Checkup

Daniel had his 3 year checkup today. After carefully preparing him for the visit, he couldn't wait to go. Leo, of course, came along too. And as I already knew, Daniel's as healthy as can be. Leo helped out and got his height and weight checked too.

But, there were a couple of things about Daniel I wanted the doctor to check. First, there was his speech. When Daniel's speaking, many times he breathes through his nose so you can't always understand what he's saying. Dr. Cox checked out his nasal passages and everything seemed fine, so he wasn't concerned and thought this was something Daniel would grow out of.

Then, we talked about Daniel's walking. His toes turn in, especially when he is running - sort of what they used to call being 'pigeon-toed'. So Dr. Cox watched Daniel walk and saw the feet turning in, then gave him a thorough examination of his feet, ankles and legs. He finally diagnosed Daniel with internal tibial torsion. Its the least problematic form of 'intoeing', and Dr. Cox was not worried a bit saying to let the bones straighten out by themselves. Now this was something I remembered a friend of mine had when I was in grade school - he wore these clunky braces on his legs and couldn't play any sports. I never seriously thought Daniel would have to wear anything like this, but the thought did cross my mind. Now, after reading the articles on this subject, it sounds like enough research has been done so that kids don't have to wear these unnecessary leg braces for this diagnosis.

Daniel then got his flu shot and he barely winced. He's a tough little kid.