We have a surgery date!

[AnnLF]

Hello All,

We must all really be getting back to normal. The "we've got a surgery date" thread was way down on the list!

So happy to hear Carrie is doing great at the 2 week point. Those are the tough ones, so it's downhill from here, Marie. Congrats.

Lizzie went back to school last week and did great. Can really see an improvement in her strength after just one week. It's always been a Catch 22 -- hated to see her go back in a weakened state, but she wasn't going to get much stronger without being back in the routine. She is able to do a modified gym class where she can walk the track and lift 3 lb. dumbells, so that should help re-building the muscle tone. We had to go shopping beforehand to get her some jeans to wear. She's a size 2. And at 5'9", she's one tall drink of water!

I had a bit of a scare reading the Chicago Tribune last week. Did anyone hear about the tainted bone tissue that came out of New York? It landed at numerous Chicago hospitals. So, I'm reading the paper at 7 a.m. and get to the part where it says the tainted tissue made it's way to Rush Medical Center (were Liz was) where it was used for spinal fusion surgeries. For two hours, I was weak in the knee. Called the doctor's office at precisely 9 a.m. and their phone had been ringing off the hook. Apparantly, the surgeries took place last summer and didn't affect any patients in their practice. Boy, oh boy, who would think you'd have to worry about stuff like that?

It sounds like things are resuming to normal for all of us -- aren't we blessed?Hope everyone is doing great and continues to heal uneventfully. Love, Ann

[Cheryl M]

Ann,

So glad that Lizzie is back at school. Our Doctor told us at Briann's 8 week post-op that her energy would improve quickly from that point and it really has amazed me. I still pick her up 30 minutes early from school because her last class is an advisory class, she rests for 30 minutes to an hour and then she's good to go until bedtime.

I, too, read the article about the tainted bone. It hit the Charlotte papers just after Christmas. I was sick! I heard about it on the 5:30 Friday night news so I had to wait all weekend before calling the doctor. I did look it up on the internet and it said that doctors were informed of this in October so I felt better since Briann had her surgery in November. Her doctor said that all doctors would have heard if any of their patients were involed and luckily no one at OrthoCarolina was involed. Praise the Lord. The article I read specifically discussed scoliosis fusions so I was pretty sick to my stomach that weekend. I'm pretty sure that everyone in our area who recived the tainted bone has tested negative for any of the diseases of concern.

Hope everyone has a great week. The Charlotte area got a few flurries this morning. We haven't had snow in 2 years now so we're hoping for at least one good one.

Cheryl M

[AnnLF]

Hi Cheryl,

So happy Briann is doing great. Have you noticed any connection between increased strength and increasing weight? Did Briann lose much, and is it coming back on? Liz also has last period free and today she was going to try to make it through the whole day, but couldn't do it, so I just picked her up -- two classes shy of completing a full day. She was so mad at herself, but she said it's the sitting that bothers her and that she just didn't think she could make it for two more classes. I told her not to beat herself up and that tomorrow, she could try again.

So you had the tissue scare too. I am so surprised that something like that could slip through the cracks, in this day and age.

Did you get some good snow? We were watching the news reports from the East coast and couldn't believe those snow totals. We've been lucky here in Chicago -- after a snowy December, it's been fairly mild. Which has been good for Liz -- it's made it much easier to get outside without the fear of slipping on snow and ice. Have a great week! Love, Ann

[Cheryl M]

Ann,

Briann went 1/2 days for a long time and was totally wiped out when she got home. I think her strength came from just adding a little extra every day. The hard chairs at school are horrible for our kids but Briann refused to take a pillow. She's getting a cold so I'm getting her at 12:00 today. She felt horrible last night. Briann has been eating good for a while. I'm not sure how much she lost or has gained back. Her jeans are still a little on the baggy side.

I wish Lizzie wouldn't beat herself up. Everybody heals at different rates. Hopefully adding a little everyday will help. I found that getting out with friends helped Briann more than anything. She would seem so depressed or just "blah" and then she'd come home charged.

We didn't get any accumulation of snow but it was pretty for about an hour. The NC mountains got quite a bit. I guess we'll just have to drive a few hours to see any this year. We usually go skiing at least once or twice a season so I guess it's good that we're not getting snow since we can't go this year.

