Well Checks...not always so well.

A couple of weeks ago Zoe and Cooper went for their yearly Well Checks at the pediatricians office. They were both afraid that they would need vaccination shots, but luckily they were all caught up, so they felt very relieved. Unfortunately, at the end of the appointment they were told that they needed some standard blood work done...ugh! Big needles, not what they were looking forward to!
Zoe's well check turned out great. She is still in the lowest percentage of height and weight, but since she is always that way and continues to grow, no concerns. And they both have great sight and hearing...yeah! Cooper's check on the other hand wasn't quite as good. The pediatrician found a murmur while listening to his heart. At this point we are hoping for an "innocent" murmur that he will just grow out of, but we are being referred to a pediatric cardiologist for a check, just in case. I must say, those are scary words to hear when talking about your 8 year old child needing a cardiologist, but I have faith that there is nothing out of the ordinary and he will continue to be a strong, healthy kid. We also left the office with a referral to a podiatrist, since Coop has been having some pretty bad foot pain since he started playing football last year, and the doctor wanted to get a look at what was going on.

So after leaving the pediatrician, we had to first head to the lab for the blood work. Zoe wasn't too nervous since she had done it a few years ago, but Cooper was a bit upset. I think his head was spinning from worrying that something was wrong with his heart, worried that the doctor would hurt his feet, and very nervous about getting blood drawn. He watched Zoe go first and she did great. He made it through his test, watching the whole time, but said it hurt (they used a different kind of needle on him to make it go faster). After he got up and started walking out, I heard him gagging. I turned around, he was white as a ghost and looked like he was going to pass out. I rushed him to a chair and he said he felt like he was going to throw up. He sat for a while, chewed a little gum, and finally started coming around. I decided it was time for some In-N-Out to make everyone feel better!

Then it was back to the medical center for some x-rays. We needed chest x-rays for the cardiologist and feet x-rays for the podiatrist. Cooper was so relieved that there was no pain involved, in fact, he was intrigued and excited about all the machinery in the x-ray lab. Wish I'd gotten some pictures of the day, but it was a bit too stressful!


So today was the day he got to see the foot doctor...
All looks good except for the loose tendons in his feet and his "false arch" which has been causing all the pain in his plantar fascia tendon. Looks like my little guy will have a long life ahead of him wearing orthodics in his shoes.

Next week, we move on to the cardiologist...