All about Tyler Jr.

Outside Shriner's Hospital

Well, we made it to and from Salt Lake safely Tuesday and Wednesday. After we got checked into the Howard Johnson (which I must say was a big 'ghetto') we wanted to find Shriner's so that in the morning we would not be late. It is up on the hill overlooking the Salt Lake valley. It was so beautiful up there! And there are so many cool homes. Not new and prestine like the hillside in Bountifull, but older & well maintained. I couldn't imagine the cost of some of these...I'll bet that the dumpy ones up there are between $200-250K.

Anyway, on Wednesday morning we got there and were a bit nervous. It didn't help that we ended up waiting for over an hour. but we eventually got in to see a doctor. We have been given Dr Roach. A very nice doctor with a very broken nose. A different doctor looked at TJ first, and could tell immediatly that his foot was not clubbed. He checked his spine, his hips, and asked if we had any history of limb abnormalities in our families. Well everything else seemed fine, no signs of anything other than a short leg and a different little foot. Got a few X-rays of his legs and foot, TJ didn't like the x-rays too much. It was kind of a reminder of when we took Toph in to have his head x-rayed to make sure his scull did not fuse too soon.

Anyway, after reviewing he x-rays, they talked with us about options. This was very difficult for both of us. Sorry, but at right now we are not telling everyone what the recomendations are. We are still trying to research, pray and decide what will be the best for our little Tyler. We want to do what will give him the best life possible.

I have always had this idea that when you are sick, or something is wrong, you go to the doctor, get it fixed, heal and go back to normal. Well, I think that I am going to have to modify this thinking. This is not something that will just go away after a doctor visit or two. This is something that we will learn to be normal for us. This will be one of our hardest decisions to make as parents, I feel.

We go back in about 4 months (I would assume for more x-rays) so they can see how TJ's leg & foot grow, and we will go from there. At this point, we go on. We are getting ready for the Hopkins family reunion in July, and we are very excited for that. Can't wait for you all to meet our newest little family member.

Fun little number things about TJ: Toph's birthday 11/2/02, Creedance's birthday 2/14/04, TJ's birthday 5/22/06, TJ is mom & dad's 22nd grandchild, and he shares his birthday with their 1st grandchild, Jessie. Kinda fun little bits 'eh?