My best and prayers that Lizzie will gain strength everyday.

Cheryl

[Laura P]

Hello to all,

Briann sounds like is doing great. I am sorry she has a cold. Just seems like they get so much extra after all they go through they are just all troopers. Tell her to hang in there and hopefully the warm weather will be here soon and all of the virus/colds will be gone.

Ditto what Cheryl said to Lizzy dont rush it. Just do your best. Our friends called this morning before school and said "tell Jamie to enjoy her homebound and don't come back". Both her daughters were up late last night doing homework. They are 10th and 11th grade. I am so glad Jamie is not pushed to go back. She only has about 3-4 weeks left though. It is really going fast.

Cheryl it sounds like youall got the same weather we did in Alabama. They built it up that we would get 1-3 inches and all we got were a few flurries. We are going back to gatlingburg this weekend with our church and maybe we will see a little. My girls would love for it to snow. We havn't had a good snow since 1992. My husband brought his sled back from his moms and so we blame it on him. Maybe one day it will snow again.

Good to stay caught up on everyone. This is so long will add another post.

Laura P

[Laura P]

This one is kind of personal will try and explain. Just wondering if anyone kids have done things out of the ordinary? Jamie got caught lying this weekend and it is so out of character for her. She is a great child, I didn't say perfect just no problems what so ever. She is very involved with our youth group at church and mission work. She hangs out with great kids and we have been very lax on curfew within reason depending on where she was. She was at a friends house and they were playing board games she lied about going to get icecream? Makes no sense but the reason we found out she lost her cell phone (she just got an upgrade about 3 weeks ago). Jamie and I went and looked for it outside the home she was at that same night and then we got her dad to go and help us. She had already called her friend to look inside and the whole time we are calling it. We left her here to get ready for bed and when we got back to the house she had been at she called us crying saying she was sorry and she knows she is grounded and told us they had gone to get ice cream. So we go and look in the parking lot and of course everything is closed and no phone anywhere. We checked with the ice cream store and no one turned it in. We feel like it fell out of her pocket of her coat. Well, she says she has no idea what made her do it she thought we would be mad because she didn't call and let us know she was at the ice cream place. The mom at the house she was at had her college son to drive them in the van so they could all ride together so everything was so normal we are just floored. We tease her all the time because she forgets to call and we just call her and she always answers and says sorry I am here. So it isn't like we are strict on it. Someone asked me if she was still on meds. I said "no hasn't been in 3 1/2 weeks, can't be that". I know it isn't drugs or sex but lying just is so unacceptable. She has had to read Luke 16:10 and explain how it affected her life and what she learned from it. She even told her best friends what she did and they can't believe it. I guess all kids are going to mess up but this one makes no sense. Sorry for sounding off we are just flabergasted. She is on restriction for several weeks. She has to ride to church with us which is not fun for a 17 yr old. That is her social hour before and after and if we leave before she is ready it isn't fun. I told her we are starting back from the beginning building her trust and I might be showing up when she leasts expects it. I guess it is hard to accept that there was no reason behind it. Wonder if anesthesia killed some brain cells. Ha Well, are we the only ones that something stupid has happened. She has definately learned her lesson. She couldn't go to a basketball game with her friends last night and some more of her friends wanted to come over tonight and we said not this week. We may be the only ones sorry for rambling but am still in shock. My husband and a dear friend of mine are the only ones I have told and of course the moms house she was at. Hope everyone else hasn't done this but wish someone has so I could figure this out. I keep asking her if there is anything else and she says no. The mom at the house she was at couldn't believe it either. She talked to the kids to see if anything else was going on and they said no. Oh well, we will look back on this hopefully and laugh about the time she got in big trouble. Have a good one.

