Could this be from iron pills?

[Laura P]

Ann,

My daughters name is Jamie. She will not be in a pediatric hospital but everyone said they do many teens at this hospital. They said they take really good care of them and when we were there for pre-op everyone was so, so nice. I am a nurse talking about not doing anything that requires concentration and I told the girls at work to make sure I am doing ok. I loose my train of thought so easy. Work is fine but at home I am so scattered brain. This to shall pass. Thanks for the encouragement and I am looking forward to getting this behind us.

Laura P.

P.S. I can't wait to hear how David did today.

[AnnLF]

Jaime. Jaime from Alabama. She'll be in our prayers from here on out. We're not even to the 2-week date yet from my daughter's surgery, but I was wowed by all these folks in this forum who were praying for my Liz. And I promised that as soon as I could, I would start returning the favor for people who were in that pre-surgical state of mind. So, I will tell Liz that there is another girl her very age who is at that point she was just a few weeks ago. We'll keep you in our prayers. Ann

[Laura P]

Ann,

Thank you so much. How is Liz doing now? I know what you mean on wow from this forum. This has been a God send. Just knowing what to expect and what is normal and what might not be, and just developing friends over the internet that you have so much in common with. Thank you and I hope youall are doing good.
Laura
Daughter - Jamie from AL

[nikyergen]

Ladies, I wish I could be there to hold your hands. You are so close to being through this surgery. You will be on the other side soon. And once you are there, you will understand what we mean by being on the other side. It is a whole new deal. Your concerns will be on your child's comfort and recovery. Don't be afraid to cry after you leave you child before surgery, it was probably the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. And, crying when you see them after surgery is normal too. You are just so releaved to have them back in one piece. My husband was so wonderful. He did everything he could to comfort me. Little did I realize how upset he was, but was using all his strength to hold me up.

Once on the other side, you have a whole new set of worries. The fights with siblings, wanting to be back to normal and then they will drive you absolutely insane. We have had the fist fights with the sisters, chasing dad through the house and jumping over the door to the dishwasher, and laughing at mom while she was in tears because she was afraid that the surgery child would get hurt doing all these antics. Now, what do I do. Well, I turn the other cheek. Ha, I've fixed them. I just ignore it now. It took a long time to get there, but I got there. I can't wrap her in bubble wrap, she'll just drive me nuts popping the little bubbles to get out of the bubble wrap.

As your child heals, you will always keep a keen eye out, but you will figure out that they usually won't do anything harmful to themselves.

I want you to all know that my love and prayers are coming in groves to all of you.

Keep us posted on how things are going. Remember to be your childs advocate in the hospital. Don't be alarmed when they don't want to eat. And don't get scared when they don't have a bowel movement. Crystal's doctor finally told the nurses to leave her alone and that once she got home a bowel movement would happen in the privacy of her own home. He was so right. But, we also used OTC stool softeners before hand and after we got home to help with this issue.

All my love and prayers and a Merry Christmas to you all and your families.

'til later,
Nikki

[Cheryl M]

Laura and Renee,

My prayers to both families and your children. Being two weeks post-op I can assure you that the before is much much worse than the after. We had some pretty rough times in the hospital but once we got home the recovery is mind blowing. Youth!!! They heal so quickly. Yesterday at our post-op the PA was joking and telling everyone that I wasn't the least concerned about the surgery and I never called her with questions. I must have called her 50 times since August and she was so good to answer my questions.

When we said goodbye to Briann at 6:40 a.m. I couldn't believe I didn't cry. God does amazing things when we give it all to HIM. We went down to the cafeteria to get some coffee and there was her Dr. ordering breakfast. We all joked about who was operating on her. I told him that I trusted him to take care of my baby and to do a great job. He assured me he would. I made sure he got a healthy breakfast. Evidently the anesthesiologist and others have quite a bit of work to do before the surgery begins. Briann doesn't remember entering the OR and I don't think her surgery started until 8 o'clock.

