April appointments were our form of showers in the Pollock household. We had visits to Dr. Hudgins and Dr. Milo, as well as appointments for a urodynamic exam, preschool screening and a well check-up for Gabriella. Not to mention we had multiple calls due to concerns we had with some of Jordan’s symptoms he was having after starting a medication.
Our follow up with Dr. Hudgins went well. Jordan even got some extra play time to race cars with Dr. Hudgins.
All of our questions about his behavior, headaches and feeling uncomfortable were answered. He didn’t feel it was his shunt, so we’ll count on allergies, learning to feel what having to go #2 feels like, and becoming an independent little man.
Dr. Milo checked to see if he could find Mater and McQueen (Jordan’s tubes) in his ears. They both are beginning to exit the garage.
His ear infections will hopefully subside once allergy season slows down, and with a little help from some medication, we should see improvement. We are so impressed with Dr. Milo and his staff. They are so pleasant while Jordan is in their care.
One of our most dreaded exams of the year has also come and gone. The urodynamic exam.
This is the one exam that Randy usually will ask my mom to go with me. It’s a long, uncomfortable exam, but this year was the first year that Jordan was interested in being preoccupied with his daily dose of cars.
The exam is to gauge the pressure at which his bladder leaks. It’s much more complicated, but in reality someone without a neurogenic bladder should have a pressure of 0.
Once the pressure is higher, there’s potential to push the urine back up into the kidneys causing damage. It’s pretty common to catheterize when pressures are high to prevent damage. They’ve told us they’ll start that process when the pressure reaches 25.
The first couple of appointments Jordan measured at around 20 and last year was around 10. This year was around 5 to 10. So who knows what may change in the future, but we’ll take it as it comes.
Due to the need to use catheters, Jordan was put on an antibiotic for a few days before and after the procedure.
A day or so after we started the medication, Jordan started to stammer/stutter with common phrases that he typically uses. It seemed to happen at certain points of the day. We thought something was going on with his shunt.
We’ve talked about how nothing with this little man has been what the books have told us. Typically with shunt malfunctions there is vomiting and lethargy, none of which he showed during the December events.
We were ready to take him in for another set of scans to rule it out. Instead of reacting too quickly because of the week’s events and medications, we decided to wait until his system had been cleared.
Sure enough he’s back to his jabbering self. Who knew this would be a side effect? Again, what’s normal anyway?
I never thought our normal would be sending our little man to preschool early either. Here we are being screened for our next chapter in our journey. We met with some preschool teachers, physical, occupational and speech therapists, director and a couple others to get a plan started for his next step.
Of course Jordan was social with them and enjoyed sharing his best friend Gabriella. We are still trying to navigate how we would like to approach the next step. Change is so hard, but at the same time we want to make good decisions on what’s most beneficial for Jordan. As always, time will tell.
Jordan was so excited to take his sister to doctor’s house for her 6-month checkup. He’s been helping to prepare her for the event by getting out his kit to take her blood pressure, check her heart beat and lungs with his stethoscope, as well as take her temperature with a temporal thermometer.
I’m sure using his toy syringe will be used a little more after the event. She’s growing like a little flower with all of these showers. She measured in the 90th percentile for both her height and weight. She and Jordan now share the same size diapers.
We pray that these April showers will bring vibrant, colorful May flowers. We are excited to see what God has in store in the Pollock garden.
