Today we had #3 out of our 4 appointments this week. Today was Ramya's turn and we went to see Dr. Segal, our orthopedic surgeon, out of PCH. Our appointment was at 10:45 and we made it up there just about on the dot. I had made an x-ray appointment for Ramya at 12:00, hoping to be done by then. Ramya needed an x-ray of her bowels and also one of her left hand to check for age. They just want to make sure her age and bone growth/development are in sync. At 12:00, we still hadn't seen the doctor, so I found a nurse and had them call down to x-ray to let them know we would be late. We saw the doctor at about 12:15 and he had 3 students with him. He said he was teaching the students about spina bifida, and I told him, "Great! You get two kiddos for the price of one today!". The kiddos were getting quite restless after a long wait, so Dr. Segal did some magic tricks for them. They really enjoyed them and it helped put them in a better mood. He's always great with them and I really appreciate it! He's a wonderful doctor and even came by just to say "hi" to Madi when we were in the hospital for her vesicostomy, even though he didn't have to. I love and appreciate that he sees my children for the amazing little blessings they are, and not just for their diagnosis. He showed me Ramya's hip x-ray and told me both her hips are displaced. They aren't totally out of socket, however, her sockets are not carved out correctly, so they sort of pop in and out. When he was showing us the x-ray photos, there was a heart on one of them, because they use a little heart-shaped blocker that says, "save the gonads" so the radiation goes around a kiddos reproductive area. Anyhow, Madi was very fascinated with the heart and thought it was really Ramya's heart. I explained to her that a real heart doesn't look like that and would be in a different spot. I told her it was just a sticker, but then she thought that they put he sticker IN Ramya. After explaining that it had just gone on the outside, and that they had already taken it off, Madi decided to yell that Ramya had a penis. We then got to have the talk, again, about Ramya being a girl and not having a penis... in front of the doctor and the students. They were really trying not to giggle. Fun fun! Dr. Segal said we need to keep watching her hips, but that we aren't going to talk about surgery for them at this time. Next we headed down stairs for x-rays.
After checking in with radiology we took a brief a potty break then got Ramya's x-rays done, which didn't take too long. We were done by about 1:15. We headed over to the cafeteria next, as the girls decided they didn't like the snacks I had brought and everyone was starving. My kids LOVE to go to the cafeteria and order food. And by love, I mean LOVE. They look forward to those little trips and it really brightens our otherwise not so fun days. They offer gluten-free pizza and pasta, as well as other things they really enjoy. Unfortunately we didn't have a great cafeteria experience, but in the end, the kids had full happy bellies, and that is what counts. In a nutshell, the guy running the pizza/pasta area reallllly didn't want to make our pizza, as he was busy (which is understandable), but at 1:45, he still hadn't even started our pizza and my kids had, quite literally, been standing in the same spot waiting for about 25 minutes. He just kept putting us off. I asked to talk to a manager and he was wonderful. He got our pizzas started for us and even gave us two free meal tickets. He really was a nice guy. I tried to explain to him that we come to the hospital very, very often and that it's not a lot of fun for my kiddos, but that their gluten-free pizza is a like a little ray of sunshine for them (I'm not exaggerating either, it really is. They get so excited for it. Conner even chose to come with me to the hospital so he could chose food from the cafeteria instead of going to hang out with Grammy, whom he loves, because it's just that exciting for him). I told him I expect to wait a little longer, because it's a speciality item that they offer, but that if they are going to offer it, they really should be prepared to make it. I thanked him for offering it and told him how much we love having that option available and how much it means to the kiddos. Finally at about 2:10 our food was ready and we got to sit down to eat. The kids were very very happy and scarfed down their food! Conner looked at me and said, "Momma, thank you for telling that man to please make our pizza. I was really hungry and I wanted it so bad. I was so glad you said that". Hearing that made it all worth while!
We finally made it home at 3:30, and it felt great to sit down and relax for a bit! We had left at 10 a.m., and it was a long day for just one appointment and some x-rays. I really didn't anticipate us being gone so long!
When we were at Dr. Segal's office, we met a cute little boy with osteogenisis imperfecta 3 (OI3). This, of course, made me think of Deena, which, of course, reminded me how much I dislike this long process, which reminded me of how much longer we have to go to get her home, which then reminded me that I haven't updated about our process! Right now I don't have much to tell. We are working on homestudies and are getting things done as fast as possible. We basically have to re-do everything, which is a lot. That's about all of the update I have for now, unfortunately.
I thought I'd share a few little adoption attachment updates. The other day Madi was talking to Ramya. She said, "Ramya, I really miss-ed you when you were in India. I really wanted you to come home. But now (long pause) I want you to go back to India." Ramya very seriously and with emotion said that she didn't want to go back to India, which was nice to hear. It was a good opportunity to talk with the girls about how Ramya part of our family, forever, and she is never going back. Ramya is forever my daughter, they are forever sisters, etc... I think it's a good thing for Ramya to hear and be reminded of how much we love her and how, no matter what, she is ours, forever. I know that all of her last placements have been temporary, but I really want her to see that this isn't just another transition; this is it. Tonight the girls were taking a bath and Ramya put all of the alligator bath toys in a bucket. She said, "look, this is a family!" It made me smile and it was a good ending to our day!
That's about all the updates I have for now. Tomorrow we head back to PCH to see our urologist and check on Madi's vesicostomy. After that we head to Flagstaff to my parent's cabin for a few days. We are all so excited and can't wait!!
