Tomorrow

We head to Cincy Children's tomorrow to have an EMG/Nerve Conduction Study done on Amelia. This is not a procedure that I am familiar with, this is what I do know:

Getting ready for the big "cry", baba told her "no" about something...

The EMG / electromyogram is a test that evaluates the electrical activity in nerves and muscles. This test is helpful to determine if abnormalities exist in the way nerves transmit electrical impulses or abnormalities to the muscles themselves.


The EMG test consists of two parts:

Nerve Conduction Study / NCS which evaluates the speed and amount of electrical activity along a nerve


EMG study which looks at electrical activity in muscles at rest and also when they are voluntarily moved (if possible) to determine if the pattern of activity is normal



There are many things about this test that make me very uncomfortable~electrical current being sent through the muscle & pin electrodes being stuck in the muscle. ICK~this is going to be a real bummer for both of us.


I'm making sure that they will sedate her~otherwise, they will have big problems with me and Amelia. I'm talking sedation for both of us too ;-)

I'm learning to edit my photos....can you see the difference? This one isn't the best, I'm still learning!

I failed to ask the doctor in St. Louis how this test will impact Amelia's treatment of her club feet. Chalk that up to travel fatigue and shock at not being familiar with this procedure for club foot babies. But I am awaiting a call from St. Louis to explain all of this to me.


So please pray for an easy test tomorrow and that the doctors will find no abnormalities. To be honest, we think Amelia may have some neurological problems. She is not walking yet and we had hoped she would be. She has been out of the brace for four months now. Her strength is improving and she does balance while standing, but still no steps. Steve and I are not pessimist, just realistic. We are just trying to prepare ourselves for a different path than we originally anticipated. But we pray we are wrong and that Amelia just needs some intensive PT to get over this hump. That's another problem with older children and club feet, doctors in the US are accustomed to treating infants and not toddlers. This is due to the fact that we seek and receive medical treatment for this condition as soon as a child is born. Consequently, the doctors in the US do not exercise a different treatment protocol for older children and I have discovered it is different. Hence the reason we are now going to Dr. Dobbs since he does in fact treat older adopted children from other countries as well as treating children that have had incorrect treatment for club feet.


Digressing a little here....Dr. Dobbs uses the Ponseti method for treating club feet. Dr. Dobbs and other doctors around the US a treated by Dr. Ponseti himself in this method. It is very specialized and many doctors do not execute it correctly. Therefore, it's imperiative to locate a highly recommended doctor to treat your child. When we returned from China, we did have a doctor that was trained in the method, but she moved to Utah.


Amelia isn't feeling the greatest right now, she has a cough and a temp. Pray that she is well tomorrow and they will still perform the test.


Off to preschool with Elise!