Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Doc visit #1

For the first time during the journey I feel like I have made a mistake.  On thursday Cameron and I went to see Dr. Shoemaker to get his evaluation of Nolan's leg.  He confirmed what Dr. Zionts told me a few weeks ago.  He has a bowed tibia.  Even though I felt extremely uncomfortable with Dr. Shoemaker treating a clubfoot case; I felt very at ease with him examining Nolan and going over what general treatment would be.  I really regret changing my insurance now.  He would have been a fabulous doctor.  Now I am having second thoughts about seeing Dr. Zionts.  He has been AMAZING to my husband and I throughout this whole mess but I no longer feel it is necessary to drive 6 hours round trip.  Clubfoot treatment is such a precise art and I was willing to travel to find the right doctor.  Now that his prognosis is not as delicate,  I want to explore what our options are here in San Diego.  At least I took the time to research every pediatric orthopedist in the Southern California area before Nolan was born.  Finding a pediatrician seems daunting enough now!  The standout option is Dr. Pring at Rady's.  She specializes in limb lengthening, shortening, and straightening.  I think the plan as of now is to make an appointment with Dr. Zionts and with Dr. Pring and make our decision after we have seen both doctors.  I feel bad changing doctors after everything Dr. Zionts and his team has done for us but I need to think of what is best for my own sanity.  Dealing with a newborn is hard enough right now.  I don't need to make my life harder if there is a doctor here in San Diego who can treat my son.  

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Nolan is here!!

Nolan Parker Westfall arrived on 11/27 at 3:41 am. He was 6 lbs 13 oz at birth and was 18 inches long. He is healthy, strong, and absolutely perfect (except for his little left leg of course.) He was born after only 5 hours of labor and I was able to have him completely naturally! Recovery for me has been pretty quick. I came home from the hospital within 24 hours and I've been out and about since day 3. In fact Cameron and I took him out to San Diego's big Christmas festival at Balboa Park today and he was a champ! He is super chill and nurses well pretty much anywhere.

Now for the not so great news...he doesn't have clubfoot. I honestly don't know if what he has is worse or better...but it is definitely different. At the hospital the Kaiser orthopedist said it was still clubfoot even though the deformity looks much different. I was extremely skeptical and sent a pic to Dr. Zionts once we got home. He called me within the hour and said I was right, it isn't clubfoot at all. We have yet to get an official diagnosis but what Dr. Zionts believes we are dealing with is tibial bowing. His curved foot supposedly will straighten on its own but there is a good chance we will have to have a surgery to correct a leg length discrepancy later in life. We are still planning on seeing Dr. Zionts in LA since he is the only person so far to give us real answers. I was so impressed that he called so quickly and took the time to look over the pictures. I'm not even officially his patient yet and he has been more caring, compassionate, and helpful than any of the doctors I have seen. Don't get me wrong, Kaiser has been amazing for my prenatal care and my birth. I just don't trust their orthopedists. However, I do have an appointment scheduled with Dr. Shoemaker to get his opinion on Thursday. I know it will do little good in the long run but I feel kinda weird not using the resources that are currently available to me. More info to come on Thursday!