Prayers and best wishes to both of you and I pray that both mom's will feel God and his amazing ability to give peace and comfort.

Cheryl

[flowerpower]

Good morning ladies, and many thanks for all the kind words of encouragement and advice. I agree how amazing it can feel to give it all over to God. I have been much calmer (and no tears!) this week, even as I explain to friends and family the procedure, recovery, etc. After my iron pill "fiasco" last week, I realized just how overtired and panicked I was, have been making sure to get adequate rest and nutrition. We have the final pre-op with our surgeon today, and later this afternoon Joseph, his dad and I will each donate a unit of blood for surgery. I am kind of anxious to see how much Joe's curves have progressed since last exam in July. I am praying doctor will not decide to include any more vertebrae to fusion. Will post later tonite about appt. and blood donation. You guys are all awesome, I appreciate each and every one of you for being here
Gotta get these kids ready for school - talk to y'all later!

REnee

[AnnLF]

Hi All,

Cheryl is so right--the before part, believe it or not, is the worst. Once Liz went into surgery, there was a sense of calm that overtook us. It was in God's hands then. Also, here's a little tip. We got a prescription for Xanax which helped immensely -- it took the edge off.

Liz was in surgery 11 hours -- she had anterior and posterior, plus the thoracoplasty. She's doing amazingly well. Walking around the house a couple of times a day and manuevering the stairs like a pro. She's somewhat tenative -- one of us is always there with a hand at her elbow. But I keep telling her she's doing all the work -- the hand is only there "just in case."

Just before they wheeled Liz away, I had a wallet-sized photo of her in her tennis uniform with her racquet-- smiling, healthy & happy. I handed it to her doctor who was so happy about it and he hung it up in the operating room. I don't know, for some reason that was very comforting to me...knowing that the whole surgical team could see that she just wasn't another "spine." You might want to do that.

During her surgery, we had friends and family popping in and out. At one point, we played Spades. It was all about diversions. We got about 4 phone calls from the operating room during her surgery, which also helped a lot. After the wake-ups tests, especially, since of course, it's the neurological aspect that's the most un-nerving.

Hang in there Renee and Laura. Please know that Joseph and Jaime are in our prayers here -- and you two Moms. You're getting closer to the day when you reach the "other side" and it's downhill from there. You're still climbing up and and that, my friends, is the hardest.

Love, Ann

[Laura P]

Thanks again for the encouragement. Almost there. Ann, We have done something that Jamie dosn't know about. We made buttons that have her picture on it and say "Jamie's Recoup Troup". We are going to give several out tomorrow night at church and we will let her give some to her friends at school Thurs. Then we will take some with us to the hospital to give her surgeon and nurses. I am comfortable about her surgery just ready to get it over with. Still can't talk about it without shedding a tear it is just the anticipation. Thanks again for everything and lots of prayers are going up for everyone.
Renee, my thoughts and prayers will be with youall Monday. I am not sure if I will have internet or not. So I may not post again until after we get home.

Laura P.

[dancermom]

Dear Laura and Renee, I will also be keeping Jamie and Joseph in my prayers as we were among the group that just had surgery a little over 2 weeks ago. I have to admit that I am very happy to be on "this side" of the surgery although recovery has been very hard at times. There will be improvement every day though and when you look at the big picture it is just amazing how quickly their young bodies heal and they move on.

The buttons sound like a great idea. We had the green scoliosis bracelets that she gave family and her close friends that we ordered from the National Scoliosis Foundation. That helped her friends feel like they were connected to her. It also does help when so many friends and church family come to sit in the waiting room with you and they call and just let you know they are praying and care. Your tears are very natural and I still cry fairly easily at times. Make sure to rest when you can over these next few days and remember that you have many people praying for your families.

