Birthday Week and Medical Issues

Tuesday was my birthday. The older three all had orthodontist appointments in the morning. Jack got his braces! I was expecting an uneventful visit and was surprised when the doctor called me into the consultation room. He said that Anna's treatment was not going as well as he had hoped. She has been in braces now for over a year, but the rubber bands are not working and her jaw is not aligning. Her overbite is still significant and after looking at her x-rays, he believes she is done growing and thus does not expect that it will get better. He said there are two options going forward: 1) he can remove two of her upper teeth to make the upper jaw smaller, however, this will further exacerbate the "balance" of her face. In other words, it will not look good. or 2) she can have surgery. They would break her jaw, extend her lower jaw and insert a metal plate. It caught me off guard and I have been bothered by the news ever since. 

The idea of jaw surgery is insane! She would have to spend nights in the hospital and wouldn't be able to eat solid food for 2 weeks. And then it would just be soft foods. It takes approximately 12 weeks to fully recover. I can't believe we would even consider such an option. I have done some research and it appears there could be medical issues, like TMJ and sleep apnea, associated with her overbite. But, we definitely need a lot more information and likely, a second opinion. We knew early on that all three of the older kids were going to need braces. We took them to their first orthodontics appointment at age 7. So, frankly, it also makes me mad. We have done everything anyone has asked us to do and spent a lot of time and money and the end result is we are still pretty much where we started. At least with Anna. Kara didn't have an overbite issue, she had a crossbite and so far her teeth appear to be aligning nicely. Jack has some of the same issues as Anna and now I am really worried. Also, I have no idea where this is coming from. Neither Thomas nor I had braces, no one in either family had these kind of severe issues. It is disheartening and I don't want to steer her in the wrong direction. We made an appointment to go back and discuss it next month so Thomas and Anna can be present. 

Back to the birthday. I decided a few months ago I wanted an ice cream cake from Menchi's (a yogurt place). I had a cookies and cream ice cream layer and a cake batter layer along with chocolate cake and whipped frosting. It was amazing! The only thing that would have made it better was buttercream. Thomas got me a special Harry Potter bookset and Kara wrote me a short story. Anna wrote a very sweet letter and Jack made a card. It was very nice. We stayed at the table for a long time and the kids asked me questions about my childhood. I felt loved.

Thursday was Thomas' birthday. We still had to work all day, but had his requested dinner of cheeseburger gnocchi. Then, we had his cake--Publix carrot cake with buttercream. We first had that combination at my bridal shower and now that we are back in the land of Publix, we had to try it again. I had a few gifts for him and the kids made gifts. Hopefully, he also felt loved.

In other medical news. I have to get a colonoscopy. I am dreading it. But, there are some issues and I did a less invasive test that didn't give me the "all-clear" I was hoping for. So, it has to be done. I have the consult on Wednesday and will hopefully get all the information then. I am a little worried because I have had issues for years. I can remember first going to the doctor when Thomas was in Hawaii, which means it was 9 years ago! So, if it does turn out to be cancer, the odds aren't going to be good. Fortunately, the odds that it is cancer, or something serious, are pretty small. But, it was another disappointing, lack of confidence in the medical field, moment this week.

I feel like my mood ebbs and flows. Sometimes, I am able to be positive and sometimes things just get me down. There is so much hard stuff happening right now. Florida is such a mess--I wish we had stayed in Maryland! The governor has mandated schools offer 5-day a week in person classes and we had to make decisions for our 4 kids. We decided the older three will do e-learning and Luke will go to school. We made this decision for a few reasons: 1) he doesn't ride a bus; 2) research said transmission rates are lower for his age bracket; 3) he won't have to switch classes and thus will come in contact with far fewer people and surfaces; and 4) we still have to work and can't supervise his schooling or entertain him for 6+ hours a day. There is no way he could successfully sit in front of a computer all day, he didn't manage well with the 30-minute sessions at the end of kindergarten. This also makes me feel like a crappy parent. 

Thomas is not feeling well today. He didn't sleep last night and was nauseous and has a sore throat. Obviously, the immediate fear is coronavirus. It is in the news so consistently that I can think of no other possibility. Hopefully, it is nothing and he wakes up feeling fine tomorrow.

To end on a happier note, here are two funny Luke conversations this week:

Luke: Mom, can I tell you all about Super Mario Brothers?

Me: Sorry, Luke, but not right now 

slight pause

Luke: One of the hardest moons...

Another day, we were in the car and Jack was commenting on how he doesn't want to get married or ever have kids. He just wants an apartment with video games and he will be happy. The other kids were incredulous. Luke told him if he did that, Luke would find out where he lives, go to his house, and look in the windows to see if he was hiding a wife and if he was, Luke would tell me! Jack promised that if he got married, he would make sure we were invited. For some reason, all of us found this hilarious. Maybe it was the thought that Jack would secretly get married and hide the location of his house and the identity of his spouse. But, never fear, Luke's inner sleuth would uncover the truth and tell Mom!

And, here is Jack and his braces.