Toe Walking

My son is a toe walker! He always has been, and with him being 8 today, I'm starting to get concern about it. Actually I have been concerned for a while now, but I haven't been successful in getting my doctor to take me seriously. This year however I'm going to get the doctor to take me seriously! At least that is my plan!

I'm not sure why he is a toe walker. I personally have ruled out autism. Toe walking at times can be a sign of autism. I've read enough about autism to be confident that is not what is the cause of my son's toe walking. Not only has DS continue to toe walk all these years, but he has now starting to become clumsy and awkward in his walking and running.

I have over the years have mention my concern to the the Dr. However he has never taken me seriously. At every yearly physical I have mention that I'm concern and at every yearly physical I get told "He'll out grow it". Well he's 8 today and still hasn't out grown it and as a matter of fact it seems to be getting worst. DS is walking higher and higher on his toes. Not only that but when walking I'm starting to notice that he is walking with his toes turned into each other. He never did this before! DH told me that if our Dr won't take us seriously this year that we will just have to get a second opinion. However I'm not sure what kind of Dr. to go to for a second opinion. I know that our family Dr. really can't do anything for him. I'm sure that we will have to see a specialist. However, I'm hoping and praying that my Dr. will take us seriously so that we can get the referral to a specialist.

Not only do I want my Dr to take me seriously, but I hoping that it's not to late to for non-surgical options! The pictures I took of my son's feet is how they are all the time. This is what it is like when he stands, walks, runs, etc. It doesn't matter if he's shoeless or with shoes on he is always on his toes like the pictures here. Please pray that my Dr. takes me seriously when we see him July 17. Also pray that we have non-surgical options available to us. I really would hate to see my son have to have surgery because I failed him all these year. Failed to get a Dr. that would take us seriously.

Results: Idiopathic toe walking (ITW)

Well we went and saw the Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon today. I'm glad we went "early" because it took us 30 minutes just to go through the process of signing in, especially seeing we were "new" patients. They took Superstar's picture today too for his records, which I still don't understand why that was necessary.

Anyway to the point. The Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon looked at Superstar today, had him walk up and down the hall several times. Check his flexibility (or lack of it in the ankle area), reviewed his MRI and EMG/NCV results and told me that is diagnosis is Idiopathic Toe Walking (ITW).

Treatment: Well there are several treatment options, serial castings, botox, braces, and surgery. Some of these options can be done on their own, some can be in conjunction with other treatments.

However I was told today that Superstar's ITW is so severe that our only treatment option is surgery. The surgeon explained that we could do the serial casting and the botox, but he strongly felt that there would only be a 5% chance of them working. So in short he felt going that route would be a waste of our time and money. Surgery, would also require casting for 6 weeks after surgery, followed by Superstar having to where an ankle-foot orthosis for several years.

An ankle-foot orthosis is basically a brace that he would have to wear. His shoes would go over the brace. Part of the reason the Dr is saying that Superstar would have to wear a brace for years,  is because of how severe his toe walking is; that if not made to wear the brace of the extend period of time that Superstar would go back to toe-walking. (At least that is the doctors opinions)

I of course still have to talk to DH about all of this and we still have to process everything that was said. We could even go and get a second opinion, something the doctor even told me today, I could do. As I mention before in order to get a second opinion I would have to drive a several hours away. There simply is not another doctor with this specialization in my area. The doctor told me today that in the few months he's been in town, that he has seen 15 other cases like my sons, that have ITW, and that we are the first ones he has told that needs surgery. The doctor told us that even though he feels there is only a 5% change of the serial casting and botoxing to work that he would still do those things if that's what we wanted to do.

This was not exactly the news we wanted to hear today. Please pray for us.

Update: DS toe walking

As I mention last month I was going to speak to the DR about DS's toe walking. Well last Friday, I did speak to the Dr about it and he refer us to a podiatrist. Well we went to the podiatrist today. We don't have any real answers for why DS is a toe walker and what can be done about it. However, we have a better understanding of what is going on.

Images from Southwest Orthopaedic Surgery Specialitist.

It's clear that the Achilles tendon is shorten. Most likely a result of being up on his toes all the time. However the podiatrist feels that shorten Achilles tendon is the secondary caused of my DS's toe walking.

