Today was mostly Joel and I answering a bunch of questions about Grant, his development, his strengths, weaknesses, current goals, our concerns, his diet, birth, behavior, and more. Basically, anything and everything to do with our little guy. Speaking of which we have had a little fever bug at our house starting with Kate last Thursday evening. She threw up once that night and then had a fever all day Friday. We thought that was the end of it until Grant came home from school with a very low fever on Tuesday and as the day went on it was clear he had something going on, too. I was afraid I would have to reschedule our appointment this morning because he was sick but I really hated to miss it. So I gave him some Tylenol and a decent breakfast (in the car) and off we went - at 6:50 this morning! The Tylenol helped some but he was pretty sleepy and not his usual curious and busy self. If you know Grant at all you know this was a HUGE blessing considering the fact we were in the same patient room for over 4 hours!!! Thank you, Lord, for this timing of illness! :-) They kept saying to us, looking at our notes previously sent in "It says here he's a pretty busy boy but he sure doesn't seem very active!" We kept reassuring them that this isn't "normal" Grant and that he is a little 'under the weather'!

We will see Dr. Adams again in November. In the meantime, he is going to get info from Grant's school, his PT, OT, and SLP both at school and private. He wants Grant to have an MRI done and an extensive hearing exam done before we see him again. We scheduled the MRI for Friday, Sept. 26, a little over a week from now. Also, he got a new pair of orthotics for his shoes! He has had a pair for over a year now and they have helped his balance, even though he still falls a lot. He is about to grow out of his current pair and I was pretty sure we wouldn't be getting a new pair - if I told you how much they cost you might croak! So...we are thankful for this new pair and hope that Grant's feet will respond well to them. We'll see.

Dr. Adams said Grant does seem to fit Dyspraxia, which is what his private PT and OT diagnosed him with last summer. He also said that he doesn't see him on the Autism spectrum, confirming what quite a few people have told us previously. As to the rest, he said we'll talk again when Grant's folder is about 3 inches thick instead of the 1/2 inch thickness it is now, basically, he needs to get some more background on him from the people who have worked with him and who work with him presently, as well as get results from the MRI. So I anticipate next's appointment to be less questions and more directional. They promised it won't be as long as today!

For those of you not familiar with Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, there is no charge for any service to patients. They are supported through donations and volunteers. This is why it really was a big deal for us today, as we really feel priviledged and blessed to have this opportunity. I'm anxious for November to come when we meet again with Dr. Adams. Please keep Grant in your prayers next Friday, Sept. 26! He will have an MRI that morning. I'll keep you posted on how he does!