WOW FINALLY AN UPDATE!

Things have been crazy around here and I am going to jumble it all into one giant update.....

• Elijah's orthotics are in and he is wearing them daily.  Although they are NOT half as bad as anything I imagined when the orthopaedist prescribed them, they still look a little odd.  Don't worry I have not mentioned this minor detail to my boy!  The weird thing is they are straight last shoe and completely interchangeable.  There is no left or right shoe until the longitudes and arch supports are placed inside.  It is rather odd to look at a shoe and not tell if it is right or left.....totally straight no curve on the arches!!  Crazy huh!  The problem with this is they are really wide and must be tied tight which he is unable to do.  You know how you pull at the strings that are laced to get the shoe tighter....well he just can't get them tight enough so if they come untied during the day then they are a mess when he gets home.  I need to find something to make them stay tied!  This little feature means they have the general appearance of being tied tight and narrow at the top then they look extra wide at the toe of the shoe......did that make since?  Let me think.......sort of resemble a clown shoe!  Oh that sounds awful!  Luckily, they look much better with jeans and fall is HERE!!  The nice lady also fitted the arch supports for his football cleats so we switch them out ALL THE TIME!
• I love FALL!!  Although we had hot days this summer, Oklahoma BY FAR had a great summer.  Normally, we are in the 100s for what seems like forever but not THIS year!  Nope!!  It was so so nice!  Made football practice much easier on the boys!  HOWEVER, this makes me fearful for an extremely cold winter and I don't do cold!
• Tez was having issues and ran away a few times.  Due to his intellectual disabilities, the police and counselors advised that we go ahead and let him live with his Mother.  He does NOT NEED to be with her and we feel as if this is just throwing in the towel, giving up and will destroy his future; HOWEVER, like they said, "short of tying him to the bed, we have no other options because of his mental state".  He should have never spent the summer with her because he was fine before he left.  The past can't be changed and I feel both remorseful and angry at the entire situation.  Everyone says he will realize everything we did later but with the environment he will be in.....I just don't see it happening.  I wish you all could understand just how strongly we feel about this being a bad decision BUT do you send a 15 yr old with the mind of a 3rd or 4th grader to juvi?  No!  He is a follower and not in "trouble" like the juvenile offenders in juvi so we don't want him influenced in that way.  They said it might "open his eyes" but they didn't recommend it for him.  I could go on and on about this topic but I won't because at the moment I am still bitter about it.  I feel this is an awful choice for his life.  For example, she took him out of all of his IEP classes because "he wanted to be in normal classes"!  Are you freaking kidding me?  He is intellectually disabled no matter how much she denies it!  That basically guarantees failure!  My 7yr old writes better than him and his handwriting isn't good!  His Math, English and Reading Comp skills are on a 3rd and 4th grade level and she wants to stick him in with on-level 10th graders!  His new school is full of thugs!  He now has a cell phone (big mistake for him) and an 18 yr old girlfriend.  He is in a house with no rules!  Ok I really need to stop b/c I am getting pissed that everything I did for him over the last 2 yrs is down the freaking drain and she will destroy him!  Lord, help me since now I am thinking juvi would have been a better option!
• Isaiah is doing great in speech.  The therapist is awesome and anticipates he may not need the originally planned length of therapy.  They spent two sessions on K, two sessions on G and are about to begin L.  I love taking him and it is truly interesting to watch.  We were told he has mastered the tongue placement for those sounds and now we need to catch his errors during spontaneous speech so he recognizes his error and fixes it.  I am soooooooo glad I am getting this taken care of now and he is doing well!
• Hubs and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary yesterday.  Although I said I was glad he married me with my two...yep read it folks....two flaws, he has neither confirmed nor denied the existence of these two flaws!!  Smart move Baby....very smart!  We have been together now for almost 9 yrs and all I can say is....time flies when you're havin' fun!
• Still no internet at the house which leaves me with "I am switching to a cheaper service" regret!  We were told by three separate services that they don't service our area and one "measured" with no luck!  Ugh!  I may have to suck it up and go back to the original service before I experience death by internet deficiencies!!  That is a real medical condition.....I think!
• Our football Champion boys are at it again.  So far they are undefeated and make us prouder every week.  I think my favorite part is listening to Elijah talk about the games.  He LOVES it!
• I've come to the conclusion that I would be better off as a complete idiot!  I've been on a couple of more interviews through personal connections.  These people then call me saying the job really likes me!  Great!  I have heard this in every single interview.  We like you!  We love you!  bbbbuuuuutttttt you are overqualified!  Are you kidding me?  I don't need you to love me or necessarily even like me!  I just need you to hire me and pay me!!  This overqualified crap is just that.....crap!  That is liar for we just don't want to pay you what you are worth.  I DON'T CARE JUST PAY ME SOMETHING!  I understand the idea of working my way up but I need the opportunity!  McD's here I come!  My boys would LOVE that!!  I guess maybe if I act like a complete idiot, then maybe I will get a good job!  From past experiences, I know there are employed idiots everywhere even Doctors!! ha!.....remember Dr. Huang!