According to the x-rays that DS got done today everything is "normal", but when the podiatrist was working with my son's feet, flexing them, he felt as if there was something that was blocking my son's range of motion, besides the shorten Achilles tendon.

He feels that PERHAPS the talus bone is out of place. That PERHAPS it's a little too forward and that it is blocking my son from having his full range of motion.

We DO NOT know if this is the case for sure and will not know for sure until more medical images are taken. I have to call the hospital later today and schedule an MRI for DS. Once I have the MRI schedule then I have to call the podiatrist's office and schedule a follow up with him one week after the MRI.

If it does turn out that the talus bone is out of place then it most likely can only be corrected with surgery. Although the podiatrist also mention that they might be able to do something with physical therapy. We don't know for sure, this is all guessing right now. We just at this point need more imaging done! More imaging will give us a better understanding of what is going on. The podiatrist chose a MRI over a CT scan because he said the MRI would give us a better picture of the soft tissues. I will provide an update when I have more answers.

Rediscovering Catholicism Giveaway winners have been announced. See this post here for the list of winners.

Superstar's Surgery

Superstar's Surgery for ITW (idiopathic toe walking) has been scheduled. He will have surgery on Oct 28, 2009 @ 7:00 AM. We have to be there at 6:00 AM.

Thank-you for keeping him in your prayers!

If you are NEW to my blog you can read passed post about Superstar and his toe walking here: Toe Walking

Throwback Thursday: AFO, surgery, toe walking

It's Thursday. Many do a Throwback Thursday post, picture, etc.

I decided today to do a throwback: May need NEW Braces!?!?

Looking back and knowing my son today it's hard to believe that 6 years ago he had surgery to correct toe walking and spent a year in AFO.

Looking at him today and watching him you most likely would have no clue he had surgery to correct toe walking and wore AFO for a year.  There is no sign of this on him expect for some scars that are really not as noticeable now then they were a few years ago. Can thank puberty and "hairy man legs" for making the scars less noticeable.

Looking back at the old posting, photos, etc I'm just blown away by how well he recovered and how well he's doing all these years later.  I honestly forget sometimes that he had this done --- it's just amazing!

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EMG Results = Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon

Well we got those EMG/NCV test results today! The results were negative. They tested the muscles and nerves from the back down to the feet. (Negative is a GOOD THING!!) This ruled OUT any neurological issues from the back to the feet. The EMG/NCV results also stated that we should be referred to a Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon.

As I mention before the Doctor that administered the EMG/NCV was very opinionated. One of the things he was saying is was that we needed a Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon. (Which I'm sure that was why it was on the results). The Doctor that administered the test also said that there was NO Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon in my area, that the nearest one would be either Chicago or Madison. (Both of which are a several hours away).

The doctor that administered the EMG/NCV also told us what he felt was causing my son's toe walking. However, his opinions would have to be confirmed with more testing. I'm not sharing those publicly on the blog because, at this point, his opinions are hypothetical. I want to share facts here because I know there a people following my blog, because their children are toe-walkers too.

Well not only did the podiatrist today share the results of the EMG/NCV, but he also told us that there IS a Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon in town. (Thank God) This Surgeon is NEW to town, and because of that it's very difficult to get in and see him. I got the impression that he's the only one in town and in "high" demand.

So the podiatrist took it upon himself to schedule us an appointment with the Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon. He told us he wanted to be sure we got in and got in soon! The appointment is THIS Thursday at 2:00 pm. He said if we need to reschedule it then we can just call the Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon's office to do that.

I was told it's easier to reschedule an existing appointment, then for us to call trying to schedule a new appointment. Also you can get in faster when one doctor's office call the other's office and schedules the appointments. That's why the podiatrist took it upon himself to schedule the appointment with the Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon on our behave.

So this is where we are at now with Superstar Toe Walking. Of course I'll be posting what the Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon has to say after we see him THIS Thursday.

Superstar Update: Toewalking/AFO

Today we seen the orthopedic surgeon for another post surgery follow-up. Long time followers of my blog know that Superstar had surgery around Thanksgiving 2009 for ITW (idiopathic toe walking).

