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WELCOME, GUEST |
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(1 member)
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niylnnrae @a…6 |
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LUCKY LUKE
Page's7 |
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| Category: Home | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | | | | | | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
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JUXTAPOSITION
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Oct 18, 2010 03:40am (EST)
Yesterday was Bethany's first HIGH SCHOOL homecoming dance. Let me just warn ya'll... It like prom now. WTH? Seriously... It's kinda ridiculous. BUT, we did it anyway. We found the dress, the shoes, the whole nine yards.
She didn't have a "date" per se. She went with a large group of friends, some had dates, some didn't. Not that she's really allowed to date, anyway. I mean... She's not even 15 yet. 
Before the dance, the whole group went to a park for pictures. It was a chilly, but beautiful evening. The sun was beginning to set and the fall colors are still enough there to be pretty. The girls all looked beautiful, the boys handsome.. But all of them so grown up. Much too grown up.
Nora came along with Ben and I for the pictures. She heard "park" and beat us to the car! 
As we stood there, wrapping up the pictures, Nora had decided she'd had enough looking at all the pretty dresses, and she wanted to play on the playground. All the big kids had come to the playground area for some silly pics.
I stood there, with my beautiful, 6 foot tall (with the shoes), much too grown up teenager to my right, and my sweet little bit of a thing to my left. Just running and giggling and playing... Reminding me very much of another little girl, not so very long ago..
As I looked from left to right and back to left, I was accutely aware of how short a time had passed since I helped Bethany up those same ladders, and how short a time it would be before I would help zip Nora's dress and tuck that last wisp behind her ear as she walks away in her fancy dress and high heels...
*sigh*
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Posted by Page's7 | Comments: (7) | Permalink
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THE FACT IS...
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Oct 12, 2010 01:48pm (EST)
I posted yesterday about Nora, but deleted it. I'm struggling to explain why this new discovery has hit me so hard. I realize it may just sound like unfounded whining to some, but... Well, I really can't explain...
I copied and pasted from my other blog. Though it's still not quite right, I think it does a better job.
Nora's doctor called back today about her MRI. She does not have a tethered cord. However, she does have some spinal fluid in the middle of her spinal cord which isn't normal. Neurology was consulted, and it appears there's nothing they do about that unless it causes neurological symptoms. They would like us to watch her closely and come back in a year if we haven't had any issues by then.
The fact is, I know that this isn't the worst news on the planet and it's good that she only has to come back in a year.
But here's the thing. Even though I know this- Even though I know that in the grand scheme of things this bit of news, right now today, seems very small and not serious... It still makes my heart ache. Now I have to wonder. Now I have to try and discern regular kid things from not-so-regular kid things. I have to wonder every time she falls down, or goes too many days without pooping or pees her pants. Now I have to be afraid to sign her up for gymnastics. I have to wonder if this nothing is going to turn into something. Now I have to see her dancing around and not just love that she's dancing around, but in the back of my mind will be wondering if she'll always be able to dance.
Knowledge is power. Well you could have fooled me...
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Posted by Page's7 | Comments: (5) | Permalink
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MUNCHKIN
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Oct 10, 2010 02:29pm (EST)
I didn't realize that I hadn't posted about Luke and the play here. I think I put it on my other blog. Sorry about that.
Luke does indeed get to be a munchkin in the play. On the first couple rehearsals, they tried out for individual parts, but he will just be a munchkin in the crowd. Well, actually, it looks like she's putting him in a second story window. I'm thinking maybe she did it that way so he won't really have to worry about learning so many dance steps, and he won't get knocked down.
He's still pretty excited to be a part of it. And I'm still pretty excited for him, too. 
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Posted by Page's7 | Comments: (3) | Permalink
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LONG READ- SORRY.
