The Rankin Zoo 

Yesterday we took Pearl back to see Dr. Fields (the pediatric pulmonologist - he rocks). He checked her out and asked us how things looked when we monitored her with the pulse oximeter. We gave him an update on things. He listened to her lungs and declared her pretty much good to go (from the lung perspective). So, for the first time since November 14th Pearl got to sleep all night on “room air” - no supplemental oxygen!

We had the pulse oximeter on her all night and would check on it whenever we happened to wake up (which, not surprisingly, is fairly often when you have two kids in the house) and she looked good all night. We’ll keep monitoring her for a few nights and if everything looks good we’ll just spot check her here and there until our next appointment with Dr. Fields (in about a month).

This is a great milestone and we’re happy to be done with the oxygen (hopefully - we’re keeping it around in case we need it). Once we get through winter I think the Dr. Fields will let us off the hook for good (or at least many months).

In other news, on Tuesday the pediatric ophthalmologist (who happened to go to med school with Dr. Fields), diagnosed Pearl with congenital alternating exotropic strabismus. Sounds fancy but apparently it’s not a huge deal. However, it does mean that we get to have Pearl wear an eye patch for about 90 minutes each day (alternating eyes), which I’m sure will be tons of fun. The good news is that this treatment solves the problem for most kids but I guess it will be a few months before we know how it’s going.

Pearl’s other ailment these days is a rash on her skin that seems to come and go. I think it’s most likely a combination of the really dry air and our detergent. So we’re rewashing everything in a different detergent and we try to keep the house humidified. Various creams and oils are being applied. B is trying to avoid the next step, which is cutting dairy from her diet, and I’m trying to avoid what I suppose would be an eventual step: a pediatric dermatologist! If I had a nickel for every pediatric specialist we’ve seen… I wouldn’t even come close to covering even our co-pay!

The paradoxical thing about all of this is that if you look at Pearl (okay, with here eyes closed so you don’t see that they wander and her clothes on so you don’t see her rash) she looks like a totally healthy, strapping, big baby. In fact, she is quite healthy and strong - it’s just all these little things that seem to pile up.

Maybe I’ll get some photos up one of these days…