We decided for treatment we would do surgery. So he has been recovering nicely from surgery. Walking was tough and hard just 10 days after surgery with the cast on, however he did it and has not stopped since then! We are so proud of him!

After the cast came off Superstar was given AFOs to wear. He STILL has to wear the AFOs, however we were told he could go up to 4 hours per day without them. Currently he has been wearing them from the moment he wakes up to the moment he goes to bed. So it's nice to know he can go some time during the day without them.

Today we were given the okay for any sport that Superstar wants to do! For some sports he can't wear his brace so if he did that sport activity that day it would count towards his time without the brace. Today we were told that it looks like there will NOT be a second surgery. So that was good news. Today we were told that he will NOT need physical therapy! We see the doctor again at the end of June so that might change, but the surgeon is confident that he will NOT need physical therapy.

Today we got told that we can get an adjustment done on his AFOs to allow the ankle joint to articulate, move. Currently his AFOs do not allow for that movement, but that will change this Thursday. We will go in and they will adjust his AFOs and put a hinge at the ankle to allow it to move. I'll post pictures of that later this week.

To top of today's post I've added a video of Superstar walking and running up and down our hallway. Looking at the video of him walking in his cast made me realized how far he has come the last few months!

UPDATE: I also wanted to update and show some pictures of him standing WITHOUT his brace. This is SO MUCH different then back in June before surgery. BEFORE surgery he could NOT put his heels down on the ground even if wanted too!

He's outside now in his socks! I don't care! We just realized this is the first time in his life that his heels have touched grass! (when walking). He's going to be 9 in a few short months, and so it's just amazing! I asked him how does it feel to have walked and have the grass touch your heels? His response "GREAT!!!!!!!"

Toe Walking! Update??

I so wish I had an update to give you all, especially those that are following because they want to learn more about my son's toe walking....

I DID go to the doctor's office only to learn that he STILL does NOT have the results of the EMG/NCV test! That test was 2 weeks ago and he should have had the result by now...

It's of course is not his fault seeing he's waiting to get them from another office. The office that is handling the test messed up! So it may be another 2-3 weeks before I will have results.

All I can say is hang tight and as soon as I know something I'll post it here.

On the plus side I DID NOT and WILL NOT get charged for today's office visit! :)

MRI: Results For Toe Walking.

We got the results from the MRI today. (To recap for those that are new to my blog: My DS had to get an MRI done because of his toe walking.)

According the MRI DS bone structure in the foot is normal. So I was thankful to hear that. The next step is to call the hospital tomorrow to schedule an EMG/NCV.

EMG=Electromyograhy
NCV=Nerve conduction study

The podiatrist explain today that these tests need to be done to be sure that my DS brain, nerves, and muscles are communicating with each other properly.

That's all I have to share at this time. I'm thankful to learn that the bone structure is normal, but frustrated to learn that we need more testing done.

The doctor also mention that DS MIGHT need a foot manipulation under anesthesia done too. That's NOT surgery or anything like that. The doctor during the visit was manipulating DS feet, but felt there has been some resistance on DS part. Not anything DS can really help, just resistance, almost in an involuntary way. It's not anything that DS is purposely doing per say.

So doing an manipulation under anesthesia would help the Dr get a better understanding of what DS true range of motion is because under anesthesia DS will be totally relaxed.

Superstar Swim Team?

Well we were told last night that superstar swimming is good enough to join the swim team. We are NOT going to pursue that right now because of this toe walking. We want to see what the doctor has to say. We still do not have the results of the EMG/NCV. We should have them soon.

Honestly, I'm impressed with superstar's ability. He only started to take swimming lessons in March 2009 (maybe February 2009). His very first lesson was sitting on the steps of the pool learning how to blow bubbles and getting comfortable with having his head in the water, then he moved to the back float. Now he's learning how to do the breast stroke along with "dolphin" kicks, and other swim styles like freestyle.

The organization that we take lesson through has their lessons at a local college's pool. Last night Superstar jumped off into the water from the "diving board". (I am not sure if that's what it's called; it's that board that the swimmers start from when swimming in swim competitions). Here is a picture of Michael Phelps jumping of the type of board I'm talking about.

