We have a surgery date!

[Cheryl M]

Connie,
Do a search under 504 plans on this forum and this will give you information to help request services at school. Also, call the school and set up a 504 meeting. I think I used the suggestions by "proudparents." You also need to think of fire drills and other siutations and the plan they used for their daughter just about covers everything.

Glad to hear the appt. went well. Briann went to a friend's birthday party last night for about 3 hours. She is still on the Lortab and I wish we could switch her over. I'll call the dr. today. She can tell when it's time for the medicine as she gets uncomfortable but says she's not really in pain.

Merry Christmas!
Cheryl

[dancermom]

Thanks for writing and guiding me to search for the 504 plans on this forum. I don't know why it didn't dawn on me that we would need something like that too. I really think the school is willing to work with us on what Elizabeth's needs will be when she goes back to school in January. The homebound teacher is telling us that it would be better for her to wait until Jan. 17th when 3rd quarter starts up instead of trying to go back for finals and end of the quarter testing. The homebound teacher can give grades and it will be less stressful than trying to jump back in full force right at the beginning.

Ann and Cheryl, what are you thinking as far as when your girls go back to school? Are you thinking starting back with half days or just seeing what they can handle?

I need to stay on top of some of these things with the school but for now everyone is out for Christmas break. They start back up January 5th.

Glad to hear that Briann got to go to the party last night with her friends. I know you are anxious to get her off the Lortabs. Can she take ibuprofen and does that help? Let me know what the doctor says about switching her off of the medicine. Elizabeth's doctor put her on something called Ultracet which is suppose to be like the narcotic meds without the narcotic ingredient - or something like that.

Take care and I hope everyone is enjoying this holiday season.

Love,
Connie

[dancermom]

Hi everyone. Elizabeth has been progressing so well and we have been having pretty good days - until this morning. She had knelt down by bending at her knees and reached forward to grab something and something popped in her lower back. She was in a lot of pain right after that and has been on the couch all day. We have been alternating between ice and heat and she is still taking ibuprofen. We called the doctor's office and the doctor is out until Tuesday. We talked to the PA and she told us that since there was no pain radiating down her leg it sounded like a pulled muscle or possibly something with a disc. She is the one who told me to alternate the hot and cold and just have her rest.

As long as she is sitting against her pillow on the couch she seems to be ok, but she cries every time she has get up and walk anywhere. We have an appt. for Tues. afternoon, but that seems like a long time off. The nurse or PA told us we could call again tomorrow if Elizabeth seemed worse or we had any other questions. We still have 2 Valiums left and I think we will give her one tonight to help her relax to go to sleep tonight.

I don't know if anyone has heard of this happening after surgery or what. The PA said that your lower back has a lot of pressure on it with the fusion of the upper vertebra and that there can be problems. Hopefully Elizabeth will feel better tomorrow but today has been kind of scary.

I just needed to vent and see if anyone had any thoughts. I hope that Briann and Lizzie are doing well and enjoying being with their friends during this school break time. Elizabeth was able to go to a movie with 2 of her friends yesterday and felt great - now today was a total turn around.

Thanks for listening.
Connie

[Laura P]

Connie,
Keep us posted. Our prayers will be with you that your get a good report and you get her pain under control. We can sympathize. Prayers are going up now.
Laura P.
Jamie's mom - Fused T-2 to L1 12/16/05

[Cheryl M]

Connie, So sorry to hear this. I wouldn't hesitate for her to see another Dr. today if she's not better.

I have been so anxious this week. Just worrying about complications and what if's. I've been worse this week than I was before her surgery. I guess this is normal.

Briann continues to improve. Some days are better than others. A shower still makes her very tired and she lays down an hour or so after she gets out. I'm not sure how she'll do at school next week. As of now, I plan on taking her for 2 classes per day and bringing her home to rest after that.

Praying for Elizabeth and hope that today she is all better.

Cheryl

[AnnLF]

Hi All...so sorry to hear about the setback, Connie. I think we'd all agree that's our worst nightmare...that something happens or "pops" during movement or activity. Which is probably why we tend to treat our daughters like pieces of porcelain china. I know I do and I'm going to have to eventually stop. Hope today is better for Elizabeth. If it's a muscle thing, can you go back to using the Valium to ease the pain? That seemed to do the trick here.

Lizzie is forging ahead. It seemed like Christmas Eve was the turn-around. So, maybe part of it was emotional -- that she was bound and determined to enjoy Christmas. The 23rd was a bad day since that was when the bowels kicked into gear. But it was extremely painful -- I said on the side of the tub holding her hand and felt like I was a labor coach! She expressed more pain and agony that day, trying to poop, than she has done throughout this entire ordeal. But since then, we're seeing improvement every day. She's walking great, but the one thing that is still hard for her is the act of getting up and lowering herself. Still needs help with that.