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Oct 08, 2010 10:44pm (EST)
Nora had her MRI today. It went a bit differently than I expected. We got there and they had us taken to the PACU. I asked why and they told me it was because of the difficulties they had last time she was intubated. WHAAA??? When the anesthesiologist came in, he asked me if I knew why we were up there. I told him they said something about the intubation last time. He, said, yes. It’s documented that she has a difficult airway to navigate, so they asked us to do it up here. I told him I wasn’t aware that they had difficulties last time. He said often, they put it on the chart, but don’t always feel a need to tell the parents. Oh… So, he went on to tell me that she has an unusually small jaw and wondered if that was what contributed to it. I really like this guy. He was asking me all the usual questions. Asked about recent illness. I told him that she’d been running a temp since yesterday with no other symptoms of illness and that I had treated it with motrin. He wasn’t too concerned as long as she didn’t have a cough. As he checked her out, he asked if she had any blood tests ordered. No she didn’t. He asked if I would agree that she looked pale. Yes. I did. She was pale and had dark circles around her eyes. He told me he would feel better if we got a CBC on her while she was asleep. So they did, as far as I know. I wasn’t able to talk with anyone after her scan because I was with Luke at his appointment a few blocks away. My mom was there with Nora, but they didn’t tell her anything helpful.
Man. It was a day. I was worried sick over the thought of Nora being a “difficult airway” and all the usual anesthesia worry. I was feeling guilty for not being there when she woke up, but would have felt very guilty if Luke had missed his appointment. It was one of those days where I needed more than one me. In any case, Nora seems to be doing okay now. She’s still pretty loopy and still is running a close to 103 temp, and looks like h-e-double-hockey-sticks. But her Super Princess attitude is still holding strong.
Luke’s appointment was good. His xrays looked “perfect” and his wounds were healing well. He’s out of a cast, but unable to get a new AFO until next week. For now, he’s not really supposed to walk around on his leg without the extra support. He couldn’t if he tried. He tried. So for now he’ll have to deal with having it wrapped with an extra large ACE bandage for support. It seems to be doing okay. His leg looks so different now. His toes point forward! (mostly) His heel is flat on the floor… just strange. Good, but strange. I wonder how he’ll ever be able to use it after what it was like before, but he will. He always does.
My own health has been faltering lately. There are more issues than I care to mention right now. I know if I don’t start taking better care of myself it’ll kill me. I feel like I’m rapidly running out of time, and it scares me… and yet… here I am, not doing everything in my power to help myself. Ugh. Enough about that.
I wanted to say thanks to everyone who replied to my last post. I appreciate that you all take the time to let me know you care. And Stacy and Carrie, thank you for sharing. Your posts definitely put me at ease about the next steps, whatever they be.
xoxoxoxoxo
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Posted by Page's7 | Comments: (3) | Permalink
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MOUNTAINS AND MOLE HILLS
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Sep 30, 2010 07:57pm (EST)
Back from Nora's appointment. I'm not sure what I feel right now. I explained my concerns and our family history to this very nice doctor. She listened and then she examined. She asked about bowel habits (constipation). Of course that's always been an issue. She watched Nora walk and watched and watched and watched. She stretched her legs every which way and looked at her spine.
She ordered an x-ray of the whole spine. When the results were back, the "team" came in. The head doc did the same exams, looked at her toes, looked at the xrays, asked the same questions, and watched her walk.
She explained to me that Nora had "Curly Toes". And that it can be fixed if it becomes very problematic with a quick outpatient surgery.
Then... she told me that the xrays looked okay to her. But, Nora did spend an unusual lot of time on her toes and that they were mostly confident that she doesn't have increased tone, but it was hard to tell because Nora wasn't exactly being cooperative at that time. Given all the sypmtoms and history, it would be feasable that her spinal cord could be mildly tethered. However, it's equally feasable that it's all coincidental and she may just be a habitual toe walker. Of course if that's the case, they think it's important to break that habit ASAP and even mentioned serial casting as an option. 
But in the end, of course, that would be the better diagnosis. She ordered a full spine MRI for next Friday.
And I, of course, won't be thinking about any of this until then.  
