Monday, November 5, 2012

New adventures

We are embarking on some new adventures! You all know my motto "Everything happens for a reason and only God knows that reason", Right? Well, here is more proof of that...

Eight weeks ago Mo woke up with knee pain. Apparently she had fallen off her bike that day but didn't bother to tell me cause it wasn't bad (scuffed the pants, but not her skin). Thought it was coincidence and probably just some growing pains. Two weeks later I decided it was time to call the doctor just to double check. The x-ray didn't show any injury so the doc said to call if it was still hurting in a week. One week later we were back for another exam. This time we were referred to the Orthopedic doctor. Since we had previously been there for Squeek's hips and Mo's fractured thumb we knew this was the right step. So we say our Orthopedic doc the next week, then MRI the week after. MRI results showed soft tissue contusion and swelling. The doctor ordered Physical Therapy.

A few days after the MRI, Mo was on the computer. After a few minutes she came and asked if she could borrow my glasses cause the letters were blurry (she was using a typing program). So, of course I called and got the kids in for eye exams. During the eye exam, Mo had a really hard time. She couldn't tell us even half of the letters, even when the doctor pointed to them individually. Reading a sentence or a paragraph was the same way. After a very lengthy exam the doctor finally diagnosed Mo with a visual perception disorder called Convergence Insufficiency. The doctor said that she needs vision therapy but that many insurance companies do not cover it.

After a few days the order for Physical Therapy came in the mail.While looking over the paper I notice the option for Occupational Therapy. Guess what's under Occupational Therapy? Visual Perception Therapy!!!

When they called to set up the Physical Therapy, I asked them about the other therapy. They said that the do bill insurance for it and that they don't foresee any issues with getting it covered. So, I called the pediatrician and left a message explaining what had happened. I received a call back to clarify and then a second call a few minutes later saying that the doctor had sent over orders for Occupational Therapy.  What a blessing!

Today Mo had her Physical Therapy evaluation and they could barely get her knee to hurt at all. However, she does have a good amount of weakness in her leg, over-extension in the other leg, and turns one foot inwards. I know that she did not have the foot or over-extension problems a couple years ago so I have no idea when those became an issue. Thank goodness for the knee injury which sent her to therapy so that we would discover these other issues, and discover that we can get Occupational Therapy! It is so amazing how God has a plan for everything, even when you have no idea why it is happening,

While I am extremely thankful for the way things have turned out so far, I am still worried about some things. There is still a fear that for some odd reason the insurance will not cover the vision therapy. The second worry is finding an ongoing sitter. Mo will be having therapy at least one day a week (and that's if I can get both therapies on the same day). For these appointments they need me present so that I can learn new exercises and such to do with her at home. Since many therapy tools are toys, they are pretty strict about siblings not attending (especially with small kids). I am praying that God will lead us to someone who will be willing to help us with childcare while I attend these appointments with Mo. It would be so much easier if I could afford to hire someone, but as it is, the gas money to get to and from all these medical appointments is going to be a stretch. In the midst of these appointments, we also have yearly check-ups for the younger two and Squeek's last (hopefully) Orthopedic appointment for her hip dysplacia. These doctors offices are between 25 and 75 minutes away so the gas adds up quickly.

So, to wrap this up....We are extremely thankful for good doctors and a God who meets our needs before we even know our needs. We trust that he will provide the rest of our needs in this situation and that it will all work out. Please pray for us as we go through this. Thanks!

Oh, and Mo needs to have a consult with a Orthodontist and Kayla needs a new Allergist since insurance is refusing to let us continue to see the one we have been seeing. These are other things that I just can't even think about dealing with right now, but hope to soon.

2 years since last post....WOW.

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted here in almost two years. That is CRAZY!! I would love to say this is a post to update everyone on the last two years, but it isn't. Well, okay, I will do a short and sweet update, then write another post on what I actually got on here to write about.

In the last two years we have had these things happen:
5 Months of unemployment

Baby born with hip dysplacia requiring trips to an orthopedic doctor. (Last appt will be next week. If all is still well then we should be good and not need any surgery, thus she will be declared healed.)

Job with CRAZY hours that only lasted a few weeks cause we couldn't deal with the daily changes.

Next job was great till the paychecks started bouncing. Can't really have a job not knowing if your paycheck will really be there or not.

Next job lasted awhile but they booted him out shortly after hearing that he was attending school. While this was a blessing and freed up more time for school & family, it was a financing stress. I went and got a job working in the Walmart meat department for a couple months while Phil did his summer term of school. After that he went and got a job. While that time was very stressful it was a huge blessing because the financial strain forces you to trust in God for your needs. It was through God's blessings that we made it through with donations, random checks in the mail, and help from family. We were blessed time and time again.

When Phil went to go look for a mechanic position they told him that they actually wanted him to be a "breakdown coordinator" in their office. This is the perfect job for him as he was wanting to transition into an office position. He was going to school with the hopes of one day leaving the mechanic industry. As of now he has been working in an office for a couple months and he LOVES it! Everything that we have gone through these last 6 months has all just gone to show us even more that God has a plan for each and every moment in our lives.

QUICK update on kids:
Mo is now 7yrs old, in 2nd grade, has done swim team the last two summers, and also did 4H this summer as well.
Bubba is turning 5 this week, is in Kindergarten, beginning to read, and is really good at addition. He also did the swim team this summer although he realized that he does not enjoy swimming as a sport. We hope to try out baseball next spring
Squeeks was just barely born when I last posted....She is now about to turn 2 years old. She is full of energy, loves to babble, sing, play with babies, and loves doggies (stuffed ones). Her two years has been full of hives and trying to figure out what caused them. Turns out that she is allergic to wheat, oats, apple, berries, melon and cucumber. We are so glad to know what caused her misery and we have eliminated all those foods. We do still need more testing to confirm some things and to find if there are more allergies due to still occasionally having hives, but for the most part we have this allergy thing under control.

Well, that should catch some things up a bit. Sorry it wasn't more informative.