As far as school is concerned, I don't know what to think. The 8-week mark would put her going back in a couple of weeks, but I just don't see it. Unless she starts making rapid improvements and surprises us all. She attends a large (2,500 students) high school and her classes are spread throughout a big building, and as it stands now, I don't think she could handle it. We also see the doctor on Tuesday, so maybe we'll find out more then.

Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays. There are so many of us now that are on the "other side" that it helps ringing in a New Year without the worry of surgery looming before us all. Best wishes to all of you folks who have made this journey bearable! Ann

[dancermom]

Hi everyone. Thanks for listening and the support. Elizabeth is doing a little bit better today, but she is still hurting when trying to move. The valium worked wonders at bedtime last night and we only have one left. I just took Ann's suggestion and called the doctor's office to ask about getting a few more - either that or a muscle relaxant. I am waiting on a call back.

Ann, glad to hear that Lizzie finally was able to get her bowels working and things getting more regular. I know that had to be very very painful as it was for Elizabeth too and she didn't have to wait as long as Lizzie. I understand about the school thing and figuring out when to go back. This setback has made me realize how easily something can happen.

Cheryl, I do understand the fear of something happening with our girls, but I also know that we can't live in fear and that God hasn't given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind. I need to remember that in times like this when everything inside of me gets so anxious and feels so helpless. It is hard when we love our children so much.

Laura, thanks for your prayers. I hope Jamie continues to improve with each day. Hopefully you can tell a difference with each day. It is a miracle in how quickly their bodies heal each day.

Love,
Connie

[Cheryl M]

Hi Everyone,

Just wondering what everyone is doing about school. Is anyone going back this week. Briann is still trying to decide but we're thinking we'll give it another week.

Cheryl

[dancermom]

Hi Cheryl. Elizabeth isn't going back to school until January 16th. That is the beginning of the third quarter. Our school starts back on Thursday of this week, but if she goes back then she is responsible for 9 weeks tests and the work they do. If she waits to go back until the 16th, then her homebound teacher can give her the grades and will be averaged with her school teachers. It makes more sense to wait for us.

I also need to get the doctor's office to write a letter explaining when Elizabeth is allowed to come back to school, her usage of the elevator, extra textbooks for class, leaving classes 5 minutes early to avoid the crowded hallways, and the ability to go to the nurse and move around as needed.

Good luck with your decision for Briann. I know Elizabeth is ready to see her friends again and get back into the school routine, but she also doesn't want the stress of trying to catch up with the work for 9 week tests.

Take care and I pray that 2006 will be a really good year for your family.

Love,
Connie

[Cheryl M]

Connie,
How is Elizabeth's back. Did you ever see a dr? Seems like you said you'd see your dr. tomorrow. I hope she is all better and I'm sure you'll feel more comfortable once you've seen her doctor. They could possibly do an x-ray just to ease your mind.

Praying that all is better.

Cheryl

[dancermom]

Hi Cheryl. We ended up not going to the appt. this afternoon as it was only if she was still hurting or having any problems. Everything seems to be fine and Elizabeth is back to where she was before hurting her back - thankfully! We will go pick up the doctor's letter for her to go back to school on the 16th. There were several things they were going to include in the note and then I need to conference with her teachers one day next week to talk to them about Elizabeth coming back.

I think this was a big wake up call for our whole family to let us know that even though Elizabeth is looking more normal and acting more like herself, she is still healing and has to be very careful in how she moves.

I hope Briann does well when she goes back to school. When will she go back?

Ann, how is Lizzie doing? How did her doctor's appt. go? Just wondering what was decided about her going back to school. The size of her high school would make a bit of a difference.

Take care everyone.

Love, Connie

[Laura P]

Hey Connie,
I am glad Elizabeth is better. It is good to read this as just to look at Jamie she looks good but I know she has a long way to go. She has begged us to go to Church tomorrow night and I finally said "no tonight and she is not real happy with me". She rode with me somewhere tonight and I think it was harder than she thought it would be. Her buds are going to come by here after church. Glad to hear about everyones school plans this gives me some idea of when to shoot to go back for Jamie. I am going to talk with her counselor tomorrow and I can maybe guess towards the end of Jan. Hope everyone continues to improve daily.
Laura P.

[AnnLF]

Hello to all my "Scoli-Pals,"

Just to let you know...that's how I refer to all of you when I'm chatting with folks about all my new friends!

Glad to hear everyone is slowly, but surely, on the mend. Lizzie went to the doctor yesterday and it ended up being good and bad. The good news is that surgically and medically, she is on the right track -- the x-rays look great. The bad news is that her strength isn't where it should be, which is kind of what I thought. She got so wiped out from the car ride, the x-rays, etc., that by the time we made it to the doctor's office, she was weak, pale and light-headed. The nurse had to come out into the waiting room with her stethescope and blood pressure gizmo and it turns out her pressure was very low. She told me to run and get her a Coke and they immediately moved someone out of an examining room to get Lizzie lying down. All in all, not a great way to start out the appointment! Within minutes, she was fine, the pressure went back to normal, but it sure was indicative of how weakened she is. So....as far is school is concerned, we're still a way off. A good three to four weeks.

