One last bone to pick

Today was Arabella's bone clinic follow-up at SickKids. We haven't been back to SickKids since discharge.

Ah, memories...

It was nice being a visitor this time around. The hospital is no longer our home! 😊

Before our sit down with the doctor, Belle had to get an x-ray on her knee, and another on her hand. Those specific areas would show us the clearest picture of the current situation. 

Arabella was incredibly calm during the x-rays. The technician was very impressed. "This isn't my first rodeo!" said Bella, "I've been around the block, you know."

Afterwards, we were escorted to a patient room where we anxiously awaited the doctor. Arabella was still very calm and chill...

The orthopedic doctor walked in with a smile on her face. That was a great first sign. She remembered Arabella quite well from our family meetings and previous sit downs. 

"Okay, I want to show you the 'before' and 'after' x-rays, so you can see the difference for yourselves", she said. "Let's take a look..."

"Here are the x-rays from April". She opened multiple images on the screen. "Pay attention to the tips and ends of the bones. Notice how fuzzy and faded they appear? That's because her bones were weak, soft, and pliable".

In April we found out that Belle had hairline fractures throughout her body - two of them were significant enough to potentially cause her pain (and that's when the morphine started!).

This post from April 9th is when it was all uncovered...

Eventually the doctors started to suspect rickets, or worse, a genetic bone disease. Arabella's situation was simply unusual, they told us, even for a micro-preemie. Kiera and I started to get very concerned, but somehow we remained optimistic. 

"Now look at today's x-rays", said the doctor. "Notice how defined the ends of these bones look?" 

"These are strong bones. These are healthy bones! And Arabella won't require any more follow-up appointments with us. She's definitely on the right path now..."

When the doctor said those words, I lifted Arabella high above my head and I made a sound-effect (as if the heavens were opening up for us), "Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

That's how happy I was 😃

After a long commute home from the hospital, I took Belle for a nice long walk around the neighborhood. The weather has been exceptional lately.

Today was an awesome day. We finally put all of this bone stuff behind us. After all of the blood tests, DNA analysis - all of the worries and concerns...it's done. It's over! The bone chapter is officially closed! Woo hoo!