Alayna's Appointment

Alayna has had hip pain for about 5+ months.  She doesn't complain about it very often, but I know that it's constantly there.  Sometimes it bothers her more than others, but for the most part it's a consistent ache. 

We've tried a number of natural options as well as Dr recommended options and nothing seemed to change/affect it.  So after seeing our regular Dr, 2 orthopedic Dr's and having an MRI here in town we were referred to Gillette Children's Hospital in the cities.  After the sadness of saying goodbye to our most recent placement we decided to make a mini family getaway out of her appointment.  We stayed in a hotel 2 nights at a wonderful rate thanks to Dan's brother and the kids enjoyed lots of swimming and just all around relaxation.  

We spent the entire day on Monday at the hospital where she had her appt and they tried to aspirate the fluid from her hip (which was no longer there so they didn't get anything) and they also gave her a fluid filled MRI and took her blood.  All the blood tests came back normal and since the fluid from the first MRI was no longer present they couldn't test that...they did however see a cyst in her hip area with this other MRI they used.  She was sedated for all these procedures (as a mom, watching them sedate your child is NOT high on my list of favorite things...neither is waiting while they do the procedures!!) and she handled the entire day like a TOTAL rockstar!!  The cyst they found was nothing to worry about, but because of the location removing it could do more harm than good.  Since the pain is constant but manageable we're taking a 'wait and see' approach.  If it gets worse we will find other options, but I'm praying that in time it gets smaller and God just completely takes it away.  If that's not His will...then I trust He will give us wisdom as to what our next steps should be.

Here was our 'family bed' at the hotel...Alayna LOVED being sandwiched in the middle!

The boys did crafts, played Xbox and then played on these fun gaming TV's while they waited.  I'm thankful the children's hospital was filled with options for them because it was a long day and they had fun together while they waited and I'm thankful it was one less thing for Dan and I to think about that day.