Doctors

First we checked with our favorite doctor, Dr. Uncle Mike. He counselled us to get Ben to an eye doctor as soon as possible. We are grateful to our favorite Dr. for getting us on the right path quickly. As I said before, since there is only one pediatric opthalmalogist in Alaska we had to wait a few days to get in.

We decided to have Dad pedal home from work early and Mom take Ben to the eye doctor. Upon cursory glance and with the family history of crossed eyes the eye doc was not overly concerned. She wanted to confirm so they dialated Bens eyes to take a look at the nerve. This is where my vast medical knowledge and explanation might get a little hard to follow . . . I guess the nerve is supposed to look like a doughnut -- hollow. Ben's was solid.

They sent Ben to the Hospital immediately for an MRI. Mom called Dad and we began figuring out how to get to the hospital when the only car is already there and the bicycle is way too slow. The Pettijohns were lifesavers. Joy took Elizabeth, Megan, Samantha, and Nathan to babysit. Mark ran me up to the hospital. I got there and went to three different offices and finally was able to find Cari and Ben in the Pediatric ICU getting ready to be sedated and get his MRI.

After being sedated Ben got to go into the MRI. Cari went in too and Dad went to the waiting room. No metal can go in and dads wedding ring won't come off any more. After looking at the MRI the doctors were able to confirm a mass in Ben's head.