Days +81 and 82: some sad news about Mina's hip

They took an X-ray at her clinic appointment today, and said she's showing signs of osteoporosis (http://www.emedicine.com/radio/topic503.htm) in her right hip. Osteoporosis is defined as "a skeletal disorder characterized by compromised bone strength predisposing to an increased risk of fracture." This is most likely caused by the high-dose steroids she's been on for two months now. I didn't hear whether the X-ray showed any signs of fracture. Osteroporosis is progressive and irreversible in adults, but I don't know whether that's the case with kids as well. Dr. Horn told Keri they hoped she would improve with lower doses of steroids, so hopefully that means her body will be able to recover. The plan for now is to watch her for the next couple of weeks, and if she doesn't start to improve they'll schedule an MRI to look for signs of osteonecrosis of the femoral head (http://www.emedicine.com/orthoped/topic430.htm), which is what causes old people to need hip replacement surgeries.

Tough news to hear, especially when she's been doing so well otherwise. The worries over the weekend have dissipated with three days of good moods, healthy appetites, and lots of energy. Her blood counts are looking good as well, so they're going to drop the blood draws to once a week. She sure wants to be moving around, and today she crawled all the way up the stairs by herself, so hopefully that means whatever is going on is not too serious. They told us not to prevent her from walking if she wants to, but not really to encourage her either at least until they have a better idea what's going on.

I came home from work early today so Keri could go out for drinks with Melissa, and Mina was excited to see me home so early. She loves it when I say "I'm gonna get you!" and chase her around and grab her and tickle her. Tonight she was hobbling around the house looking back and me and giggling and saying "Gitchoo! Gitchoo!" Later she was asking where Momma went, and I told her Momma went out. She thought for a minute, and said "Agua!" I said I didn't think Momma was drinking agua, but that was a good connection. She and Isaac are interacting more as well and are becoming very cute together. He likes to grab her pacifier, stick it in his mouth, and then take it out and put it back in hers. We try to discourage this for sanitary reasons, but sometimes can't stop him in time. The other big Isaac news is that he was waving bye-bye to Momma tonight when she went out.