Zach's Knees

If you read this post and this post, you know we were going back to the doctor to get the results of his second MRI and to see what else the doctor could tell us. We saw the MRI and it is almost a mirror image of the first one. The doctor gave us alot of information on OCD and was honest and forthcoming about the procedures that he performs and what they entail and how long the recovery time would be. He thinks that Zach should make a good enough recovery to still be able to run in the future. And then he said, "This is what I do but there are other procedures out there and it would be prudent for you to get a second or even third opinion before making your decision."
"Where do we go for that?" I asked.
He said, "There are few places here in the Quad Cities that do these kinds of procedures but the only one I would recommend for his case is Dr. Amendola at the Uof I Sports Medicine Center."
Dave said, "That's where we want to go."
Since you can't just run off to Iowa City and get an appt. to see this doctor, Dr. Hussain is sending a referal to his office and they will call us to set up a time when we can go and meet him. It's funny, my coworker said that we should go to him because she just had knee surgery, so when Dr H. said his name I was able to say I had heard of him.
In the meantime, while we wait, I am praising God for sending us to the right place and through the right channels. And to this doctor who is very knowledgable and gracious enough to recommend a second opinion. We were prepared to ask for one but it's good to know he did the right thing and we didn't have to.

Update on Zach's Knees

Well, Dr. Ellis recommended we see Dr. Hussain for Zach's knees. He's a surgeon so it's not surprising that he wants to do surgery. He said Zach has a disease called Osteochondritis Dissecans or OCD. You can look it up online but it is a disease that is rare but is found in teenagers. The cause of it is up to alot of speculation but the doctor has said that most probably, it is nothing he has done, it just happens. He ordered an MRI on his other knee so we did that last week. We go in this week to see the results and talk about the next step. He already told us that he wants to do surgery on both knees, first the left and then the right. The part that surprised us was that he doesn't think Zach should be involved in running sports. He says that when his knees are fixed, the scar tissue will be weaker than the original cartilage so there will be a chance for reinjury. This will be something we will discuss on Wednesday. Dave and I will both be there to ask questions and talk about other options and getting another opinion. At this point, nothing has been decided so we don't really know the next step, but we are hoping and praying that we have a good visit on Wednesday. We don't want Zach to never be able to run again so we will do what we need to do to get the right care for him.
More to come after Wednesday...

Didn't Notice Leah

Leah got to go to preschool with me on Friday. Her work was to put a row of numbered puzzles together and then put little red pegs in for each number. I showed her how to fit number 1 next to number 2 and asked her which one would be next. She looked through the stack and came up with number 3. Then she put the rest of them together by naming them out loud. I had no idea she knew any of the numbers, especially number 7 or 8 or 9 or...well 10. But she knew them all. After she put all the red pegs in she was so excited, she ran to Nana and said, Look, Nana I did it! She slowly counted each one in order, 1,2,3... Of course Nana and I oohed and aahed appropriately. Then she proceeded to count them all backwards. Nana looked at me in shock and said, "She just counted those backwards!" When I looked at Leah she said, "Oh, I didn't notice that".
What a nut:)