New Doctor in Town

I took Lauren to see Dr. Nowicki, the new pediatric orthopedic doctor in town. The doctor who gave us Lauren's diagnosis shortly after she was born has since left the area and so there has been no local specialist until now. We made the appointment with Dr. Nowicki to meet him and find out if and how he would fit into our plan for Lauren, and to see if he would help us get Lauren qualified for the Michigan Children's Special Health Care (a supplemental state insurance coverage). He asked what Dr. Standard's plan was for Lauren and we had a good talk about super ankles, lengthenings, and eight plates. He said he wasn't familiar with the super ankle procedure, no surprise there since most of the country is not! He did seem very interested in what it was and even said he would like to learn the procedure. He knows of Dr. Paley and trained with a doctor at the University of Michigan who trained with Dr. Herzenberg (Dr. Standard's partner). He asked if we would consider an appointment to see that doctor at U of M before he documented that Lauren requires out of state care for her ankle. I agreed to that, as I figure it's also beneficial to know the specialist's in the area and what each could offer Lauren. Dr. Nowicki said that he himself does lengthenings and eight plates and could do those for Lauren in the future. Wow! That would make such a difference for us, being able to be at home for Lauren's lengthening. We will definitely keep an open mind about that, but will need to find out more about his experience with FH and limb lengthening. I asked his opinion on Dr. Standard's recommendation as to when to do the first lengthening and his reply (in part) was "I would definitely go on their recommendations...that's how this works." We may have just met one of our key players on Team Lauren!