Opthamologist & Orthopedic

Busy schedule this week... 

Eva's Dilation

Yesterday we met with a new opthamologist.  She was greeted by an extremely large waiting room with just a few awaiting children & babies ahead of her.  When we were called back, we started with the first nurse.  I was asked to have Eva on my lap while she looked at repeating pictures on a screen that was placed on a shelf, about three feet above our head.  But, she had to look at the mirror in front of her to do this task correctly. This was a challenging concept for her to grasp but as patient as the nurse was, she completed it. 
After that, we called in an additional nurse to assist with inserting drops to dilate.  We were then sent out to the waiting room for at least thirty minutes after which we were again called back into the patient's room.  The lights were turned down low again and the doctor was covering her eyes, one by one, to see if her muscles responded to light differentiation. 
Her conclusion was that her vision is currently 20/60 with a slight astigmatism.  This is not something that is required to need aided correction. 



Today we had a visit with the orthopedic.  For background information, we have not seen her orthopedic since the scheduled follow up from the bilateral hip dysplacia in 2012.  At this office, we were greeted by a completely overpopulated waiting room.  This office holds all four of the pediatric orthopedic doctors that serve the metro area, and they have clinical visits for two days only a week.  Busy was an understatement.  We were told that Eva was going to get an updated x-ray of her hips before been seen.  We watched as most of the waiting room dissipated into patient rooms and Eva was finally called.  We had the x-ray done, without resistance, and was taken to the last empty room, a cast room.  Ironically, it was the same room we were in when that retched frog cast taken off. Horrible, awful, disturbing memories. 

The doctor came in and complimented how big and physically active she was.   First, he showed me a picture of her x-ray. 
He explained that the left ball on the hip is still lacking cartilage but is slowly regenerating.  I had a few questions for him - one was her running ability.  I notice that when she is running, her right leg swags outward.  He said this is call genu valgum (knee knock).  This is typical for children aged 3-6.  Because of her age (4.5 yrs) I should not be concerned.  If it continues after age six, there is a corrective surgery for this.  I also asked about physical therapy. He stated that he can write a prescription that has nothing to do with her deletion whereby we can receive therapy through insurance again.  Finally, I asked if he knew of any podiatrist or trades person that does shoe lifts without going through insurance.  He only wished that he knew someone.  We were scheduled for an appointment for 12 months out. 

Information about genu valgum:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001263.htm