Laura P

[KRIS ATKINSON]

My 15 year old daughter has been experiencing strange behaviors that are partly related to the 12 month restrictions from sports, etc. She is unable to release stress by doing physical activities with others and is handling it by unusual means. She is partly having an issue with wanting to "blame" things on other family members, to get back at others for her problems. I try to get her to do activities she can do, like clubs, but she rejects alot. My husband and I are working together on handling her feelings with these difficulties, but it takes time. It's almost like she is in denial of scoliosis surgery. She hates me mentioning scoliosis or surgery at all and always has. She rejects people trying to help her get her mind off her situation and wants people to pay attention to all her negative behavior. In her case, she throws and breaks things in our house when she is angry, and we are working through this issue. Yesterday, she tore valentines she had made, which is an improvement, since she demonstrated some control, actually. What she damaged this time was her own, unimportant, items. She broke my ceramic coffee cup last weekend in a rage, so she seems to have progressed from breaking other people's stuff to breaking stuff that can be easier replaced. At least it is improving. If only she could play basketball and soccer like she used to to release stress. She tried jumping slightly about a month ago to throw the basketball and her back felt pain when she landed, so she knows personally how she can't do sports aggressively. Take care, Kris

[flowerpower]

Hmmm...if it was a fairly quick trip to the ice cream place, maybe she forgot or didn't think it was a big deal to call. Of course, once she couldn't find her phone at the friends house she probably realized it could have been lost at the ice cream place and knew how upset you'd be at not only losing the phone, but at a place you didn't know she was at. I can understand your feelings, I would also question why my child wasn't forthcoming over a seemingly small matter. She sounds like a good kid though, I'm sure this is probably just a "teen" thing but I would have done the same thing you did.

Renee

[nikyergen]

My, oh, my, we are having issues to. Crystal's pickup needed some work done to it, so we have been letting her use my 1-ton pickup when she needs to go somewhere. We ask her to be home at 7:30, she shows up at 8 or 8:30. Her dad told her to be home at 8pm last night, not 8:05 or 8:30. Guess what she was home at 8:10. She was the child that always called and let us know where she was and if she was going somewhere else. She would call even if she thought she might be 5 minutes late. I think part of it has to do with being 17, as Crystal is 17 also. The things she always held close to her heart, God and family, don't always come so close to her heart these days. We have found ourselves actually having to be harder on her than ever. She used to be so respectful of our worry and always let us know what was going on with her. Now, I feel like it is deep dark secrets. They usually do get the best of her and she fesses up to us. So, we are trying to discipline and be caring and understanding at the same time. Pretty tough job sometimes. Don't feel like it is just you. I think we are all going through something, especially since our kids are getting older and want to become more independent.

Nikki

[dancermom]

Hi everyone. It seems like forever since I have written although I try to get on here and read and stay up on everyone. Elizabeth had her recheck with the orthopedic doctor this morning. It has been almost 3 months since her surgery and her x-rays look beautiful. He was concerned a couple of months ago with the lumbar curve, but she is able to straighten herself out and he is almost certain that he made the right decision to stop at T12 instead of going down to L3.

I am a little sad as I didn't get to go to this appt. My hubby had the flu or something like it this last weekend and gave it to me. I have been down since Monday. I plan on going to the doctor today just to make sure it hasn't turned into a sinus infection or something as I really need to go to work tomorrow.

Anyway, back to Elizabeth's appt. - he wants to see her back in 2 months and then if everything is looking good he wants her to start physical therapy. He also did some lab work today as she had some really funky blood levels after surgery for 2 consecutive days. I am not sure what he is looking for, but hopefully it is all good.

Good to hear about everyone. I am so thankful that we all are on this side of surgery and able to look back and see our children's progress. It sounds like we each are facing different things going on. Hang in there and know that you always have a listening ear on here.

Take care everyone.

Love,
Connie

[Snoopy]

Okay, Jamie's story. Jamie's friend was grounded from the internet and he was talking to Jamie on the phone, while Jamie was on-line. We have our computer in the living room and I happened to walk by and saw something on the screen that I didn't recognize as part of our provider. I asked Jamie what she was doing and she told me she was checking Sean's mail. I said, I don't think so! He's grounded from the internet! She apologized and immediately close that window and told him she wasn't allowed to check his mail. I never made it a habit to check my kids' e-mails, but for some reason the next day I checked the e-mails she had sent. Here was an e-mail telling Sean that I talked to her and explained that 1) he was grounded so it wasn't right for her to check his mail (it was also wrong for him to ask) and 2) that since she doesn't know who is sending him mail, she could very easily infect our computer with a virus, and therefore she was not allowed to check his mail any more, but she would still do it if he wanted her to!!! I told her she was grounded from the internet for the weekend and when Sean's mom picked her up I told her that she was grounded and that it held for her house as well. She asked why she was grounded and when I told her why, she then grounded Sean! Oh, what a mess. The problem seemed to continue until I finally told Jamie she was grounded from Sean for a week-no phone calls, no IM's/e-mails, no visits-nothing. You know what, that break did them good because I got my old Jamie back.

