Neuro follow up #1

We had our appt with Dr. Suh today.  It started off with a surprise when we were told his follw up work would be another $23,000.  Meh.  Put it on my tab.  What was funnier still was that they require a $50 deposit then bill you $50/month for the balance.  So in 38 years, that bill would be paid off.  What the heck?!  Are you kidding me?  The medical billing in this country is beyond bloated because no one expects anyone to pay the full bill.  And nothing is as expensive as they bill you for.  The whole system is a mess but I won't get into it here.  It just makes us laugh.  Might as well- it's better than crying and stressing over something we cannot control.  Our medicaid app is done and we will know by mid august what the approval is. 

Suh was late coming out of surgery so we went and ate then came back and went to imaging for Dallin's xrays.  When we got back to the exam room, we took a picture of the xray off the computer screen.  But dallin doesn't have a card in his phone so we are trying to find a way to download it so we can post it on here. 

Suh came in and showed us the before and after scans.  Dallin's back is healing nicely.  But it will still be another 6 weeks of wearing the brace.  Dallin was a little bummed but at the same time he doesn't want to rush it and have back problems for the rest of his life.  We go back on Sept 2 for a cat scan and if the bone has regrown enough, the brace will come off.  He is also getting a bone stimulator to start using that will help quicken the process and can sometimes grow the bone back stronger than before. 

In other news, we are a bottle-free house.  Sunday night, Zade was up 4 times for a bottle.  This is ridiculous since a month ago he was sleeping through the night.  I blame myself because once Dallin was home from the hospital, I just gave Zade a bottle whenever he woke up because that was the quickest way to deal with him and my sleep was minimal enough.  So I was the one to blame for his newfound habit. But on Monday morning, after he had gotten up every hour for 3 in a row, this mama was done.  In the famous question from Dr. Phil- "How's that workin' for ya?" this situation was no longer working for me.  I know he'd sleep longer and better without a belly constantly full of milk and a diaper constantly full of pee.  So I got up and threw all his bottles in the trash.  There- weaned cold turkey.  A little harsh and abrupt but that's just how I roll sometimes.  Anyway, he adapted better than I thought, as is usually the case.  He went to bed fine the first night, woke up once and fussed for about 10 minutes, another time for 5minutes then slept til after 7am.  Pretty much the same thing last night as well.  Why didn't I do this sooner?!?!?!  Anyway, we all had a great night of sleep last night.  Dallin is back in our bed since Suh said he could sleep on his stomach if it was comfortable and so we are a happy household this morning. 

Dallin is also cleared to drive since he has full mobility of his neck and is off the pain meds.  A little bit of independence that he is grateful for.  I'll allow him to drive around the island but nothing long distance, of course.  I still wear the (ever-expanding) pants in this family.  ;)