Forgive me, this will probably be long. And with loads of photos. The quote in the title is by
Stephen Wright (so now I've given credit! But I thought it was fitting for Skyler!)
On Sunday, we loaded up the car and left early (6:30am) for Salt Lake! We drove through the mountains (I-70) and then into Utah, so it was a GORGEOUS route!
Once we got to Salt Lake (about 5pm) we checked into our motel (a Days Inn) and then headed to downtown Salt Lake to see "Temple Square" - where the big Mormon Temple is. It was absolutely, breathtakingly beautiful.
Then we headed back to our motel (grabbed dinner at a local fast food joint, Arctic Circle... Not so great.) and Skyler had a blast jumping on the bed (yesterday video entry here on the blog!) and we just relaxed. We finally fell asleep around 10pm! (*EEEK*)
This morning, we were up by 7 and out the door by 8:30 to go grab breakfast (at Denny's) and be to the Shrine Hospital by 10:30.
It took about 20 minutes to check in, since we hadn't been in 18 months! We had to answer your basic "New Patient" questions. Including a health history.
Then they quickly came to get us to take Skyler for an Xray.
They gave her a Baby-Doll dressed in a hospital gown, and told her that she would do everything to the Doll they were going to do to her. (Genius!! They do this with kids before surgery too, how cool is that? Those kids get to pick the material for the hospital gown and everything!)
So in the X-Ray room, they had Sky take a picture of the Baby first. Then it was her turn, they took several photos of her left hand, and then the tech was leaving to do whatever X-Ray techs do in the "other room" Skyler yelled "HEY!" really loud, and waved her right hand at the lady before putting her hand on the X-Ray table. LOL!!!
After the X-Ray we went to an exam room, where we waited for the doctor. (And Sky continued to play with her baby! The hospital is great about letting kids explore and play. A nurse was showing her how to lay her baby on the table, etc.)
After about ten minutes, the Doctor (Doctor Wang) came in! She is such a fun lady, in another life she must have done something with children, because she is so great with them.
She had Skyler wiggle her hand for her, and show her how she plays with toys. How she eats with a fork, etc. To get some idea of how Skyler uses her hands.
Above is a photo of Skyler's Xray, and below that is a normal x-ray of a Toddlers hand. (So you can compare)
Basically, Skyler has a regular palm of her hand, but the finger joints never formed. Her thumb is "empty" as far as any bones/joints/etc goes. She does have feeling in it, and may even have a muscle so as she gets older she *may* be able to wiggle it a little bit. But, it will never be functional.
Doctor Wang did say that we could at somepoint chose to remove the little thumb nubbin, if it causes pain or if Skyler prefers for some reason. But for now, she recommends leaving it as it is. Especially since Skyler uses it as a comfort mechanism by sucking/chewing on it sometimes.
We left, with plenty of information and a reminder that we should come back in about 18 months for a follow up visit. That they would like to see her every 18 months or so until Puberty.
After our visit, Skyler spent another half hour playing with the toys and statues in the hospital, before we headed home!
If you'd like to see all of our pictures from the trip -
HERE they are!