So you see, I'm not sure it has to do with their back surgeries, 'cause Jamie was about 1 year post-op at the time. I think it is just something all teenagers go through and if this is the worst we have to go through, I say bring it on. I am very thankful that my girls are honest, responsible, truthful, well mannered young ladies. I can deal with the little things, even though it is hard, I'm glad the issues aren't stealing, drinking, smoking, drugs or sex.

Mary Lou

[lorrie]

Hi Folks
I think maybe these young people have had to be so responsible and sensible and brave for such a long time - years for some of them - that it's not really surprising if they breakout once in a while and do something a little crazy. Maybe be more surprising if they didn't. The things you've been describing sound like typical teens and I think maybe it's just more shocking because you've got used to them being 'good'.
Geevieve is capable of a lot of the wild things teens do but she has taken to refusing to eat her evening meal at home - to the extent of spitting food out which I thought we had cured her of years ago. I've been having to send her to her room for thinking time and then bringing her back and getting her to apologize and eatthe rest.
I'm sure a lot of it's reaction - I was amess after her surgery so it wouldn't be surprising if she had some reaction to work through too.
Lorrie

[Laura P]

Thanks everyone. I agree with everything. She has just been our sweet little Jamie. She is spending time with her sister and they have been in each others bedroom just laughing and talking. So, I know she is a great kid and it was just a rash decision but she made a bad one and thank goodness it was something we can handle. Sounds so nothing if I talk about it "whew she went to the ice cream store" but it is the lying that tore me up. It tore her up too because when I asked her what finally made her cave in and call she said "it was her heart that it was eating her up". She still is grounded but youall have made me feel good. Alot of my friends say "if that is the worst thing she does we are ok". I agree 100% and we are already laughing about it when she isn't around so this too shall pass. Thanks everyone and isn't it good to have normal problems instead of worrying about pain, or complications. Hope everyone has a good weekend we are going to the smokey's with our youth group. There will be over 12,000 teens. "whew" it is fun though. Lots of speakers and contemporary christian bands and no sleep. They are out of school Mon so they can recoup. Have a good one.

Laura P

[KRIS ATKINSON]

Thanks guys for reminding me how thankful to be right now. All I have to do is remember the agony of hearing the update from the doctor when he was working directly on Erica's spine. I went to my parent room and prayed and cried that he would stay safely away from any nerves that could paralyze her, etc. That was the worst few hours of my life. I was oh so thankful and relieved to hear the update that they were sewing up the back and then that she moved her fingers and toes. Last night I layed in bed with vertigo and other problems as I reminded my 3 teenagers that they get to pay for anything they break, as I heard them throwing things. My headache is gone this morning and the vertigo is stable again for awhile, no broken items I can see, just chores UNDONE as usual. Could be worse, right?! Thanks for being there for me too, guys. Kris

[Cheryl M]

Kris,

I was just thinking about you today. We should still try to meet at Starbucks or something. I would love to meet you face to face. Glad to hear ERica is doing well and hope your vertigo goes away.

Laura, we have had some different behaviors too. I think Briann's is from frustration of not having 100% of her energy but wanting to give 100%. The youth trip sounds fabulous. Our youth goes this summer to sing in the National Cathedral with many other choirs. I'm going this time. Two years ago I couldn't go because I had mono. YUK! My husband's family owns the Krispy Kreme in Gatlinburg. His uncle recently passed away but his son is now in charge. Stop by for some donuts and ask for Joey.

Connie, so glad to hear Elizabeth's appt went well and that her lumbar curve is doing what it's supposed to do. That has to be a tremendous relief.



Glad to hear from everyone.

Cheryl