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:)

Happy Birthday Leah!

Our baby is growing up- Look who just turned 3!

Good morning sleepy head. Heading out to birthday breakfast with dad.

We went MOPS and had a party that night.

Presents!

So happy to have a sister to play with:) Blow out those candles!!

Skiing!

Cousin Shelby has been asking to go skiing with us since last year. We figured we better do it sooner rather than later because you never know what the weather will do .

Uncle Dave has some words of advice.

Say what? How do I get up?

Here we go!

All the skiiers.

She said she enjoyed it and we did too!

Zach's Knees

Zach has been having swelling and some pain in his knees since last summer. We took him to the doctor last week because it was steadily getting worse. We could tell there was fluid and his trainer at school recommended a sports physician at ORA. As soon as Dr. Ellis came into the room, I knew we were in the right place. She was full of knowledge and I was thankful we would have an answer quickly.



But I was wrong on the quick part. After examining him, she ordered x-rays. Which turned out to be normal. Good to know that structurally, all was good. Next step was to draw out fluid to be tested. Clear fluid would be best but she said it may be cloudy which would lend itself to infection. As soon as she started to draw it, my heart sank. It was red. She said, "This is not at all what I was expecting." She explained that at Zach's age, this should not be happening and she would order an MRI to hopefully get to the bottom of it.



So he had the MRI. On Thursday, we went in to get the results. Thankfully, all the lab work was normal which ruled out infection and juvenile arthritis. So thankful for that. Also thankful that the MRI showed the answer. He has a defect in the articular cartilage behind his patela. She explained it as a pothole in the smooth lining of the cartilage that was somehow disrupted and was causing blood in the joint. Because his knees are both having the same symptoms, she is certain an MRI on the other knee would show the same thing. More than likely, this has been caused by a fall on both knees that we just don't remember.

She has refered us to another doctor in her ORA group who specializes in cartilage damage in the knees. He just transfered here from his position as the sports physician for the UCLA (Bruins? I can't remember if this is the team she said). Anyway, he is a surgeon so more than likely, he will want to operate on Zach's knees to fix the cartilage. Although she's not sure, he might have some other things to try first, we just have to wait and see what he says. If he has to have surgery, it will be an outpatient procedure and it will be on the left knee first. Then he will have another MRI for the other knee and surgery on that one.
She seems to think that after we have it fixed, he will have a full recovery and be able to return to sports.

To tell you the truth, I am relieved to have an answer and to know that it wasn't something that showed in the lab work. That would have been trickier to treat the doctor agrees that this is better, even though it means possible surgery.

Thanks in advance for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.

Just Can't Catch a Break

Poor Trey Buddy has been through the wringer. First the car accident and now this.

This was a skiing accident. He was trying to do a jump and biffed. Right on his face.

On a brighter note. Doesn't his nose look great?!