Medical Clearance

After passing the OA our next obstacle was to get medical clearances for each member of the family. Surprisingly, Duong, Nani, and I got our clearances early in December. The only downside for me was in having a man stick his finger in one of my body's points of egress. Kea was a different story, however, and we are still waiting for his clearance. When his pediatrician was examining his body she noticed he had a hydrocele (testicle full of fluid) and recommended he see a urologist. The good news was that he was able to go in for surgery within one week of seeing the urologist. The bad news was that he had to go in for surgery, period.

We were instructed to not feed him or allow him to drink after midnight the night before his surgery. Duong was clever and decided to keep him up the night before and feed him pancakes at about 10:00. We then let him sleep in until he woke up, which ended up being 8:30. We then let him watch Little Einsteins until 9:00, and then let him take a long warm bath until 9:30. At this point we took him to the hospital anticipating arriving at about 10:00 and going in for surgery at 11:00. Unfortunately, Kea's doctor didn't show up until close to 12:00, so Duong and I spent close to two hours trying to keep Kea's mind off of food and water. He was a trooper, and did just fine. It has been nearly two weeks since his surgery, and he seems to have healed completely. Duong and I felt so powerless turning him over to the doctors, and yet, we also felt so blessed to have insurance and competent doctors to treat him. I understand the monetary concern about socializing healthcare, but I think it is absolutely preposterous that some families have to make the decision to either file bankruptcy or get their kids the necessary treatments they need to live a normal life. America is supposed to be the leader of civilization and enlightenment, but I think we are missing the mark on this one.