I think that is all FOR NOW but I have plenty other posts coming up with more juiciness!!  Wait till you hear about my experience with the racist wally world employees or a Halloween giveaway!

SUPER SPECIAL SHOES AND ROBOT LEGS

Good news all!!

We went to the orthotics appt for Elijah and hold your breath.............

his "special" shoes appear "normal"!

I know, I know!

How vain!

Remember though it is only because I didn't want the special shoes to cause him problems at school with teasing. It was rather interesting and the lady was the sweetest when I approached the "normal" shoe issue. She said, "Well he is so handsome and I know he doesn't probably want to sport the chunky all black Velcro shoe so I am going to get him a normal looking shoe."

Yeah!!

She then proceeded to hand the catalog to Elijah so he could pick out his shoes.

Really?

Not a move I would've made but luckily he picked out the pair I liked too without me saying a thing!! That's my boy! I taught him well! The shoes appear to look like a VANS skater kid type shoe which is way better than I imagined in my head. They are mainly white with a little bit of blue. Hopefully, they will truly resemble the picture once they are made. The shoes will be ready in two or three weeks complete with removable longitudes and arch supports that we can insert into his football cleats.

All was good until she then informed me that although insurance would completely cover the cost of the shoes, the shoes are over a $100 and the inserts are a little over $200!

Are you freaking kidding me?

Wow!

My seven year old boy picked out a $350 pair of WHITE shoes.

Ouch!

After that little bit of info, I promptly said, "How long will these last and how often will they buy him a new pair?" She said to take him back to the orthopaedist in December since the insurance will buy him a new pair of orthotics in January. Phew! Wow!

Needless to say, if the dog eats this pair of shoes it will more than likely die!

Hopefully he will have the shoes late next week and begin his healing process!

Oh and I can't leave out this little tidbit.....

The place we went to get the shoes is a prosthetics and orthotics facility. While leaving our room, a nurse was putting another patient into the next room. The man had a mainly metal prosthetic leg. Isaiah looked straight up at him and said, "Are you a robot?" The man said, "No but are you a robot?" Isaiah never being one to hold his tongue continues with, "Well no I am not a robot but if you aren't a robot then why do you have a robot leg?" He must have sensed my complete embarrassment because he kindly explained his situation to the boys and told me I shouldn't be embarrassed. He would rather kids ask instead of stare in case they encounter a child with a prosthetic leg. He let them touch his leg and told them they shouldn't be scared of people with metal legs. They thanked him and we left. The entire way through the rest of the office and in the parking lot Isaiah was muttering to himself, "He IS a robot! I want a robot leg too! I bet he has robot leg super powers!" Out of the mouths of babes!!

GOOD NEWS: HIS FEET WILL NOT FALL OFF!!

Today we went to The Orthopaedic Center at Hillcrest and saw Dr. Holderness. He was amazing, sweet and informative. The office was super nice and the staff was highly knowledgable. Our appt was fast which was great since I had to meet Hubs at his three month diabetes appt an hour later. I was in and out in less than one hour.

Yes, Elijah has STUFF in both feet!

The STUFF is a bone that stopped forming!!

The doctor had a really good laugh at that one and wondered how an orthopedist could not know about Kohler's disease. Elijah has Bilateral Kohler's Disease basically Kohler's Disease in both feet. Not half as bad as it sounds with the word disease at the end!! I think it should be called Kohler's Syndrome!! Not as bad, right!! I am not going to lie when I first heard it ~ I WAS SCARED! Until he said, "It is no where near as bad as it sounds and they should just change the name! It is a self-limiting and self-healing disease." Basically, the navicular bones in both of his feet stopped forming and just looked like "stuff". The left foot is already healing on its own explaining why he has no pain in this foot but instead some mild tenderness. The right foot has not started the healing process yet. At this point, he said it is ok for him to resume all activities including football. Elijah was very relieved to hear this little tidbit. He said, "Basically if it hurts him then he needs to rest and take ibuprofen for any swelling."

