Visit to Shriner's Hospital

We have more good news to report about our little Wolf! We went to see an OI expert at Shriner’s Hospital last Friday (she happens to be the same doctor who sees Atticus Shaffer, the youngest kid on the TV show “The Middle”). The news she had for us confirmed what we had been hearing from our Kaiser doctors.


According to the doctor, despite the different types of OI out there, they tend to categorize actual symptoms into three main categories: mild, moderate, and severe. After examining Wyatt and looking at x-rays, she called his symptoms mild, with the main risk at this point being additional fractures in his femurs because of the bowing. She definitely advised us NOT to pursue treatment at this stage since it doesn’t seem necessary yet. She expects him to walk without too much trouble, although it may be delayed somewhat. She said that we were doing a fine job with him and encouraged us to keep doing what we’re doing.

Wolf News (at last!)

It’s been awhile. Sorry for the gap between posts – I know many of you who read this blog are praying diligently for Wolf and the rest of our family, and we really want to keep you abreast of the situation as much as possible. Sometimes, though, life gets busy. And when you have three children younger than 5, “sometimes” = “almost all the time.” There’s my excuse, take it or leave it.

But since we’re here, let’s have some news on our young Master Wyatt, shall we? I am pleased to report that the news is good! We have visited with geneticists three times since the last post, and the meetings have gone well. I’ll break down each of the three meetings:

Test Results Are In...

We got a call from our geneticist while we were at dinner last night, and she told us the blood test results had come back.  Our suspicions were finally 100% confirmed.  We have an official diagnosis: Wolf has Osteogenesis Imperfecta.  (Speaking of Eagles songs, I kept singing to myself the first line from Don Henley's "Heart of the Matter" for the rest of dinner: "I got a call today I didn't want to hear, but I knew that it would come...")

When we got the news, it was kind of a weird emotional situation.  On the one hand, it reinforced the already prevalent mindset that Wyatt will always suffer from this and his childhood will be constantly interrupted by doctor visits, testing, and treatments.  OI is a serious condition, and it's tough to think that a lot of the things that our other two boys do now (jumping on furniture, climbing all over everything, tackling me and each other) will be off limits for Wolf.  On the other hand, we now know that what we're dealing with can be treated effectively.  We know that there are support groups that can help us, and there are families dealing with the same issues that are going to change our lives.  Things could be a LOT worse. 

Freedom!

Good news! Wolf is out of his harness! The orthopedist showed us the x-rays and said his leg was healed. So he took Wyatt out of the harness and let him roam. Well, not “roam” exactly, but he can move his legs again. Wolf kicked his left leg repeatedly in celebration, but he is still hesitant about moving his right leg. The doctor said that was normal, as babies will be cautious about moving a recently broken limb to avoid more pain. By yesterday night (he got the harness off on Tuesday) he was definitely moving his right leg a bit more. Hopefully he’ll be back to normal in no time!

Gratuitous Cute Pictures

Yeah, you guys know what's coming.  My parents won the auction for the Chip Kelly signed football, and it came in the mail today.  So I took the snap, gave it to Wolf on the zone read, and watched him go.

Wolf takes the handoff cleanly and surveys the defense...

Hungry Like the Wolf

Julia and I were sitting with Wyatt in the waiting room on Thursday, eagerly anticipating our third doctor appointment in three days.  (We're now one obscure doctor away from Obscure Doctor Bingo - if anyone knows a good kinesthesiologist, let us know.)  Wolf began to fuss a little bit, so I started to sing him a song.  But then I realized that I didn't know what to sing him.  Each of our previous two children had "their" song; Ben had "Sweet Child of Mine" and Micah had "My Girl" (with the words changed to "Micah" instead of "My Girl" - either way, Micah never seemed to calm down when we sang; I think he knew that the song wasn't actually about him).  So Julia and I began discussing what Wyatt's song would be. 

Of course, the first thing that came up was "Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran.  Perfect! 

Great Job! And Another Opportunity...

Auction results are in and we were able to raise $408.01 for the OI Foundation (OIF)!  Thank you to everyone who donated items, thank you to everyone who spent time organizing this, and thank you to everyone who bid, especially the four auction winners.  We are touched that all of this would be done in response to our son.  Because of your generosity, research will be funded and people living with OI will receive support.  Thank you.

As promised, though, there is another way you can give, if you still desire to do so.  Whether you lost a bid on the auction or are just hearing about this for the first time, you can still help out the OIF.  Matt from ATQ contacted somebody who volunteers with the OIF and told her about what we were doing.  Of course, the woman, Julie, is a Duck fan, so she was more than willing to help out.  They worked together to organize a special donation.  The proceeds of this donation will go directly toward sending people to the OI Conference, which is a three-day gathering in Portland, Oregon, of OI patients and their families, which includes informational sessions and fun social events.  Julie, who volunteers in the Portland area, told us she knew personally of several people who really wanted to go but wouldn't be able to afford the entry fee of $150.