Medical Issues

Spring of 2011 was full of medical issues for our family. Thanks goodness none of them were too serious but it was still a lot of doctor's visits, vet visits and hospital visits. It wasn't exactly how I wanted to spend my days.

We started off with our dog, Rosie, needing surgery. She didn't just need some run of the mill, couple of hundred dollar surgery either. She messed up her knee and had to have very expensive, long recovery surgery. We had noticed her limping since December of last year. It didn't seem to improve so we took her to the vet in January. We were told that she had probably strained/pulled a muscle and to let her rest more and it would heal. Well, it didn't. So, we went back to the vet and had x-rays done. We were concerned about hip displaysia, however, her hips looked fine. That was the good news. The bad news was that her knee cap was detached and causing her a good amount of pain. So, she went in for surgery to have her knee cap reattached and her tendons tightened. The poor dog! When we brought her home a few days later, it was to place her in her crate where she would need to remain 24/7 for the next two weeks. Carlos even had to carry her outside to go potty. It's been about two months now and I am happy to report that she is healing well. She still has a slight limp and will probably favor that leg for quite some time, however, she is tons better than she was.

Rosie, a few days after her surgery.

As I have mentioned before, I will be 35yrs. of age when Claire is born in a few weeks. So, I have had to have a few extra tests run as well as a few extra ultrasounds. Currently, we are keeping an eye on Claire's size. My third daughter, Lily, was a little over 9lbs. at birth and I am concerned that Claire is going to surpass that! I had an ultrasound a few weeks ago and she was already measuring large, however, my belly was still in the normal range. Well, I went to the OB a few days ago and now my belly is also measuring large. So, we will do an ultrasound in about a week and a half and if she is still large then we may opt to go with a c-section this time around. I am quite nervous about it since I have never had a c-section. However, I also need to have an umbilical hernia repaired sooner rather than later, so it may make sense to take care of it all in one day. So, that has been weighing on us a bit.

My second oldest daughter, Megan, has had some health issues as well. She is normally my healthiest child but for some reason has had a rough time as of late. First, she had some major constipation issues after Easter (darn all that sugar) and it was a rather traumatic few days while we dealt with that. Trust me, you don't want any details. Let's just say that both Mommy and daughter will not soon forget. Secondly, she began having side pains one day. I figured she was coming down with a virus and didn't think too much about it. However, after 24hrs. of her complaining we decided a trip to the ER was in order. Our pediatrician was concerned about a possible appendicitis so we were taking things very seriously. She spent the evening in the ER having all sorts of tests run. The doc did discover she had gallstones, but didn't think that was causing the problems. So, they eventually sent her home with instructions to call our pediatrician if things got worse. Well, within 12hrs. we were back at the pediatrician with a VERY dehydrated and sick little girl. I knew before I even got there that they were going to send her to the childrens' hospital and I was right. She was admitted for two days while she received IV fluids and had numerous blood tests run. In the end it was determined that she had some nasty virus that had taken her down. So, she came home but it took several more days before she started to exhibit much life. It was a scary 3 days while we tried to figure out what was going on. The doc said that while she does have gallstones, she didn't believe they were causing her any issues right now, however, she can probably look forward to gallbladder surgery when she is a teen or an adult. :(

Meg receiving IV fluids at Kosair Childrens' Hospital.

We thought we were finished with the medical drama, and for the most part we are. However, Carlos got bit by a spider or some such creature last week and we are now dealing with that. He has a very scary looking bite on the back of his leg and is currently taking antibiotics for it. He also has poison ivy that he is taking steroids to control. So, we are keeping an eye on him as well.

I am pretty sure that when the summer ends we will have reached our annual out of pocket maximum for our health insurance. Between that and the dog's surgery, I am resigning myself to being broke for the rest of the year. At least I will have a baby to snuggle and fuss over. :)