Anyway, Superstar jumped off the board and swam freestyle all the way down to the other end. Very impressive from someone that just started to swim 5-6 months ago. I'm not saying that Superstar would be the next Michael Phelps, but it's clear that he's just a "natural" when it comes to swimming. That's the only way to explain why he has excel so well so fast.

I sincerely hope that we can get some answers here soon regarding Superstar's toe walking, and I hope they are answers that will allow him to continue to swim! I would have no issues with him joining the swim team today, but we have to wait and see what that doctor has to say. I'm really not worried about him causing more damage to himself with swimming like I am with soccer or volleyball. (Those are the other 2 sports that Superstar would like to play.)

Convergence Insufficiency and Toe-Walking!

I've made it known several times that we are "new" to homeschooling. We pulled our kids out of public school June 2008. This is our second year of homeschooling. I've had my share of struggles when it comes teaching my kids, especially my daughter, web-princess. I have shared in the pass how math, for example, has been a huge road block for us. So has the reading, she still isn't quite reading for her age level; she's still behind some.

Well we are pretty confident that we have found out why? It appears that our daughter has convergence insufficiency. This could every well explain why she isn't reading at her age level and why she struggles with math or anything that requires reading really. So we now have to work with that! Nothing is just easy is it! We have been given some vision exercises to do with her @ home and if they do not work she will have to have vision therapy.

Briefly for those that do not know convergence insufficiency is where your eyes don't turn inward properly while you're focusing on a nearby object. This can make reading very difficult because text can appear blurred or even floating on the page. It also can often go unnoticed because it's possible for a child to have 20/20 vision and still have blurred text while reading do to the convergence insufficiency. So this is not something that will be typically be picked up in a school vision screening test. It often can be missed at normal eye doctor's visit too. You need a doctor that would know to look for this or is a vision specialist.

Some of the symptoms of convergence insufficiency besides difficulty reading include difficulty concentrating. Learning all of this made me thankful once again that I'm homeschooling. I have a feeling given the symptoms of convergence insufficiency and that fact that my daughter has 20/20 vision she perhaps would have been mislabeled as child with ADD. Not only that but I perhaps would have been forced, or heavily persuaded, by the school to put her a medicine that she clearly does not need!

Now that we know this about our daughter we have to find way to work WITH her vision difficulties and NOT against them! I can tell you a huge weight was lifted of our shoulders this pass weekend.

Superstar Surgery: I've had a few people ask when is Superstar's surgery now? He is having surgery Nov 18th for his toe-walking! Thanks for asking and keeping him in your prayers.
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Now the funny of the day: So DH and I were IMing this afternoon and he said in the IM "Well I'm going to go read your blog now".  I then tell him, that's fine but I haven't written anything up yet about web-princesses vision. He replies "That's okay reading your blog is how I know what's going on with my family"

That just made me laugh and reply back to him: "What are you doing?" "I'm looking @ my wife's blog. She said she's schooling them but I don't know if that's true until she blogs about it" "Once she's blog about it then I know it's been done."

To which my hubby replied back:  LMAO that's sound like a blog quote!


So honey this is for you: Yes, I do educate those children of ours. They can now count to 3 and tie their shoes. It makes me proud to know that they got themselves an edge-me-cation!!!! Thanks for letting me teach them!
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Okay seriously that was a joke! My husband and talk regularly when he's home and we IM each other regularly during the day, especially @ his lunch hour like we did today! He's well aware of what goes on and doesn't need to read the blog to find out. It was just a funny! Those that know us would see the funny so I wanted to share! Oh and the kids can count beyond 3, they can count to 5! :)

Update: Superstar's Toe Walking

No, news is good news? :)

We did go for the EMG/NCV last night and Superstar handle the test very well. I'm really proud of him and his ability to under go these test. An EMG/NCV is really no fun to do. He had to lay down while the doctor poke needles into his legs. With each poke the doctor sent a electrical shocks into Superstar's muscles. He also put electrodes on him and sent electrical shocks to his nerves.

With each shock Superstar would cry out "ouch". He didn't physically cry, but he made it known that it wasn't pleasant. I did take him out to DQ after the testing for his favorite ice cream treat! He deserved it after that round of testing.

