First post of the New Year.....

Well.....several of you have inquired about Cody and his last doctors visit. We took him in to have a simple physical so that he could play basketball for the middle school. Our regular pediatrition who has looked after all 3 boys for the last 17 years was out of the office so another doctor filled in. We thought ok it's just a quick physical. I wasn't there (probably a good thing) the first thing she wanted to do was give him a shot for STD's? Hmmm.....no we don't need that, we need a physical? She listens to his heart and hears a murmur. Then because he is tall and lanky she measures his wingspan and then checks his spine and says that she suspects Marfan Syndrome and we need to travel to Portland for testing and that she will not pass him to play basketball!

Ok so the first thing we do is begin researching Marfan. First off only 30% of all cases DO NOT have family history of Marfan. A wingspan wider than your height is a symptom of Marfan's, Cody's wingspan is 2" longer than his height. Mine is 2" longer and Jon's is 3-1/2"! He has slight scoliosis (another symptom). Jon has scoliosis.

So.....out of about 20 symptoms of Marfan's he only has 3 and 2 of them run in the family! So we set up an appointment to see our regular doctor. The doctor checked Cody over carefully and yes he could hear the murmur (which is quite common in young people). He concluded that Cody does not need to be tested for Marfan's and that if it was his son, he would let him play basketball. We may still see a cardiologist just to be sure. I'm going to stay off of my soap box about our health care system but if we had just listened to the doctor without researching on our own and taking some initiative we would have been spending time and money on needless testing. Keep Cody in your thoughts and prayers, he is one speacial guy!

Glynn Jr.