Day Six - I am grateful for modern medicine

This one seems like it needs no explanation, but it is my blog and you will get the rundown of all our medical "ailments" over the years so you can understand my appreciation for modern medicine and medical insurance.

While getting pregnant isn't hard for me (obviously), getting them out is a little more tricky.  I have had to be induced with all but one of them, even though my water broke 4 of the 8 times which is what sent my to the hospital initially.  I am grateful for epidurals (even though my last one was less than ideal).  I am able to enjoy the delivery more fully, then enjoy the baby in my arms more fully.

I also shattered my ankle a few years ago and had to have pins and screws place in there to put it back together.  A year later, I had them removed because they really bothered me.  So grateful to a fabulous orthopedic doctor who literally got me back on my feet fairly quickly.

Vance had an emergency appendectomy when he was 11 or so.  I'm so grateful they could treat him so quickly before things could have gone really bad.

Marly had recurrent bladder/UTIs when she was little.  This led to a hospital stay with febrile seizures at one point.  She has worn glasses since she was 3 to correct a vision problem that the first doctor said would require surgery.  Thank heavens for second opinions.  Then, when she was about 7, she developed a seizure disorder.  She didn't suffer too badly the first year, but after a while, that medicine stopped working so well.  A week in the  hospital with seizures every 20-30 minutes found us trying two different medicines together to finally get them stopped.  To make a long story short, January 31st is seizure free day at our house and she has also been medicine free for four years and no seizures!!

Drew has had his share of broken bones.  When he was 2, he broke his femur.  I am grateful for an orthopedic Dr. who loved him back to health even though it meant re-breaking his femur bone twice to make sure it ultimately healed properly.  A year later, he broke his tib and fib in the other leg.  Years later, a heavy door slammed on a finger in Tucson and about 10 days later, we finally went to the Dr. to find out that he had broken it and got a bone infection, that was scary.  He broke his thumb (?) playing football once.  I'm sure there are others, but broken bones seems to be his lot in life.

As crazy and reckless as Skylar is, I'm amazed that the worst of his problems was a battle with RSV when he was small.  We didn't have insurance and bless our Dr., she made me come visit her at her office every single day and only charged me for every other visit while we got him well.  That was a long two weeks.  He suffered from asthma when he was small, but quickly grew out of it.

Katy was born on a Friday and by Sunday, she started with a funny twitch that quickly spread to her whole right side of her body.  She was nursing fine, she was happy, alert, etc.  so I called my Dr. office and explained the situation.  They said that as long as she was fine, just to bring her in first thing in the a.m., but if her symptoms changed, to take her to the ER immediately.  That was a long night.  At the Dr. office, he examined her (it had stopped by then) and then placed a call to a neurologist friend.  He sent us out for breakfast but asked me to please keep my cell phone handy if he needed to call me.  As mom and I pulled into a restaurant for breakfast, he called and said that the NICU at the hospital was waiting for us to show up with her.  Turns out, she had had a small stroke which resulted in the small seizures she had presented with the day before.  About six weeks later, she was hospitalized for RSV.  She spent ten days there fighting for every breath she could get.  I was with her around the clock, trying to nurse her and nourish her the best way I could. I didn't think I would bring her home from that hospital.  She has been healthy ever since.

Tawny, Anny, and Derek have all been healthy (knock on wood) and have required no major medical intervention.  But I know it is coming and I will be grateful for modern medicine and medical insurance.