We go back to the podiatrist office sometime in the next week or two and that's when we will get the result of the testing that was done last night.

The doctor who administered the test last night was very nice man, but was also very opinionated. He shared his opinions on things last night; opinions that left my head spinning and me in tears.

I'm personally choosing not to share those opinions here, because in reality, we don't know them to be fact. It would all be hypothetical and to be honest at this point I only want to share what I do know over hypothetical opinions. I know I have several people that are reading my blog that have children that also toe walk so I don't want to alarm any of them.

I have close relationships with several of my readers off my blog, and I have shared with them, because I needed to vent. I thank-you for your support, prayers, and help. (You know who you are :)) If those "opinions" do turn out to be fact then I will share them here on my blog, because I know that it will help any other parent who may also have children that are toe walkers.

I will keep you all post via Catholic Christian Homeschooling as more infomation becomes available. Right now it's just a wait and see. We are waiting for the results of the EMG/NCV. I will have those within the next 1-2 weeks.

Thank-you to everyone that has contacted me via my blog and off my blog. I really appreciate your love, support, and concern for Superstar!

MRI: Nightmare

This whole business with the MRI is turning out to be a nightmare. My son (8) needs one done because of his toe walking. I finally was able to schedule the MRI today. I tried a few times yesterday, but the hospital didn't have the order. It turns out the Dr. office had our insurance info wrong, they had us a HMO when we really are an PPO. So once that was corrected they were able to submit the order.

I called today and set up the time and date for the MRI. That part wasn't so bad, but that is what set off my nightmare. I found out that the DR actually wants 2 different MRIs so it's going to take 2 hours. They asked me if he could lay still for those 2 hours and I said yes....

Well I get of the phone, explained everything to my son, and he immediately started to cry. He feels that it's impossible for him to lay still for 2 hours. After spending 20 minutes trying to console him and having him watch videos on MRIs, I wasn't getting any where. So I IM DH and told him what was going on. DH IMed me back and told me to call the hospital to see if they can give him something to help him relax.

So I called the hospital explain the situation and got told that our only other option is to have DS be put under anesthesia. However in order to do that I would have to cancel the MRI, call the Dr. office and have them resubmit the order with anesthesia. Then I would have to call the hospital and reschedule the MRI for a time when an anesthesiologist is available.

So I then explain to my son that he has a second option, that they can put him to sleep. Well that made him cry even more. I've already have spend the last 2 hours trying to console him. I'm not getting anywhere. He honestly doesn't feel that he can't be still for 2 hours and the idea of going to sleep is freaking him out more, because he's afraid that he won't wake up.

He's crying, I'm crying, this is just a nightmare. Wake me when it's over.

Chess Tournament and Prayer Request!

Today the kids had a Chess Tournament! They played against several other homeschoolers, public school, and private school children across the area. They had a great time playing today.

This is Web-princess waiting to play her first game of the day.

This is Superstar waiting to play his first game of the day.

After 5 rounds each we hung around and waited for the award ceremony. Both kids placed today! They each were in separate divisions. Web-princess was in Grade K-2 division and that division had 30 players. Superstar was in Grade 3-5 division and his division had 60 players.

Web-princess placed in 8th place. This is her with her 8th place ribbon (red). The purple ribbon was a participation ribbon.

Congrats Web-Princess!

Superstar placed 6th place. This is him with his ribbon (yellow). The purple ribbon is also a participation ribbon.

Congrats Superstar!

We had a great day! Both kids were happy to be there and were good sports today. Even when they lost a game they had a joyful heart. Superstar also clapped and cheered for everyone that won today during the award ceremony.

For those of you that pray: Please keep Superstar in your prayers especially on this coming Wednesday. This Wednesday is his surgery for ITW (toe-walking). We have to be at the surgery center at 6:00 AM (central standard time). We are told that we should be able to leave the center, with Superstar, @ noon that day. It's an out patient surgery. I know that it's going to be a tough day for all of us, especially Superstar. He's going to have both feet done and will leave the center with both feet in a cast. One will be a blue cast and the other will be a green cast. Thanks!

A little laughter: Kids say...

