Monday, April 18, 2005
Mixed blissing
I really wanted to write an entry that extolled the virtues of Baby's Bliss Gripe Water, a mysterious herbal concoction that many mothers (ok, a few we know) swear by for helping with colic and gas issues. And good lord, we've got those...I mean Lindsay does. So I bought some of this water at an all-natural store in Alameda the other day, dropping $16 on a rather small but handsome blue bottle. We dosed Lindsay up on Friday night, and proceeded to have one of the best nights we'd had in about two weeks. Long stretches of sleep followed by feeding followed by more sleep -- ahhh! And Saturday was great too - a picnic in the park with Ella and my parents (the season's first sunburn for me -- an annual rite of spring!), not much yelping on Lindsay's part, etc. But I can't yet swear by the gripe water, because since Saturday night it's been the usual roller coaster ride. Happy hang out time with traces of a smile on Lindsay's face...followed (often abruptly) by relentless crying and screaming. The no-matter-what-I-do-the-screams-get-louder-and-the-little-face-gets-redder kind of meltdowns. The kind of meltdown that led to us fleeing from Target on Sunday, haphazardly dropping items on random shelves to unload the stroller. (Eventually she calmed down, and I dropped Nicola and Ella off for a dash through Target while I drove a 7.7-mile loop around the back roads of Hayward; mission accomplished: 17 minutes of shopping and Lindsay kept sleeping.)
So, we're still in the hit-and-miss stage of child rearing. And gripe water may have its moments ahead too -- we aren't giving up! The unknowns are to be expected...but doesn't make them any easier. Lindsay tore through another round of wailing at Children's Hospital today, where we saw a very cool doctor by the name of Dr. Gizzi (pronounced like "Prizzi" in "Prizzi's Honor"). He checked out Lindsay's ear -- "There's a lot of ear there," says Dr. G, and that's a good thing when you're talking about microtia -- and told us about what's next. And what's next is about 5 years of close tracking of her hearing, ear health (infections), facial bone development, facial nerve symmetry, speech development and more. It sound imposing, written out like that, and of course I'd prefer to not have to deal with the craniofacial panel at Children's...but Dr. G was very reassuring, and we're fortunate (as I've said) to have a hospital like this nearby where we'll get good case management and care.
I highly doubt anyone cares enough to warrant me posting the following, but what the hell -- here is the e-mail synopsis (stream of consciousness style) of today's appointment, as I sent to Nicola:
Dr. Gizzi -- wonderful!
"there's a lot of ear there"
not sure of the cause; could be a restriction in blood flow during the development
unilateral hearing loss (on one side) does not necessarily impact developmnent
talk to her all the time -- lots of stimulation
growth (ht, wt) seems on schedule
additional hearing tests will be done eventually
ear canal in left appear appears narrow; he couldn't really tell what was at the end
right ear appears normal
will be meeting with an ENT specialist next. our case will be managed by a craniofacial team, incorporating all the necessary specialists.
ENT will tell examine ear and tell us more about internal structure if possible.
will need to see ENT every couple of months to watch out for health of "good" ear
referral to speech therapist (just in case) at 12-18 months.
will be watching development of facial bones (can be a problem -- not developing at same rate). examination by doctor, he says her face looks symmetrical at this point. also, facial nerves seem to be fine.
full "panel" review at about age 5 to discuss options (reconstruction, etc.)
skin tag is related. could be removed at any time.
Our ENT appointment is May 4...MWBR at that point.
Children's Hospital is a place that, fortunately and unfortunately, provides perspective. Down the hall from where we were was the neurology/neurosurgery department. Yikes. And you see enough very, very sick kids there to break your heart and uplift it (in our case) at the same time, because suddenly a tiny ear seems like a pretty tiny matter. I think Nicola and I have kept a pretty healthy perspective on it...yes, we wish everything is perfect, and yes, we know we're lucky that Lindsay has such good overall health, and no, we don't dwell on this one little thing.
Wrap up. Big week at work ahead, with training to plan and participate in.
So, we're still in the hit-and-miss stage of child rearing. And gripe water may have its moments ahead too -- we aren't giving up! The unknowns are to be expected...but doesn't make them any easier. Lindsay tore through another round of wailing at Children's Hospital today, where we saw a very cool doctor by the name of Dr. Gizzi (pronounced like "Prizzi" in "Prizzi's Honor"). He checked out Lindsay's ear -- "There's a lot of ear there," says Dr. G, and that's a good thing when you're talking about microtia -- and told us about what's next. And what's next is about 5 years of close tracking of her hearing, ear health (infections), facial bone development, facial nerve symmetry, speech development and more. It sound imposing, written out like that, and of course I'd prefer to not have to deal with the craniofacial panel at Children's...but Dr. G was very reassuring, and we're fortunate (as I've said) to have a hospital like this nearby where we'll get good case management and care.
I highly doubt anyone cares enough to warrant me posting the following, but what the hell -- here is the e-mail synopsis (stream of consciousness style) of today's appointment, as I sent to Nicola:
Dr. Gizzi -- wonderful!
"there's a lot of ear there"
not sure of the cause; could be a restriction in blood flow during the development
unilateral hearing loss (on one side) does not necessarily impact developmnent
talk to her all the time -- lots of stimulation
growth (ht, wt) seems on schedule
additional hearing tests will be done eventually
ear canal in left appear appears narrow; he couldn't really tell what was at the end
right ear appears normal
will be meeting with an ENT specialist next. our case will be managed by a craniofacial team, incorporating all the necessary specialists.
ENT will tell examine ear and tell us more about internal structure if possible.
will need to see ENT every couple of months to watch out for health of "good" ear
referral to speech therapist (just in case) at 12-18 months.
will be watching development of facial bones (can be a problem -- not developing at same rate). examination by doctor, he says her face looks symmetrical at this point. also, facial nerves seem to be fine.
full "panel" review at about age 5 to discuss options (reconstruction, etc.)
skin tag is related. could be removed at any time.
Our ENT appointment is May 4...MWBR at that point.
Children's Hospital is a place that, fortunately and unfortunately, provides perspective. Down the hall from where we were was the neurology/neurosurgery department. Yikes. And you see enough very, very sick kids there to break your heart and uplift it (in our case) at the same time, because suddenly a tiny ear seems like a pretty tiny matter. I think Nicola and I have kept a pretty healthy perspective on it...yes, we wish everything is perfect, and yes, we know we're lucky that Lindsay has such good overall health, and no, we don't dwell on this one little thing.
Wrap up. Big week at work ahead, with training to plan and participate in.
// posted by Bill @ 9:34 PM 
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