2015 Fall Photoshoot with these Fuls

Flag Football



This Fall, Jackson and Max decided they wanted to try Flag Football.  Jackson normally plays Fall baseball through the City of Goodyear, but after last years ridiculous season, we thought it would be a good change.  Max has always wanted to play football and he was lucky enough to put on a team with his best buddy, Drew, and his brother Will.

 

Max snapping the ball to Will H. (9/19/15).  Max's team is the Bearcats and he is coached by the Estrella High School Freshman football coach.

 

 

Jackson's team is the Cardinals and his is coached by the ex-Desert Edge High School football coach.

 

Upcoming Summer 2016

Periacetabular Osteotomy (PAO) for Acetabular Dysplasia

That huge title is part of the surgery that Noah will facing this next summer, 2016.  Recent MRI results showed pretty much what the surgeon thought... the hip socket is too flat, the femoral head is too big and there are grooves in the bones where there shouldn't be.  Without this corrective surgery, Noah would develop severe hip problems in his 20s, most likely resulting in the need for a hip replacement.  With this corrective surgery, the outlook is good, and it wouldn't be until about his 50s that he might need a hip replacement. 

Figure 1 shows a normal hip.  Figure 2 shows a hip similar to Noah's.  (Note: These are not Noah's x-rays.)

The surgery itself would be in two parts.  The first is the PAO portion.  This is most commonly used to treat acetabular dysplasia or a "shallow hip socket."  A dysplastic hip has incomplete or inadequate coverage of the femoral head.  The dysplastic hip is more "dish shaped." 

Because of the inadequate coverage of the femoral head in a dysplastic hip, the weight across the hip is distributed on a smaller surface area resulting in excessive load along the rim of the hip socket. Over time, this increased load along the rim of the socket will lead to degeneration of joint cartilage and formation of osteoarthritis. Patients with this condition frequently seek medical attention due to activity-related hip pain (discomfort in the groin or side of the hip). Prolonged sitting or walking can also increase these symptoms and a sensation of catching or popping may also occur. As these symptoms continue to increase, a slight limp may be noticed and more strenuous activities may become difficult.  Noah already has a slight limp again, partly because his left leg is 1 cm longer than the right leg.

In case you didn't know, "Periacetabular” means around the acetabulum (hip socket). “Osteotomy” means to cut bone. Therefore, PAO means to cut the bone around the acetabulum and reposition the hip socket. At surgery, controlled cuts are made to loosen the acetabulum from the pelvis, and the acetabulum is repositioned.  An incision is made across the front of the hip joint to allow exposure of the hip and surrounding pelvis. The use of x-ray during surgery helps direct the bony cuts and confirm the correct reorientation of the socket. The acetabulum is fixed in the new position with three or four screws. In most uncomplicated cases the surgery takes two to three hours.  However, Noah's bones don't like to do that they are supposed to do, so he needs part two of the corrective surgery.

Part two deals with his femur.  Occasionally (approximately 1 out of 20 cases) there is also a deformity of the femur that must be corrected at the time of surgery by a proximal femoral osteotomy (PFO). This involves cutting and repositioning the upper portion of the femur bone. If this is indicated, a second incision is made along the outside of the hip and the femur is repositioned and fixed with a metal plate and screws.  All together, the surgery is estimated to take about four hours. 

Outlook, as previously stated, does look promising.  Although, that's what we thought after the first, and then second, surgery years ago.  The hospitalization time is two to four days and full recovery takes four to six months. Most likely, he will be given a wheelchair again and then after a few weeks he will graduate to crutches or a walker for what they call "touchdown weight bearing."  The majority of patients experience major relief of pain and become quite active after recovery from surgery. While the PAO is an extremely effective hip preservation procedure, it may not create a completely normal hip. Even if the PAO is effective in adolescence or early adulthood, some patients are likely to require a total hip replacement surgery later in life.  Noah will then need more physical therapy after he's healed to help with joint healing.

Still interested in what Noah has to look forward to?  Check out http://hipdysplasia.org

Robot Parade

Every year the Westar kindergarten classes have a Robot Parade.  Each kindergartner is supposed to design and create a robot and then wear it for their parade around the school.  It turns out to be mostly a parent project that I actually dread, but Max got right in there and made many of the suggestions and helped out pretty well. 

 

 

Hip, Hip, No Hooray

Noah had another hip appointment this past week.  He currently is measuring 5'4" and 104 lbs.  He only has one more inch to go and we'll be the same height!  So strange that my kid will be bigger than me!

Dr. Karlen checked Noah's hip again and we pointed out the ball of the femur prominently sticking out of the socket.  He was kind of discouraged that the physical therapy hasn't done much in the way of strengthening the muscles, so he ordered a MRI of his hip.  Tomorrow we go for the MRI.  The actual procedure will take about an hour, but we have to show up two hours early for him to get a conscious sedation and then have a dye injected into his hip.  He's not too excited about that, but at least with the sedation he won't have to worry too much about not being able to move for an hour in the machine. 

Hopefully this form of x-ray will better allow Dr. Karlen to see what exactly is going on inside Noah's hip and from there we can better plan when his next surgery will be.  Poor kid has already gone through so much with this stinkin' joint! 

Sounds of Silence

Today is the first day of the 2015-2016 school year and already the house is too quiet. All four kids are in school this year and that feels really strange.  This will be the only year ever that all 4 are all in the same school.

