We.re back in the deep freeze, but it doesn't look like it's supposed to last as long as the cold spell we had a couple of weeks ago.

It snowed yesterday and the roads we're terrible, but we still managed to keep M's appointment with the orthopedist. The ortho practices out of Children's Hospital, a place M has been followed for practically his whole life (just except for the 7 months before we got him) and I was impressed with with him. Dr S is the "hip doctor" there, and unfortunately was on call yesterday so we ended up having to wait awhile to see him, as he was in the middle of an emergency surgery when we got there. He had already looked over M's x-rays though, and had told his PA that he wanted to see M himself, not just have the PA do the appointment... I thought that was good.

It looks almost certain M will need hip surgery. We'll have an MRI done, and then go in and talk to Dr S again about the options. From the x-rays it's appears the hip is malformed, it doesn't look like an injury of any kind. (I'm blaming it on the FASD, prenatal alcohol exposure can cause skeletal abnormalities... but... in all fairness, it could also be genetic.) Dr S will do the MRI to rule out anything else that might be going on, and then we'll have to decide what's the best plan for getting M moving again. The concern, of course, is keeping M (relatively) stable psychiatrically, through a major surgery and recovery.  Dr S said he might be able to do the surgery arthroscopic-ly,  but it sounded like that was not his first choice... that arthroscopic surgery would be a compromise and only done to try to keep M stable (less time in the hospital, shorter recovery time, etc) not because he believes it's the best way to fix his hip(s).

So... we'll see what the next few weeks bring.

We're snowed in today, and the kids aren't going to be happy... We're supposed to go to Grandma and Grandpa's today for the big family Christmas get-together and gift exchange. The snow is just too deep though, to get up the driveway... There is no way my car can make it. Joe is supposed to work a half day today, but he's not even sure the SUV will make it out of the neighborhood!

It looks like a good day to enjoy a nice fire, bake and decorate some Christmas cookies, and maybe watch a Christmas movie. I wish we had the Polar Express movie, that's one of my favorites...

Merry Christmas... I hope your holiday is filled with family, fun, warmth, and the wonder of Christmas