"Stryders Journey"

Yesterday my sister-in-law drove Stryder and I to the Shriners Hospital in Portland. It took us close to four hours, I think, but we stopped before the appointment and were able to have breakfast at Starbucks because my good online friend, Sam, sent me a Starbucks gift card- Thank you Sam!!!!!!!! It was a relief and a great break before a stressful day.

After our coffee and bagel, we went to Shriners. The people there were great! Poor little Stryder had been bent and fiddled with, but he did everything they asked. They were bending him all over and gasping at how flexible he is. They even tested me and said that I have some of the same flexible joints that most others don't have.

Stryder went in for an XRay of his hips because they seem to pop out all the time and the good news is that they look great! There is no damage or anything right now. The bad news: Stryder has the same physical problems that children with Downs Syndrome have, but as the DR. said "he obviously does not have Downs Syndrome." He said that they are the hardest children to work with because they can't do anything medically with them and things just get worse as they get older. The Dr. told us that after the age of 4 or 5, closer to 6, they start to show the problems in the hips, but again, can't do anything about it really. He said he calls them Gummy Bears and that is the perfect way to describe Stryder! I have always felt that he feels almost dead like the way he squishes, but gummy bears are so much more appealing (and squishy). My sister-in-law said that we will just call it the Gummy Bear Syndrome. How else do you explain to people that he has these problems?

I suppose that means he is a Shriners baby now :) We go back next year to check for anything that might be problematic and every year after and just pray that he doesn't get any worse and just stays flexible only.