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Posted by Page's7 | Comments: (5) | Permalink
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NOT THINKING
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Sep 29, 2010 02:36pm (EST)
There are a whole lot of things I could be blogging about today. So many things going on around this crazy world lately. So many loved ones hurting… I also have a lot on my mind that I’ve just been pretending not to be concerned about. I’d been doing a pretty good job of it, I thought.
I’m choosing today one of those subjects. Tomorrow, Nora has an appointment in orthopedics. You might remember several months ago, I was concerned about her toes. A couple of them were turning under the others and causing some minor issues. Well, she’s grown a bit since then and her toes aren’t looking quite so dramatic. But I kept the appointment anyway. See, she’s been complaining of her back hurting on and off for the last 2 or 3 months. Also, she’s turning 3 in December and she still falls a lot. A lot.
She seems pretty well coordinated with everything else. She spends a good deal of time on her tiptoes. I’m not sure if that’s anything or not. She, like her big brother, has a pretty advanced vocabulary and the potty training is almost complete. (yay!) She’s friendly and social and sleeps well, and eats nothing and runs like the wind. (and falls like a brick) Pretty typical for a 33 month old.
All that normal development should say I have nothing to worry about. But complaining about back pain? And she does fall down *a lot* for as old as she is. Of course, I might be able to contribute that to my graceful genes, who knows?
Probably, we’ll go there, they’ll watch her and they’ll look at me like, “why are you wasting everyone’s time here? There’s nothing wrong with this child.” Of course that’s how I WANT it to happen. I’d much rather look like a crazy bat than actually have something they see concern them…
So. That’s one of the things on my mind that I’m not thinking about.
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Posted by Page's7 | Comments: (1) | Permalink
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AN ACTOR'S LIFE
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Sep 23, 2010 01:34pm (EST)
Last week, Luke brought a letter home from school from the high school theater teacher. It explained that the fall musical would be The Wizard of Oz and they would need some smaller people to play the parts of munchkins and monkeys. It said that Luke was selected as a good candidate for one of these parts and was invited to audition.
To say that I was a bit nervous about it was an understatement. To say that Luke was excited about it was also an understatement! And of course, I would not stop him from trying, no matter what my fears were.
Auditions were last night. I can’t tell you how many times I fought back tears, especially the first time he struggled to get up on stage. However, he did have a couple of little girls really looking after him and helping whenever they could. It was so sweet. He would just grin and thank them. Anyway, any and all fears I had of how he would be received and whether or not they would understand his speech completely dissolved early on. He got up there and did what they asked him to do, and did it well! He said the lines clearly and with expression, he sang beautifully and clearly. And- what I was most nervous about – the dancing… Well, he fell on his way onto stage, but quickly called out “I’m okay!” struggled to get up, and took his place in line. He tried with everything in him (because he really wasn’t okay- his knee was in pain) to learn and perform the dance steps, which would have been nearly impossible for him on a good day, without a cast. And even though he really didn’t even get close to doing what they were doing, he did it with so much heart, that it melted my own… and broke it a little.
When his section’s auditions were over, the theater teacher pulled me aside and asked, “So what do think? How do you feel about the movements, and… ?” She struggled to find the right words. I looked her straight in the eye, told her that the cast would come off in a couple of weeks and he would be wearing braces on both legs. And that he would try to do anything they asked him to do, all he wanted was to try.
She said, “Good. That’s good to know. He has a remarkable attitude, and he’s so stinkin’ cute! “
So, we find out tomorrow whether or not he gets a part, but… I’m pretty optimistic!
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Posted by Page's7 | Comments: (4) | Permalink
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TIC TALK
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Sep 15, 2010 10:37pm (EST)
I cut Luke down to 1 pill per day. He still had this "tic" issue.
I put Luke back on Concerta. He still has this "tic" issue.
Luke went without meds. He still had this "tic" issue.
I don't know what else to say right now.
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Posted by Page's7 | Comments: (4) | Permalink
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