The last few posting on the blog have been a little heavy: Superstar's toe walking and political things etc. One of things I want to mention is what Superstar told the nurse yesterday while at the POS's office.

As you know it's standard procedure for the nurse to call you back into the examine room. It's also standard procedure for the nurse to weight the patient, get the patient's height (if needed), ask general question: Do you have pain, discomfort etc?

Well one of the questions the nurse asked Superstar is if his tummy has been upset. Superstar paused and responded "sometimes". I than right away said "It has? Why haven't you told Mommy your tummy has been upset/hurting?" The nurse probed some more into why his tummy has been hurting, etc. Well here's what he told her: Lack of food!

Yep that's right Superstar told the nurse that his tummy has been hurting because of lack of food! She was puzzled and didn't really understand what Superstar meant by that, so she was looking at me for answers. I responded with "In other words he's hungry".  She said oh and asked Superstar if that was true and he said yes. She then said Sorry buddy, I don't got anything....

I just want to crawl into a hole with that one liner! My gosh why would you say lack of food! I played it cool, I think, but my gosh, lack of food! Honestly, I feed them, we don't suffer from lack of food.

Over dinner, when daddy was home, we discussed what Superstar said. It was brought up by you won't believe what he told the nurse. (Not in a negative way of course) We all had a laugh about it. Then I explained how if someone hears "lack of food" they may take it to mean that there is no food to eat or that you may not get breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks etc. That you really don't have any food.

Superstar then said, I didn't mean that. We have food, I was just telling the nurse that sometimes my tummy is upset when my hungry. I said I know and that's normal for your tummy to be upset when it's hungry, she was asking if it gets upset because it may be sick or for other reasons. Superstar just said "OH!!"

~~lack of food~~why, why, why.

The other thing he did that was funny, that had the POS medical assistant laughing was Superstar and Web-princess were standing at the examine table playing with one of the toys. It was some magnet thing. They were playing nicely together I might add. Their backs were to the POS and to his assistant. The POS said to Superstar let me have a look at your feet again. You would think that Superstar would stop playing at that moment and would sit on the table so the POS could have a look.

No that's not what he did. He just lifted his leg so that his foot was behind him, as if to say okay here's the foot, and just went on playing with the sister. I just rolled my eyes, and the POS assistant just laughed. The POS said, "Well you get what you ask for", then he proceeded to tell Superstar that he needed him to stop playing for the moment and to sit up on the table.

Riding His Bike

Last Night, thanks to DH's patience, 9 year old Superstar finally learned HOW to ride his bike. DH took Superstar down to the local forest persevere where they got to practice just the two of them; or so they thought! A deer did end up jumping out in front of Superstar, because it was startled.

Last Night, Superstar came home and showed me what he could do on the bike path across the street from our house. I was going to take video last night and post it, but my camera battery was dead! So I took this video this afternoon! Enjoy!

He can NOT start on his own, nor can he really do turns right now. However we are still really proud of him! We have tried several times over the years but he just never got it. Looking back at it now I can't help but wonder if his toe-walking was stopping him from riding.

So last night was huge for us!! With more practice he'll get better including starting on his own. Right now to start him we have to hold is bike and give him a good "push".  Now it's time to get web-princess to master it!

Actually I have to say, I'm glad that Superstar, being older master this first. I remember my brother, who is 1 year younger then me, learned how to ride first and it made me angry! Superstar's personality, at times, reminds me of my own and I just know it would have not been good if Web-princess learned first!

Drowning In Bills!

I have shared publicly how Superstar is going to be having surgery and how we have been in and out of Doctor offices over the summer, not only that but he has had some testing done MRI, EMG, X-rays, etc.

All of these things can be read about here: Toe Walking.

What I haven't shared is how we are now drowning in medical bills! Oh we have insurance!! He just have one of those HIGH deductible plans that make us pay $5,000 OUT of pocket, every CALENDAR year, before the insurance will pay anything.

My husband's employer did offer us the option of a "traditional" insurance plan, but we chose not to take it. After all we are young, our kids are young, and for the most part we are a healthy family! Up until this last summer the only time we were at the doctor's office was for our yearly physicals. (The insurance will pay for a yearly physical so that's ALWAYS FREE for us). So it just made sense to get the high deductible plan.