I had a lengthy discussion with her doctor how hard and when to push. I think that's been the hardest thing during this recovery -- I wish they had sent us home with some sort of guide that would give you an idea of what to expect and when. In the last week or so, I've been more of Nurse Ratchitt, forcing her to do things more independently. For example, Lizzie is walking around fine, but she still has great difficulty getting up from the roll-over position in bed. Turns out that at 5 weeks, she should be doing that. But who knew?

Another thing I've discovered and wondered if you guys have encountered this. Lizzie has to learn to get comfortable in her own skin. She seems so very cautious, which has come as a surprise to all of us -- including her doctor -- since she was so amazingly strong and stoic following her surgery. At one point, he was calling her his little "stud-ette" because she was recovering with such ease. But, to be honest, after such rapid improvement, we've somewhat hit a stalemate. So, I don't know -- maybe it's a psychological hurdle to overcome now.

She's also lost nearly 20 pounds and as an athlete, the doctor said much of that is probably muscle mass, which could contribute to her weakened status. So much for being in great shape leading up to surgery!!

But I can't complain. Liz's surgery was long -- 11 hours -- and I guess it's just going to take more time than we had anticipated to re-build her strength. And plus, a little girl who had surgery two days following Lizzie, is back in the hospital with the chest tube in because she had so much fluid built up around her lungs, so it made me realize just how lucky we've been.

So, no school on the horizon here. The good news is she is reading book after book, and the home-schooling should start sometime this week.
Connie and Cheryl -- have you made any decisions on school?
Laura -- such good news that Jaime is wanting to get out and about. That itself is a good sign!
I haven't seen that Renee has checked in lately with news of Joseph's recovery --hope he's doing well.

I'm going to try to get Lizzie to go see a movie today. More strength-building...Take care everyone. I think of you all so often! Ann

[nikyergen]

Ann, I am sorry to hear your daughter has been having problems. I think part of it is she is being overly cautious. Which, to a point, is okay. You may need to encourage her more to do things. Don't deliver breakfast/lunch/dinner to her. Have her come sit at the dinner table to eat. You may already be doing this, but as mom's we kind of cater to them a lot. Encourage her to get up and jut mosey around the house, instead of sit. Keep energy foods close by her. It won't hurt her to snack, since she is still losing weight. Since she is an athlete, maybe gatoraide or poweraide may be better for her. My girls are all atheles and prefer those beverages over soda. It will also help replace electrolites she has lost from so much weight loss. The other side of it is with her being an athlete, she may be depressed because she can't do what is normal for her. We went through that with Crystal, so we worked hard at finding activities she could do and feel good about. She wanted to be moving. So, we did dumb things that we never ever do, like take the dog for a walk, feed and water the cat. They might be small things, but things she could do to help regain her strength. Keep us posted on how things are going. Nikki

[dancermom]

Hi everyone. This website is such a God-send. To know that others are going through similar things or have been in the past and we can be so supportive of each other is such a wonderful thing.

Laura, it is good that Jamie wants to start doing things again. I understand why you would say no at this point for going to church tonight. But in another couple of weeks it will probably be very good for her to get out with her friends and start to get back into normal activities as much as possible. Our doctor encouraged Elizabeth to do things with friends and get out again. Tonight was the first Wednesday nite that Elizabeth went back for youth group. She and I went to Sun. school last Sunday for the first time since her surgery.

Ann, I'm sorry to hear that Lizzie is having these problems. I know you are very concerned about her and her gaining her strength back. My daughter only lost a few pounds as she barely weighs a little over 100. She looks thinner and I worry about her appetite, but 20lbs. seems like quite a bit. I think you are doing good to try to get her to go out and do things like seeing a movie and starting to do things for herself more.

Elizabeth has been able to get herself up from the rollover position in bed for quite a while now as we worked on that as she started to feel better. It helps her to feel more independent and she is better able to turn in bed at night and get comfortable. As Lizzie works on doing this herself, it will help increase her strength and independence.

Elizabeth will start back to school on Jan. 17th which is the beginning of the 3rd quarter. Her homebound teacher can give her grades for this time period at home and they will be averaged with the grades from her classes before surgery. I think she will only do half days to start with and then build to all day. I have to meet with the counselor at the beginning of next week and talk with her teachers.

Cheryl, I hope Briann is doing well. When will you send her back to school? It is scary thinking about the what ifs, but it will be good for the girls to get back into their normal school routines.

Take care everyone.

Love, Connie