Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Luke Loves L.A.

NOTE: Even though this blog is dated November 17th, I didn't finish it until December 15th (*Beth hangs her head in shame*) I PROMISE to recommit myself to this blog (can you say New Year's resolution?!) but hang tight while I get all caught up. Thanks!

The beginning of November found our little family in Los Angeles for a day of doctor appointments at Childrens Hospital. It was all pre-scheduled (not an emergency!) and it ended up being pretty informative and interesting.

Luke first had an EEG which is one of those tests that they hook a bunch of lines to your head, looking for seizure activity by examining your brain waves. His local neurologist ordered one to help rule out seizures as a cause of his vomiting. (The report came back negative for seizures- hurray!) He did an amazing job (he had to be hooked up for 40 minutes) and the technician kept commenting how well he was doing for his age.

In the waiting area prior to the EEG. Handsome boy with CLEAN hair. Notice the LA Dodgers shirt?

All hooked up and ready to go.

He feel asleep (as requested by the tech- good boy!) but didn't wake up too happy and wasn't too hot on the removal process.

With a head full of lubricant.

A few hours later we saw Dr. Terrence Sanger, who is a hotshot pediatric neurologist specializing in movement disorders. I had originally made an appointment (a year prior!) to see him at Stanford in August but Childrens Hospital stole him away so I hustled and was able to get Luke in sooner rather then later down there. He did an hour long examine, looking at how Luke stands and walks with special attention paid to his right arm. He did some biofeedback in that arm which was very interesting. We found that if Luke is asked to do something with his good left hand/arm is actually spills over into the muscles of his right very slightly. Amazing how the brain works. Dr. Sanger suggested medication to help with Luke's tone but agreed that it was best to wait until we curtail the vomiting episodes. No major revelations but it was good to meet with him and at least establish Luke as a patient. I'm guessing we will be seeing more of Dr. Sanger in the future.

After our day at the hospital, we went back to our "fancy" hotel room ("fancy" = kind of creepy- albeit clean- room in a seedy part of LA.) We managed to swing a jacuzzi bathtub IN our sleeping area (not bathroom- very odd...) which Matt (in his bathing suit) and Luke (in his birthday suit) were anxious to try out. Luke needed a bath badly since his hair was beyond gross after the EEG so a soak was appreciated by all.

Living the good life.

That's Luke's bed on the left and ours on the right. Fancy indeed! (NOTE- the bedspread IMMEDIATELY was tucked deep into the closet. Beyond necessary when there is a jacuzzi bathtub located where it was located. Ew.)

Luke taking some time off of looking like exactly like Daddy and embracing the Mommy in him. Those ears do me proud.

1 comment:

Melissa said...

First of all, I love the first picture of Luke, super cute! Second, I'm dying about your hotel room and placement of Jacuzzi. :-)