Stewart and I traveled to West Chester, OH to Carrie’s appointment with Dr. K, a neurologist.

In the waiting room, Carmen told us that Carrie had transitioned to a new daycare that week and was not adjusting well. She recommended that Carrie not come to KY for her weekend visit that Friday. This upset Stewart, who accused Carmen of trying to block visits. He insisted on sticking to the schedule. Carmen stated that everyone had agreed to be flexible, and that this was a time to be flexible. Stewart got mad and walked out for a cigarette. Meanwhile, Carmen made a statement that if we didn’t want to cooperate, she would just tell her lawyer to nullify the agreement. I told her to shut up and be more mature than that. I insisted that there was no reason to involve lawyers or courts any further. She screwed up her face in anger.

During the visit she inquired about Carmen’s reports of “stiffening spells”. Her ultimate “guess” diagnosis was that perhaps Carrie has reflux disease. She ordered a test to determine and prescribed a low dose of Zantac for the meantime. Dr. K also suggested that Carrie be in an upright position for at least 30 minutes after eating and sleep on a slight incline to reduce reflux. I’m afraid Carmen will use this as an excuse to strap Carrie into a chair more frequently than necessary.

I asked Dr. K about Cerebral Palsy. She said that she does believe that Carrie has Cerebral Palsy “by definition.” I asked what she meant by that. She explained that she based her belief on symptoms such as high tone in the back and low tone in the legs coupled with her developmental delay.

Stewart and I joined Carmen for lunch at a Chinese buffet and then went to her house to spend an hour or so with Carrie. I always love spending time with Carrie, but don’t really like the side effects.

At the restaurant Carmen told us how much she liked Dr. K because she was the one who treated her twin sister. What? I didn’t know she had a twin sister. Carmen told us that her sister died from Rett’s Syndrome when she was almost 21. None of us have ever heard about her twin sister before. She always led us to believe that, besides foster siblings, she is an only child.