Kano's Visit With The Docs

For those of you who just want to know that Kano is OK, here is the bottom line:

Kano doesn't need any more surgeries that Dr. Kozin can see, or Botox for muscle tightness, or casting. This is great news!

For those of you who want the details, here goes:

So last Tuesday, the 27th, we flew into Philly for our schedule appointments at the Shriners Children Hospital there. Gracie came with me and Kano this time. It was great to have her there.

Kano was scheduled for an MRI on Wednesday morning. He couldn't eat anything after midnight and could only have water or apple juice until 6.30am. So our day started early. I woke him up at 6.20am to give him some apple juice and put something on his stomach. We left the Ronald McDonald house around 7am and got to the hospital at 8am. The MRI was schedule for 8.30am. It actually occurred at 10.30 am.

This picture of Kano was definitely before the drama started. This was the worse anesthesia experience that we've had. The MRI area was under construction so we had to go to another area of the hospital to do all of the medical info gathering and running of the I.V. The first attempt at the I.V. was in Kano's foot. The main nurse wanted to leave both arms free. One arm because it was the side needed for the MRI, the other because he sucks it and she wanted him to have a form of comfort. The I.V. in the foot didn't work. He was cold and the blood in his foot wasn't flowing well. So after three of us holding him down, and 10 minutes of him screaming, we had no good line.

Then they tried for his left arm. The line was successful but after 15 more minutes of holding him down to get the line going, taping his arm down to a board to immobilze it, and securing the site, the drip wouldn't flow. He was still screaming. The nurse had to loosen the tape and play with the placement of the needle to get it to flow again. Kano was still screaming. I had been holding him down for about 30 minutes now. The two nurses didn't work well together. One nurse said that she was used to working with kids in the pediatric I.C.U. She wasn't used to working with kids that could fight back...and fight back Kano did.

After all this, we had to walk over to MRI. Kano was fighting me so bad that I had to get on the gurney with him and they wheeled us both to the MRI. Gracie was traumatized. We get to the MRI room and they are not ready for us. At this point, I just wanted somebody fired.

Gracie ended up finding Barney on a TV and Kano quieted down. She held him until MRI time and actually carried him to the MRI room. She was completely unprepared when they put the anesthesia into the IV and Kano went limp in a matter of seconds. She had no idea that people went into the "deep sleep" that fast and she freaked out wondering what was wrong with him.

Although, it was an extremely traumatic morning, I am so grateful to report the rest of the day went much better. When Kano woke up, we got him together slowly and headed down to the cafeteria to feed him. He was starving. We gave him a little play break before heading back to the clinic floor for our appointment with Dr. Kozin so that he could give us the results of the MRI.

Whew! What can I say? Kids bounce back!

and....

Kano doesn't need any more surgeries that Dr. Kozin can see, or Botox for muscle tightness, or casting. This is great news! We left with a couple of splints to help with Kano's elbow contracture and a contracture with his shoulder blade that makes him hold his arm up in an abnormal way. The bottom line is this. There are only so many things that surgeons can do or fix. Much of Kano's recovery is going to be therapy, stretching, and muscle strengthening.

The hardest part about this injury is that there is no prescribed fix or plan. Each child is different and what works for one kiddo may not work for another. The effects of Kano's injury is lifelong and will require constant reevaluation for what works and what doesn't. We can now focus on figuring out what comes next. We are very grateful that the possibility of future surgeries is low.

The doctor and therapists that saw Kano were happy with his progress. They are glad to see that he is extremely functional and that there are few limitations. But for any of you who know me in real life, ya'll know that although I'm thrilled that he is "functional", I'm after making sure that he gets every opportunity to access all of the potential that he has physically.

So that's the skinny on the latest with Kano. For those of you have kept up with his progress for the close to three years now (wow), thanks for all of your love and support. Continue to pray for us as we fight insurance to pay for therapy, find qualified therapists, and chase this very active two year old :)

Kano is doing great. He has come a long way...from three months of his life with no movement at all in his arm to having him "bop" me in the head the other day 'cuz he was mad at me, we've seen him make incredible strides. We are gonna keep working on helping this boy max out on his physical potential but it is just as crucial right now for us to work on his character and spiritual potential too. This boy is a HANDFUL! He's extremely....umm...persistent and determined :)

Bedtime for Gracie & Kano @ the Ronald McDonald House