Max: he's now in Kindergarten!  It's a full-day kindergarten, so this napping boy has some getting used to it.  His teacher is Mrs. Kerr.  Unfortunately, his two best buddies, Drew and Dayley, are in the other classes.

Alora: she's now in 4th grade!  Hoping this year will be vastly better than last, she has Mrs. Matteson, whom we love.  Both Noah and Jackson had her and she's fantastic.  She does incredible projects and has her class set up like a full functioning city, Matteson Square Garden, where the kids earn paychecks and pay bills.  We have a new family at church that has 9-year old triplets and they all will be in her class.  Hopefully they will be an added friendship for her.  FINGERS CROSSED!

Jackson:  he's now in 6th grade!  Since our school is still K-8, he's technically a middle school/junior high student.  CRAZY!  His homeroom teacher is Mrs. Patton.  She's new to our school this year, but from what I've heard about her, she's supposed to be awesome.  Sixth grade at our school is known to have tons and homework.  We're hoping that Jackson buckles down this year and can actually keep up with all of it.  He'd rather be off playing with friends or doing anything else.

Noah:  Wa-hoo! 8th grade and his final year at Westar!  He's now officially the big man on campus.  Definitely a weird thought to realize he's now that old.  His homeroom is Mrs. Keeling, which he is pretty excited about.  Most of his friends are in his class, so he likes that.  He tested into High School Algebra, so hopefully he won't find it too difficult.  He was pretty proud of himself.  He also gets to T.A. for a 4th grade class (not Alora's) and he's kind of excited about that. 

I'm the PTO Secretary this year so I know I'll be at the school a lot, so hopefully I won't go too crazy at home talking to myself or the animals.  Taco has already been following me around EVERYWHERE.  I think she got spoiled this summer having all the kids around so much. 

Every Centimeter Counts

Alora had her quarterly Endocrinology appointment today.  Not much has changed.  She's still measuring super small and her bone age is still about a year behind.  Her current measurements are: 

• Weight: 46.4 lbs  (she has gained 1 oz. since last measurement, now 4th percentile)
• Height:  46" (she has gained 2 cm since last measurement, now 1% percentile)

So obviously not a lot of growth, but at least she's now somewhat on the charts.  The doctor mentioned starting the paperwork with the insurance company for growth hormone.  Jeremy doesn't want her to be on any, but I personally think that any little chance at an extra inch or two would be beneficial later on down the road. 

First Pitch

Today Jeremy had the honor of throwing out the first pitch at the Diamondbacks vs Pittsburgh Pirates game.  His employer, Pacific Dental Services, sponsors the D-backs through their Smile Generation branch.  Jeremy was offered the chance and of course he couldn't turn it down.  The boys were especially stoked since they got to go on the field before the game. 

 

Despite being slightly nervous, Jeremy did great!  Noah thought he even threw what would be considered a strike.  It was all pretty cool.  The game itself wasn't great, the Pirates whooped us 8-0, but it was still a fun afternoon.

 



 



Jeremy walking out to the pitchers mound.  He's on the jumbo-tron!

Jeremy's first pitch!

Rubby De La Rosa was the player Jeremy threw to.  He then signed the ball for Jeremy to keep.

 

 

 

Lois Coronel, the Mexican Justin Bieber, sang the National Anthem.  He was right next to us on the field before the game and we had NO idea who he was... the teenage girls sure did though!

 

The boys were stoked that Paul Goldschmidt signed their baseballs before the game.  He's one of their favorite players.

Baseball is in Full Swing, Part Two

Jack's Little League crushed it when they played this past week at the Cincinnati Reds practice fields (12-0)!

 

 

Jack is #3

Alora's team, The Wolves, remain undefeated as of yesterday!

 



Max's team, The Diamonds, reciting the Pledge before their game yesterday.

  

Baseball is in Full Swing

Alora's first game was last night and she did great!  Despite being the only girl on the team, she seems to fit right in and even does better than some of the boys!

 

Saturday, April 18th

 

Both Max and Alora had games today and both did fantastic!  They each hit the first 1-2 pitches and ran like the wind.  Max even slid home, twice!

 



Baseball 2015

It's that time again!  BASEBALL!  It's the time of year where I feel like we are constantly go, go, go and the kids (and  me!) are exhausted the time evening comes.  It doesn't help that Jackson's games start at 7:45 pm and go until almost 10 pm!  Despite the busy schedules and late nights, it is fun to watch the kids play and improve each game. 

 

Noah decided not to play again this year.  He was going to try out for the 7th/8th grade school team, but when we found out about a basketball camp the high school was hosting for two months, he chose that.  Jackson again is playing Goodyear Little League.  This year, because of his age, he is in the Majors division.  He is having to play against some big and really good players.  I think he's a little intimidated, but come next year, he should have a good advantage.  Both and Alora and Max are playing through Estrella Youth Sports (EYS), our community organization.  Max is on a coach pitch/t-ball combo team and Alora is on a coach pitch team.  

 

Jackson has been playing a lot of 2nd base this year. 

Jackson's fourth game, against the Rattlers.

Max's team, the Diamonds, at the opening day parade.

Max and his buddies, Josh U. and Wyatt H.

Max's running home.  He even slid into homeplate.

Alora at the opening day ceremony.  Her first game is this upcoming week.