Today was great for Caden and our family. Caden had an orthopedic appointment at MUSC that turned out great and he had another couple of firsts today with his development.
The orthopedic appointment was scheduled as a result of a spine x-ray taken a few weeks ago that showed signs of scoliosis. The x-ray was ordered at the recommendation of the Greenwood Genetic Center visit several months back. The appointment went great because the doctor delivered great information. The doctor said that at Caden’s age and with the how good Caden’s back looked, he would not recommend doing anything at this time. He recommended that Caden be allowed to proceed as any other little boy with normal activities. PRAISE GOD!!! Not only did this doctor deliver great news, this had to have been one of the best appointments we have had at MUSC yet from an administrative standpoint. They moved folks through their clinic smoothly and with little wait time.
One of the other big events of the day was special to me most of all. Caden actually said Dada today. I was holding him during the appointment while a medical student examined him and he looked up at me and said “Dada”. I had to ask the medical student if she caught that and she said she did. Sherry was busy with Riley, but she did get to see Caden going through the motions. We have been taught by the speech therapists to show Caden how to stick out his tongue when he is jabbering an he will automatically say Dada. This exercise of sticking out the tongue is an exaggeration of the placement of the tongue to get the “D” sound. It is the first time he has actually made sound while sticking out his tongue. We have been working on this much longer than mama because it is suppose to be easier.
The other big event of the day was that Caden went from a laying position to sitting without any assistance from one of us. Sherry did not see it happen, but Caden did it. She and Riley were at the table for lunch and Caden was on the floor in the family room playing while getting his noon tube feeding. She said that she looked over at him one minute and he was on his tummy and the next minute he was sitting up.
Tomorrow will be another day at MUSC. We will take Caden for a sedated echo cardiogram. During this visit the cardiologist will be looking at Caden’s aortic valve. Caden has been diagnosed with a small and bicuspid aortic valve. That valve was believed to be small because the aorta was only supplying Caden’s head and neck with blood at birth. The surgeons and cardiologists were concerned as to whether that little valve could handle the load after attaching the descending aorta. The rest of his body was getting blood from the PDA where the descending aorta was attached at birth. Well, the aortic valve not only pulled its weight, it has been surprisingly strong since Caden’s open heart surgery at six days old back on 11/8/04. The other thing they will be looking at is the artery that was found to be protruding in on the esophagus.
Please keep Caden in your prayers tomorrow. He will get sedated for this procedure, but it will be just enough to make him sleepy.
Please remember to thank God for the healing of the RSV symptoms. Caden got through the RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) much easier than other kids from what we hear from other parents who describe their experiences with their kids and RSV.
Thanks for checking in on our little guy!!!