I cried when they took Elizabeth from the preop room toward surgery as she was looking at me with some fear in her eyes, but then what I realized afterwards was that the drug they put in her IV made her not remember a thing and she doesn't even remember being prayed for in the room before heading to surgery or us walking her down to the surgery doors. Just know that the doctors will take very good care of your children and know that they are in God's hands.

Praying for Jamie (Dec. 16th) and Joseph (Dec. 19th).

Connie

[flowerpower]

Hey everyone, we had our final pre-op with our doctor yesterday. Did the necessary x-rays and doctor determined Joseph's scoli had progressed to 60T/53L. His Risser still measures 0, but the doctor said something about the tri(ratial/radial??) cartiledge showing some maturity (now that I am thinking about it, Joe was called back to the x-ray room and he said they took a picture of his hand, so maybe the cartiledge thing had to do with the hand x-ray). due to the aggressive progression over the past few months, he will start the fusion at T4. Due to Joseph's age he was leaving open the possibility of a selective fusion, but curves are large & progressing faster than he expected so he will fuse to L4. Blood donation went ok, Joe was able to donate and he did an awesome job, the ladies all fawned over him. Its kind of funny, after months of reading through this forum and spinekids, I kind of "forgot" just how unusual it is for kids at this young of an age to donate blood at all, much less for their own surgery. They are all so brave about it, I look up to them! Thanks to everyone for the prayers, definitely helps hold me up and get through the day and hearing everyone's stories actually makes me look forward to getting this over with and on to the "other side". Ann, Cheryl, & Connie I am so glad to hear the girls are working their way through the discomfort and improving everyday. Laura P., heartfelt wishes to you and Jamie, your day is just around the corner. I pray for strength for your family, and an uncomplicated surgery and uneventful recovery for Jamie. Take care and please keep us posted when you are able.

Godspeed,Renee

[Laura P]

Renee,

Thanks for the special thoughts and prayers. So many people are praying there is no way God can't hear. This is so encouraging. We leave tomorrow and I don't know if we will have internet there or not so may be a week before I get to post again. Everyone have a great week and good holiday. Look forward to being over the hump and home healing. We surprised Jamie tonight with special buttons that said "Jamie's recoop troop", with her picture. We let her youth ministers wear them while they went caroling. She went crazy trying to figure out where they came from. Then we met with our elders for a special prayer after church. She was excited and kind of overwhelmed but in great mood and such positive attitude. She is our little trooper as many of you mothers know. They are so tough to go through with this and be so brave. Thanks again to everyone. We have people all over town wearing these buttons on Friday and calling them her prayer buttons so everyone will remember to think about her and send up a special prayer. Just an idea if anyone is interested. Prayers to all.

Laura P.

[Cheryl M]

Praying for Jamie and Joseph!
Cheryl

[AnnLF]

laura, Jaime's Recoup Troop...what a terrific idea! I wish I had one...I'd wear all day long tomorrow. But even without it, she will be in my prayers.

Renee, this will be a tough weekend for you. Try to see a movie...or two or three! Remember, something mindless, nothing heavy. I'll be thinking of Joseph and praying that his surgery is a success.

Think about it -- by Monday evening you both will be on the "other side."
And trust me, it's a better place to be.

Keeping you all my in my thoughts and prayers, Ann

[flowerpower]

Hey everyone, thanks for the thoughts and prayers. I'm waiting for Joseph to return home. Some of his favorite buddies got together today after finals and spent the afternoon/evening with him. I'm so glad he's got that to take his mind off everything. Tomorrow is the PFT and final lab work at the hospital. This whole week just flew by, and this weekend will go even faster I'm sure. I'm trying to finish up Christmas shopping, but if I don't get it all done, then oh well, I'm sure I'll be forgiven (this year only though, lol) for any belated gifts. Hope everyone's holidays are filled with peace, joy and the love of family and friends.

Renee

[Cheryl M]

Prayers for Jamie and Laura P this morning.

Cheryl