So Oliver had another big day yesterday --spina bifida clinic at CHOP. SB clinic is a day where we go down and he sees everybody -- neursurgery, clinic nurse, pediatrician, physical therapist, social worker, and orthopedics. Whew. Grandma made the trip down with us, so we had some good company to get us through the day. We saw neurosurgery first, becasue his home pediatrician thought that he saw sundowning of Oliver's eyes at his 4 month check-up on Monday. Sundowning is when the eyes slide down, leaving a lot of white showing at the top. This is one of the signs of hydrocephelus, which would indicate the need for a shunt. I didn't really see it, but was still pretty nervous. After he was evaluated by neuro, they said that they didn't see anything wrong, and that any sign, especially sundowning, would be much more pronounced. One of those things that you can't mistake for anything else. So we got a thumbs-up from neuro.
We bopped around to the rest of the doctors after that. The pediatrician was someone we hadn't seen before and was very nice. The clinic nurse and physical therapist hardly spent any time with us at all - I guess there wasn't much to say. In orthopedics, he got fitted for his braces. After January 2, Oliver will be out of casts and will wear his new braces indefinitely. At first, he got fitted for very cumbersome casts -- there were two sandals joined by a bar. So his legs would actually be attached to each other. I was soo upset. But when we saw the doctor, he said that he'd ordered the wrong kind, and that his braces would actually just be plastic sleeves that hold the feet in position, much like his casts do. I was much happier after that.
When all was said and done, we were there from 10 am to 6:30 pm. A long but fulfilling day. Oliver seemed no worse for the wear. I, on the other hand, was pretty tired.
Speaking of a big day, I'm going out to happy hour for the first time in, um, I actaully don't know how long. I used to be the happy hour queen! Ages 22-27 basically were happy hour. In all honesty, my friend Lynn and I shared the title. We could turn happy hour into happy 7 hours. Aah, the good old days; it's a shame I don't remember all of them that clearly. Lynn is coming home for a visit from her posh new LA digs and we're going to hit the bar with our other friends from the Jewish News. It will be like old times, except for the fact that I can't drink that much because I'm breastfeeding and I have to be home by 9. But other than that, really, just like old times.
