Another Trip to Edmonton and Arden’s First NHL Game

Last week we ventured into the city once more, and as usual, we had multiple reasons for being there. However, unlike most of our trips to Edmonton, this one was mostly spent enjoying time with friends and having a new experience just for fun!

On Friday Arden had two appointments scheduled. The first was in the clinical sciences part of the hospital in the Stollery pediatric surgical clinic. We had received a letter in the mail letting us know about this appointment about a month ago. Not having booked it myself, I called the clinic to ask what the appointment was for. I was told that we would be seeing the orthopedic surgeon that deals with Arden’s feet/ankles/knees/etc. I was glad that we would be seeing him, because we still haven’t gotten results back for the knee MRI that Arden had in November 2021. We also wanted to discuss how Arden’s feet/ankles are looking since he’s been wearing his boots and bar brace every night, and we wanted to talk about next steps and the interventions that might be taken to help Arden’s knees become more functional. 

When we arrived in the clinic, however, Arden only saw the clubfoot clinic occupational therapist and therapy assistant, and all they did was measure the range of motion on his ankles with a goniometer (a plastic tool used by most phyios that Brodi has at home and can easily use at any time). The whole process took less than five minutes. When we asked if we’d be seeing the orthopedic surgeon for a consult, the therapists were confused. It turns out that the person at the booking desk must have been confused, because there had never been a consult booked with the ortho. He had already left for the day. We were frustrated, and once again glad that this wasn’t the only reason we had travelled all the way to the city. 

After that we headed down to diagnostic imaging for Arden’s scoliosis x-rays. The receptionist there was also surprised to see us, as she had not been sent the requisition from Arden’s other orthopedic surgeon’s office. She was very kind though, and called the surgeon’s office to have the secretary there send over the requisition that should have been sent weeks ago. We only had to wait about ten minutes and then they were ready to do Arden’s x-rays. Arden didn’t nap on our drive down to Edmonton that morning, and at that point he was extra tired. Luckily the x-rays didn’t take long, because he was very irritated getting undressed and positioned for the images. We will receive the results and interpretation of those x-rays from the orthopedic surgeon via a phone call later in March. 

The rest of our weekend was planned just for fun! We stayed in a hotel with Arden’s ICU bestie, Asher and his parents, and our night caregiver took on the job of looking after both of the A boys for Friday and Saturday night. We were so delighted to be having a little getaway just for fun! 

Arden and Asher hadn’t spent time together in person since last summer, so we were interested to see how they would respond to one another. Arden is typically afraid of other babies and toddlers, but he has had some practice recently with other friends of ours and their little ones. The boys played well together, and many times Arden actually pointed at the floor next to him, indicating that he wanted Asher to come play with him. It was really only when Asher came on strong with hugs and cuddles that Arden complained! (haha).

On Saturday evening we attended Arden and Asher’s first ever NHL hockey game, where they got to see their beloved Oilers face off against the Montreal Canadiens. Typically Roger’s Place doesn’t allow large strollers into the arena, so last week I had to call ahead and go through a process to get a permission letter for the boys to be able to come in with all their equipment. Luckily when we arrived, the employees doing admissions were not worried and they didn’t even ask for our letter of permission. After seeing the mass amounts of medical supplies that Steph and I had packed into the boys’ diaper bags, they also chose to forego a more in depth bag search! 

Arden was so excited as soon as we walked into the arena. The lights and music and atmosphere were so exciting for him, and he immediately began pointing at everything he saw. We got to sit in the loge seating area in our friends’ season spot, and it was perfect! We had room for the strollers and the boys could sit up at the table with us for prime viewing. Arden did not enjoy wearing his ear protection headset, so we alternated between that and some fuzzy earmuffs that helped muffle the loud noise in the arena. Arden spent the whole game clapping, dancing, smiling and pointing. He was excited as soon as he saw the Oilers’ players come out onto the ice, and each time the music stopped with the play, he would sign “more.” 

It turns out we weren’t the only ones at the game from our area, and we saw or talked to many people that we knew. Even though you’re not typically allowed to enter the loge area without a ticket, my aunt and uncle were let in to see Arden at his first game. Above us we could see Brodi’s brother in law and our nephew, and from across the arena, we could see another aunt and uncle duo of mine. 

The lady who had gotten us our stroller permission letter came by the check on us, and later in the game she also sent Hunter the mascot to see Arden and Asher. He brought Arden an Oilers flag, which Arden treasured immediately! In fact, he made us spread it out in front of him on our table so that he could admire it and point to the oil drop. 

On Sunday we were able to get ready and check out in the morning so that we made it home in time to decompress and relax before Monday rolled around. All in all it was a wonderful weekend and we’re so grateful to have had the opportunity to share in our joy with great friends! 

XO, Rayel