First, he said he would send him to get longitudes and arch supports (?) for his shoes. He would have put him in a cast for a few weeks but since his pain is not constant he thinks the inserts would be the best option. THEN he changed his mind since Elijah's bones are growing inward he decided to send us to get prescription shoes! I think right now this is more of a setback for me rather than him. I don't want him to get made fun of and hope that these orthotics are fashionable. If not, maybe we'll opt for the inserts! I know, I know!! I'll do whatever he needs but I don't want him emotional scarred for life because he got made fun of for his "special" shoes and then he turns into freakin' Forrest Gump with Avani as his "Jenna"!! I deal with all of that Thursady of next week at the orthotics/prosthetics appt. He also said later on this could also affect his heels but we would deal with that when and if it occurred! For those of you who are more detailed oriented here is what I learned on the internet............

Kohler's Disease

Kohler's disease is a rare bone disorder of the foot in children that may be the result of stress-related compression at a critical time during the period of growth. Kohler's disease is a condition, where the navicular bone in the foot undergoes avascular necrosis. Avascular necrosis is a disease resulting from the temporary or permanent loss of the blood supply to the bones. Without blood, the bone tissue dies and causes the bone to collapse. For some unknown reason, typically in a child, the navicular bone in the foot loses its blood supply for a while. It is characterized by limping caused by pain and swelling in the foot. It most often occurs in children between the ages of three and seven, and it affects males five times more often than it does females. Typically, just one foot is affected. Children appear to grow out of the disorder, and the affected bones regain their size, density and structure within a year. For some, however, symptoms may last as long as two years.

Symptoms
Kohler disease is a rare bone disorder characterized by a painful swollen foot. The foot is especially tender along the length of the arch. Putting weight on the foot or walking is difficult, causing further discomfort and a limp. For reasons that are not understood, the flow of blood to one of the bones in the foot (navicular bone) is interrupted, resulting in progressive degeneration of that bone. In a relative short time, however, the bone heals itself.Usually, symptoms will be mild, and patients may not seek treatment until the pain and swelling have persisted for a while (you know like almost a year in this Mother of the Year's case!).

Causes
The exact cause of Kohler disease is unknown. It does not appear to be hereditary and, until recently, was not thought to be linked to an injury. Some orthopedic specialists now believe that Kohler disease may be linked to an injury in the area around a bone (navicular bone) in the foot and may be the result of delayed bone formation (ossification). Structural weakness might result from an increase in the ratio of cartilage to bone. Since the navicular bone is part of the mechanism by which the foot moves (articulation), it is subject to weight-bearing pressures and stresses from twisting and turning. Under normal circumstances, the navicular bone is served by a blood vessel from which smaller arteries supply blood to the regions of bone growth. At around the ages of four to six, the blood supply to these regions of bone growth increases as other blood vessels reach them. If ossification is delayed, and the child gains weight, the effect is to compress the blood vessels, thus causing tissue destruction (ischemia). The navicula is the last tarsal bone to ossify in children. This bone might be compressed between the already ossified talus and the cuneiforms when the child becomes heavier. Compression involves the vessels in central spongy bone leading to ischemia. Ischemia causes clinical symptoms. Thereafter, the perichondral ring of vessels sends the blood supply, allowing rapid revascularization and formation of new bone.

Affected Populations
Kohler disease is a rare bone disorder of the foot that affects males more often than females. The disorder strikes children between the ages of 1 and 10 years with a peak occurring at ages 3 to 7 years. The center of bone growth that is affected in Kohler disease develops in young girls about one year before it appears in young boys. Nevertheless, the disorder is five times more prevalent in boys than girls. It is thought that the incidence of the disorder in the population is about 2%.


Standard Therapies
DiagnosisKohler disease is diagnosed with an X-ray of the foot and the presence of weight-bearing pain in the middle of the foot. Treatment ranges from weight-bearing short-leg plaster casts at one extreme to "watchful waiting" at the other. Special supportive shoes may also be considered. Staying off the foot as much as possible helps in recovery. Symptoms can last for a few days or persist for up to two years. However, symptoms usually resolve within a year.