Orthopedic Appointment today

Well, our day started busy with Mat gone. But everyone cooperated and got up at three different times so that I could get them all ready in peace! We were out the door by 7:45am because I needed to have the girls to school by 8am to make our 9am therapy appointment (we had to register at the hospital first). I got there and got registered and went down to the appointment in time to find out that the occupational therapist we were seeing got called to jury duty. Her assistant called me at 8am, but we were already gone. Oh well. At least now I am registered! The bummer part is that now I won't be able to see the therapist until the 15th because next Monday (God willing) is supposed to be our court date to have Cainan readopted! (yeah) Then he will be an official United States citizen. Anyway, we had some time to kill so we ran a few errands before our orthopedic doctor appointment at 10am.
The doctor looked at his thumbs and did a few different tests and decided Cainan has one of two issues. He thinks there is a possibility that he has something called "trigger thumb". I guess there is a sheath inside along the muscle of the thumb that sometimes can get into a sort of bump and cause it to get stuck and cause the thumb to be bent the way Cainan's are. The child can still open and close his thumbs, but at some point it starts to hurt because the thumb gets "stuck" due to this bump, so the child doesn't want to open his thumb anymore. The only thing that made the doctor think this is NOT what Cainan has is the fact that he didn't really whince in pain when the doctor moved his thumb around, AND Cainan will open his thumb on occasion.
The second thought the doctor had was that it was something developmental. Something in his brain didn't make him move on to the next step where he should have learned to use his thumbs, and then he just got comfortable not using them. This is more likely the case. It is unusual, but it does happen. The doctor asked if we have seen a neurologist, and suggested we should. Great - another doctor! We are going to wait on that one for awhile. He didn't seem overly concerned about it, and wanted to try some thumb splints over the next couple of months to get him used to having his thumbs out and using them. That will probably correct the problem. We have to make a separate appointment for those at a place that will fit him and order the splints specific to his finger size. What they do is pull the thumbs out and keep them straight, and after awhile his body will adjust to the position and he won't need the splints any more.
If it is by some chance the "trigger thumb" then he will have to have- yep you guessed it - surgery. The doctor said it is a simple surgery - kind of like a surgery they would do for carpal tunnel. BUT that would only be that if in January his thumbs still haven't corrected themselves and a neurologist says he is developmentally on track.
So now he gets yet something else he needs to wear. We will start the thumb splints as soon as they come in. This is something we want to correct while he is young. The glasses can wait, but this really can't. The doctor also wants him to have occupational therapy. We are working on it, but as you know - insurance is standing in the way. Although, now that we have a diagnosis of "trigger thumb" that is an injury and THAT is covered. (yes) So we may be able to use that diagnosis to get him the occupational therapy he needs even if in the end it turns out not to be that.
Sorry, no pictures from today. We were busy all morning and after nap we are going to get the girls at school and head for the airport. Tomorrow - more pictures!