We took Jaxon to his first appointment in Iowa with Dr. Menezes on Wednesday September 9th. We left the girls with friends (thanks Jarell for having them) and drove down Tuesday evening and stayed overnight. We went to his appointment Wednesday morning and then drove home that afternoon/evening. The hospital is on the University of Iowa campus in Iowa City. From our home it is about a 5 to 6 hr. drive. The travel part of our trip went great, Jaxon loved having total control of the DVD player while we drove! It was kind of bizarre to be on a trip with just one child, but it was fun to give Jaxon our full attention. We did get to eat out along the way and swim at the hotel Wednesday morning before heading into the hospital - in an attempt to make the trip somewhat fun. We were planning on staying at the Ronald McDonald house but didn't get into town before 8pm - which is when they quit checking people in for the evening. Instead they gave us a half price voucher to the Holiday Inn instead - which worked out great.
All of us really liked Dr. Menezes. He was cute with Jaxon and Jax said he wouldn't mind going to Iowa to see him every now and again. The man is pretty famous in the world of Brain Surgery....just Google his name...... He was able to give Tyler and I a better idea of what physical limitations Jaxon is going to have throughout his life (we'll just say trampolines, bounce houses, football, hockey, wrestling - got ruled out). We will most likely be visiting Dr. Menezes well into Jaxon's teen years, as he will need constant checkups both before and after his surgery or surgeries. (so...if anyone know of any logistics jobs in Iowa City...go ahead and let us know) :)
He did tell us that surgery is definitely in Jaxon's future - the questions are when? and how many surgeries. Hopefully we will be able to wait a bit on surgery because the bigger children are when they have it done to better they seem to do. So it would be nice to give Jaxon a chance to grow a bit before he has anything major done. For right now Dr. Menezes wants Jaxon to have a few more MRI's done with his head in some different positions to see if some physical therapy or the use of a rigid neck collar would be helpful to keep Jax from having surgery right away. Our next rip to Iowa is on November 4th to have that series of MRI's done.
For the moment Jaxon is feeling good and enjoying Kindergarten...so much so he keeps getting in trouble for talking (more on that later). When I told my mom that he was being to chatty at school, I think she summed up all of our feelings by saying "well...to be honest I'm just glad he feels well enough to cause trouble".....spoken like a true grandma! :)
Thanks everyone for keeping him in your thoughts/prayers. We appreciate it so very much!
All of us really liked Dr. Menezes. He was cute with Jaxon and Jax said he wouldn't mind going to Iowa to see him every now and again. The man is pretty famous in the world of Brain Surgery....just Google his name...... He was able to give Tyler and I a better idea of what physical limitations Jaxon is going to have throughout his life (we'll just say trampolines, bounce houses, football, hockey, wrestling - got ruled out). We will most likely be visiting Dr. Menezes well into Jaxon's teen years, as he will need constant checkups both before and after his surgery or surgeries. (so...if anyone know of any logistics jobs in Iowa City...go ahead and let us know) :)
He did tell us that surgery is definitely in Jaxon's future - the questions are when? and how many surgeries. Hopefully we will be able to wait a bit on surgery because the bigger children are when they have it done to better they seem to do. So it would be nice to give Jaxon a chance to grow a bit before he has anything major done. For right now Dr. Menezes wants Jaxon to have a few more MRI's done with his head in some different positions to see if some physical therapy or the use of a rigid neck collar would be helpful to keep Jax from having surgery right away. Our next rip to Iowa is on November 4th to have that series of MRI's done.
For the moment Jaxon is feeling good and enjoying Kindergarten...so much so he keeps getting in trouble for talking (more on that later). When I told my mom that he was being to chatty at school, I think she summed up all of our feelings by saying "well...to be honest I'm just glad he feels well enough to cause trouble".....spoken like a true grandma! :)
Thanks everyone for keeping him in your thoughts/prayers. We appreciate it so very much!
here are a few photos from our trip
driving...in the zone watching a movie..
ty bought him a new transformer to keep him entertained during his appointment
still in good spirits after a long appointment :)
the hospital
some pics of our cute doctor...he's the one in the middle
4 comments:
So glad you all liked the doctor - I did google his name - WOW! So Iowa - great I love corn.
It is so good to hear news about Jaxon, and we are glad he is feeling well. Doesn't it surprise you how they change from quiet to chatty; I don't remember Jaxon being engaging in extreme amounts of conversation before! Cameron was the same, and now he will talk your ear off.
So happy to hear some good news for you guys! Thanks for keeping us up to date. We will continue to pray for you all.
You mentioned when you were here last that you wish you didn't live so far from your parents, but how fortunate you are to live semi-close :) to a wonderful doctor to help Jaxon. He is such a cutie, we wish you lots of patience and understanding during this time with trying to figure things out for him!
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