We haven't even had the surgery yet and have already reached our deductible for THIS CALENDAR year, so any medical bills between NOW and Dec 31st will be covered 100% by insurance. However anything that happens Jan 1 or later we will have to pay for again, until we reach our $5,000 deductible.

So you can imagine my relieve when they said that Superstar would have to wear the cast for 4-6 weeks and not the 6-8 like they originally said. With luck the braces and everything should be done by the first weeks of December if NOT sooner!!

Of course there will be some follow ups after the first of the year, but office visits are cheaper then surgery, castings, custom made braces, etc. We are still hoping and praying that most of the expensive things will be done before the end of year!

$5,000 is a LOT of money already and we are drowning, but we would be drowning more if say we waited until AFTER the first of the year; seeing we would have to meet our deductible AGAIN!!!

I know we will be okay!!! I just had to share, because the bills are here one after another. It's just been stressful! I know we are okay and will be okay. It's just amazing what the cost is!!!

Oh and seeing we do have insurance it does get submitted to insurance and we do get a preferred provider discounts applied. Those discounts are applied and then the balance is what we are charged and what gets applied to our deductible.

For example we have 3 different bills for the MRI! One of those bills alone was $3,000. The preferred provider discount was applied, thus the bill was $1,500. So we had to pay $1,500  and that $1,500 was applied to our deductible.  That means if we did not have insurance we would have had to pay $3,000. Did you noticed that the preferred provider discount cut the bill in half? No wonder medical bills are the number one reasons people are in debt!!!

Surgery Is Tomorrow!

Just a quick note! Superstar's surgery is tomorrow morning. Please keep him in your prayers.

For those of you that are new to my blog, Superstar surgery is for ITW. (Idiopathic Toe Walking). He was suppose to have the surgery the Wednesday before Halloween, but that got canceled due to illness. (We had the flu). So it has been rescheduled and will be tomorrow morning. Thanks for the prayers.

I could never homeschool!

One of the most common things I hear from non-homeschoolers, family, other bloggers, and friends is "I could never do that!"; "I don't have the patience to be with my child 24/7"; "I need adult time: Time with other adults"; "I need me time"; etc.

First, I would like to say I'm not a saint, nor am I super human. I have my days where I'm pulling out my hair, stressed to the max, and saying "Why?" Then I have my days were everything is peachy keen and right with the world. Those days make everything worth wild!

I understand where my relatives, fellow bloggers, and friends are coming from. I was in the same mind set at one point in my life and at times slip back into that mind set. If a person chooses to homeschool then they are choosing to take on some personal growth.  Growth that up to that point they may have been resistant to do and growth that at times they may fight even with homeschooling.

Choosing to homeschool is like choosing to get married. It requires some personal growth and determination from everyone evolved. Like marriage, it takes hard work, some days are better then others.  Everyday I get up and everyday I make the choice to love my husband and to homeschool my children that day. Some days it's an easy thing to do; other days it leaves me pulling out my hair. At the end of the day I'm glad that I made that choice. It's a choice I have to make everyday.

Homeschooling like marriage is not for everyone. It takes some deep soul searching to find out if you got it within you to do. It also takes daily work and a renewal each day to hold fast to that commitment. It, like marriage, also requires you to grow....

What about me time? Time with adults and all the rest?  Well honestly most homeschoolers network with other homeschoolers. Those networks allow you to connect with other parents (i.e. adults). How much interaction you get is totally depended on you and how much you want or need.

If you connect especially well with another family then you will find yourself making play dates with these other families above and beyond your homeschooling group meetings.

For me time? Make arrangements with your husband. Perhaps he can watch the kids for a hour or 2 on a Saturday and you can just take off doing something you like: walking in the park, reading a book at the library, window shopping, just grocery shopping without the kids in toe. Or just go for a walk around the block without the kids, join a gym if you can afford it. Whatever really. Honestly even if you worked outside the home you would still need to find that little bit of alone time at some point. If mothers and fathers that work outside the home can find that little bit of alone time so can homeschooling parents. It just takes some creative planning and cooperation with your spouse on making it work.