Did Everyone Survive Christmas Okay?

[Laura P]

Hey,
Thanks to everyone. Jamie is doing much better. Our doctor and nurse were off this week and they thought we were another one of his patients and said she should really be coming off of her pain med. Well, they called today and apologized her doctor checked in and said he had left a RX for us that they were to mail to us. A doctor on call had already told us to call our family doctor here and see if they would write one for us. This was done Wed. and she is great now. Nikki, Jamie didn't even complain when she fell it just scared her and when she realized it didn't hurt she just laughed. Kids will be kids. Hope eveyone has a great New Years and God Bless All Of You.

Laura P

[flowerpower]

Laura,

Glad to hear Jamie is doing better, I know these first couple of weeks home are a little challenging. if they feel ok, the kids can tend to forget their strict limitations on bending, twisting, etc. Hope it was just a pulled muscle and all will be ok.

Laura and Nikki,

I also had an absent-minded mishap with sticking my hand in a hot oven with no protection. I think it should be mandatory that the exhausted parents are sent home with their own set of instructions, #1 on list: Do not let parents operate appliances or machinery unless supervised, lol!

Renee

[Laura P]

Renee,

That is so true. We have done alot of laughing because of the dumb things I have done. Also, strange things that has come out of my mouth. It is funny and we just laugh. We have always laughed alot around here though. Hope you have a happy new year.

Laura P.

[matt]

Hey Nikki. I just wanted to say that we did survive Christmas okay this year. It was really different beacuse of the hurricane and my family and I, and thousands of other families in our communities who weren't able to spend Christmas in our homes. Some of us spent Christmas in hotels. Its still hard to bare. Well, hope you had a great Christmas. Sorry this is kinda late!

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
Ross

[nikyergen]

Ross, My heart goes out to all of you that are hurricane victims. I hope that you soon find homes to live in and can put your lives more fully back together. Please keep us posted on how you are doing. Glad you survived Christmas.

later,
nikki

[susannajon]

Welcome to the Other Side!!!

Hi Renee,

Haven't posted in a while but thought I'd stop by to see how you're doing. Glad to see you all made it through and were home in time for Christmas. My daughter is at the 9 month mark and doing great. For her, surgery is a thing of the past and something she rarely thinks about. Remeber that most kids measure recovery in weeks, and healing takes time, but before you know it he will be back to his normal self, only with a straighter spine and a new outlook on life!

Hugs to you,

[flowerpower]

Susanna, how nice to hear from you! You were one of the first people to offer me advice and I still have your list of suggestions for hospital/home. It really came in handy and we were well prepared for both the hospital stay and homecoming. I'm happy to hear your daughter is doing so well post-surgery. It will be nice to reach the point where surgery is more of an afterthought than anything. What is she able to do activity-wise? And what is she still restricted from?

Renee

[susannajon]

Hi Renee,

Our doctor is very conservative, but he has a great success rate, so we're listening. She, at the 9 month mark, is not permitted to lift anything over 15 lbs. She is allowed to do anything she wants as far as dance. She is allowed to play softball (she's not particularly good or competitive, so this might not be true for all kids). She is not allowed to play lacrosse until the 2 year mark.

As far as day-to-day life, she has no pain at all. She is sleeping normally, her endurance is back, and school is going well. Socially, no one seems to remember the Quasimodo days, and she looks perfectly normal and never gets teased. Those who were shallow enough to tease her pre-surgery thankfully have short attention spans! Her close friends continue to look out for her and protect her from harm and the occasional forgetful careless person.

You guys will be in our shoes in a few months. Don't forget to stop back and help out the newbies who's kids have just been diagnosed!

xoxox and welcome to the other side!