Another Month Full of Doctor's Visits

It's been a busy month as far as medical visits are concerned, and we still have quite a few scheduled that we have yet to attend. We've all been sick here and there, but the majority of the appointments have just been check-ups and those visits for the little things that have been bothering you for a long time but you just procrastinate scheduling. Yesterday was Conan's 9 month well-child check-up. I love those because I always forget that there are no co-pays for preventative visits, so it's like a special treat when I get reminded at the window. When I got Coney undressed, everybody commented on what a big chubby boy he was, and he is. Surprisingly, he was only in the 25% for weight and 10% for height. Still, he is 2 1/2 times as fat as tall, but he just seems so much bigger to me. When compared to other babies his age, he doesn't seem small to me. In fact, when Dr. Ditty saw the numbers, he first thought a mistake was made, but the measurements were right. He's just short and round. Everything looks good for Coney. We still have to keep on top of his eczema and have to pay attention to what food we give him because of his allergies, but all in all, he is healthy. Fat and healthy. Conan's motor skills seemed to be a little behind what I remember Miles' being at that time, but he's finally starting to do stuff. He doesn't crawl, but he's rolling all over the place. I know if I put him on a bed at all, he'll just be on the floor within a couple of minutes. He's also started pulling himself up on his knees. I usually find him up on his knees, peeking over the edge of his crib, after his naps or in the morning. It's very cute. He's not too in to standing, but I'm hoping that the kneeling will turn into him standing while holding onto something. That's always a nice ability to have while in church. Just let him stand on the bench and let the people behind us entertain him. :) Conan's also gotten pretty good with his hands the past week or so. He loves to sit on the floor of his bedroom and play with toys. And he loves finding whatever he can reach and stick it in his mouth. That's a pretty awful thing most of the time, but it is nice that he can feed himself snacks. Now, I just have to find some snacks that he's not allergic to. So, me, I'm pretty much just falling apart. Seriously, you would think I was 65. I went in to the doctor last week to talk to him about some knee problems that I've been having. He asked if I'd injured my knee. I said no. He asked if I was athletic or if I did a lot of sports when I was younger. I laughed and then said no. I just have unexplained pain in my right knee. It's intermittent and seems to get worse when it's stormy. When it hurts, it's sometime bad enough that I basically can't use my stairs. My doctor told me that I sounded like an old person. Yes. Yes, I do. He checked my ligaments, and they were good, so he did some lab work and referred me to an orthopedic. I went to the orthopedic, and they started with some x-rays. The doctor (who may I add was probably younger than I--that feels weird) brought the x-ray in and explained the problem, that was pretty evident on the film. Apparently, my right knee cap doesn't fit into the joint correctly. It's kind of off to the side. He said that this happens sometimes when a person has stronger muscles on the outside of the leg but the inside is weaker. Anyway, for now, all I need to do is take some anti-inflammatory medication when needed and go the physical therapy. I go on Thursday, I think. It's not something that I have to do regularly, just once or twice to learn some exercises to help remedy my situation. Hopefully, that's all it will take. If that doesn't do it, then they'll try some injections, and if that still doesn't take care of it, then they'd do surgery, but it's really unlikely that would ever be necessary. That was old person issue number one. I went to take care of number two today. In my old age, my snoring has gotten a little out of hand, and I'm not getting a good sleep, and Ben's not getting any sleep. I went to get checked out by the ENT today to see if there was something I could do. I thought that I'd maybe need my tonsils or adenoids removed, but the ENT said that they didn't look quite bad enough to necessitate removal. However, he said that my nasal septum is super super crooked, so much so that he didn't suggest surgery, he just started telling me what would happen during the surgery that he was going to do. So, I'll have that done, I think it's the first Friday in May. I don't think it's too big of a deal. The surgery itself takes about a half hour, but I do have to be totally put out for it, and I'm not sure what recovery is like. Dr. Ventura said that he usually splints the nose after surgery and packs it, and apparently, that's a pretty unpleasant thing. The receptionist that scheduled me asked if I'd prefer morning or afternoon for my follow-up the Monday following the surgery. Before I could answer, she told me that usually, even if people scheduled for afternoon, they'd call and see if they could get in earlier because the packing was so uncomfortable, so that sounds like all sorts of fun. I'm sure it will be just fine. The only concern that I have is that my nose will look different afterward. Dr. Ventura said that it shouldn't affect the shape of my nose, and I really hope that it doesn't because that is the one part of my body that I don't want to change the appearance of. I am super excited to not snore though. I was told that the first thing that people say after this surgery is how much better their sleep is afterward. Oh, how I look forward to that! While I was there, I mentioned to him that my hearing was starting to not be the best, old person issue number three. It's not anything too concerning, but I do have a little bit of a hard time focusing on a sound when there is a lot of background noise. I'm doing a lot of, "What was that?" and "Say that again". It's especially bad in the car, and I know that it really annoys Ben. He hates repeating himself. I've also been hearing a lot of ringing in my ears. I know that that isn't a normal thing, but I hadn't even thought about it until the doctor asked if I'd had ringing. Anyway, Ben and I both thought that I should just go in because I probably needed to have my ear canals cleaned out. No such luck. Dr. Ventura said that they are completely clear, so he's having me go in to the audiologist next week for some testing. In the meantime, I'm trying to pay attention to sounds and see if one ear hears better than the other. It really is getting annoying, but maybe this is just what happens the older you get. Lastly, I have to make an appointment with the optometrist. While I was sitting in the waiting room for Coney's appointment, I was grabbed a magazine to read. I opened it, and I honestly could not read it at all. It was like the words were jumping off the page. It was so weird. I felt like I had 3-d glasses on, and I still kind of do while I'm typing this. I think I haven't noticed how bad my eyes have gotten because I honestly never read. I may actually start having to wear my glasses. It's probably about time we all had eye appointments. I think it's been over a year anyway. Ben's been kind of sick lately too, but he hates to discuss his health issues, so I don't know if he's sick or good or what. He does have a doctor's appointment next week though, so he must need some sort of doctor's assistance, but I will leave it at that since I know nothing. The big appointment is a week from Friday. That is Miles' echo. I've been killing myself with "what ifs" for the past 3 weeks, and I honestly don't know if I can make it another week and a half. I will make a serious effort though. I've been noticing Miles' symptoms a lot since his cardiology appointment, and it seems like everywhere I go heart failure is popping out at me. Whether it be a random article or commercial or billboard, I'm noticing little things everywhere. I was even at a Relief Society enrichment night the other week, and my friend gave a lesson that included a faith-promoting story about a valve replacement. I keep running into checklists and "5 signs of heart failure", and I hate that I can relate all of those checkpoints and signs to Miles. Right now, I just expect that he is suffering from Mitral Valve Stenosis or Prolapse or Regurgitation. I don't know what I'll do with myself if the echo turns out normal. Until that happens, I'll probably just keep researching valve repair and replacement, reading about how to prepare a child for a major surgery, making lists in my head to plan for potential time in the hospital and get teary-eyed thinking about all the things that might be wrong. Oh, curse you neurotic mind and excessive emotions. I don't know if I'll really have anything to post for the next week, but definitely stay tuned for the echo update.