So glad I found you guys!

[Pooka1]

Oh, that's right. Monty makes the (full-size) piano look small!

It's such a shame that your husband is allergic to cats :-( I have several friends who have managed to overcome their cat allergies by taking antihistamines and building up a tolerance somehow, but I don't know if that would be possible in every case.

I am told that the massive series of desensitizing injections is not guaranteed to work. And sometimes it only knocks it back a bit.

I think he would go through that if it was guaranteed to work so we can have some rescue cats (he loves animals) but it is not guaranteed so we wait for something better.

[tonibunny]

Oh no, they did it just with over-the-counter tablets. There was a thread on another (non-scoli) forum that I belong to and several people had managed this. But I would imagine that the severity of allergies varies from person to person, and it wouldn't work for a very severe case :-(

[Pooka1]

Oh no, they did it just with over-the-counter tablets. There was a thread on another (non-scoli) forum that I belong to and several people had managed this. But I would imagine that the severity of allergies varies from person to person, and it wouldn't work for a very severe case :-(

AH I see. My husband was on an inhaler thing when we had a cat. Looking back, he was absolutely miserable. I mentioned this to a doctor who read me the riot act about how dangerous it was when you are that that point. That's when I realized we had to place the cat and could never have another.

[Elisa]

Cats are wonderful! Did I ever show you a pic of my own large cat, Ed? This is Monty :-)

Oh wow, Monty is ginormous! Gorgeous kitty. Is that you? Whoever it is, is a pretty lady.

Pooka, that's too bad your husband is so allergic to cats, especially when you like them so much. I have only been gone a few hours and I already miss my Mo Mo (Molly).

Jess, chinchillas are definitely beautiful creatures. SOOO soft too. Just don't make them into fur coats! >_<

~In Vancouver now.

[jrnyc]

nope...no fur coats...i went thru a phase...got over it long ago...

safe trip, Elisa

jess

[tonibunny]

Yes that's me (a few years ago now though!) :-) Thanks, Elisa! xx

[titaniumed]

Toni

Sorry, I’m a little late, been up skiing. We have been getting hit hard with copious amounts of snow. They have been shutting down certain ski areas due to too much snow, can you believe that? I have attached a pic of snow approx 35 feet deep. The home in the pic is a 2 story home. Temps have been running a little warm but achieved some waist deep areas in the trees. I don’t live in the mountains anymore, you can see why.

Monty is a big guy!

I almost think that large cats contribute to progression in scoliosis curves. Just lifting these guys is a workout!
When my vet put BK on a diet, he wasn’t pleased. All of a sudden while reclining in my chair, he would run up and hit me, like a sack of fertilizer! He was saying “WHERE IS MY ROAST BEEF?

I guess withdrawal of any type is difficult, cat or human.....poor guy.
Ed

[tonibunny]

Wowwowwow that snow is beautiful Ed!! It never gets that deep here in England. I've never tried skiing, I can totally see the attraction though. I love being out of doors, climbing mountains is my thing :-)

Monty went on a diet once, he wasn't very pleased! He's an indoor cat so we get him to exercise by throwing kibbles around for him to chase. He loves this game, he knows it happens every evening at 9.30pm so he comes and taps you with his paw to remind you that it's due.

[jrnyc]

dear Ed
we are just recovering from winter here in new england! PLEASE...keep the snow out there!! we had enough from 2010! tomorrow is the first day of spring, after all!

thanks!
jess

[Elisa]

We're here! And arrived exactly at 3:00 PM as I guessed. Love how they just let the Shriners' bus sail through the border while others have to wait or unload and get searched etc. :-D

Tomorrow we have a pre-surgery appointment to see...

-"Child Life/Social Worker
-Admissions Nurse
-Anesthesiologist
-Doctors/Nurse Practitioners for a history and physical examination
-Other team members if needed"

This is when I find out for sure what exactly both surgeries will entail. I pretty much understand the second one: fusion with instrumentation, it's the first one I'm not understanding at all. The letter I received says "posterior release" but I'm wondering if it's an error and is an anterior release. I get the whole halo thing. Speaking of such, Elias has agreed to get his hair buzzed tomorrow morning as I think his hair might interfere with the pin placement. I just had his hair cut a couple of weeks ago but it grows SO fast!

My laptop is really really slow and quirky at the moment so I'm not sure how much I'll be on. Maybe it's just the hotel and it will be better at the hospital?

Can't believe I forgot my little travel corkscrew and just bought another one which cost almost as much as the wine, lol.

Ed, you just bloody well keep that snow there and on the mountains where it belongs. I want to see flowers!

[Pooka1]

Can't believe I forgot my little travel corkscrew and just bought another one which cost almost as much as the wine, lol.

I can't believe that wasn't the first thing you packed! (j/k)

Glad you are there and ready. Tomorrow will be the first day of the rest of your lives.

Are you keeping a journal? I didn't but I wish I did.

[Elisa]

Yes, I'm keeping track of everything on my blog... you know... the one you helped me link to here? ;-)

I forgot the travel corkscrew b/c I couldn't find it the night before when I packed everything and totally forgot about it the next morning b/c I don't function very well at 5:30 AM.

hdugger, it was absolutely beautiful when we left Vancouver and was quite nice all through Washington but once we got close to Portland it got all cloudy and drizzly. That's okay, I'm used to the 'wet coast'. We'll be here a while so I'm sure we'll get to enjoy some sunny days soon.

My sister and BIL should be arriving sometime tonight but I'm not exactly sure when. She said it would be later on. We got an earlier start b/c we already did the ferry thing (build a damn bridge already!) yesterday and they were just leaving today.

Oh, my computer works so much better now that I have it plugged in, heh.

[Pooka1]

Yes, I'm keeping track of everything on my blog... you know... the one you helped me link to here? ;-)

Ah that actually slipped my mind because I still can't figure out how to join without having a website. It keeps asking me for a website and I don't have one.

I forgot the travel corkscrew b/c I couldn't find it the night before when I packed everything and totally forgot about it the next morning b/c I don't function very well at 5:30 AM.

Sounds reasonable. :-)

[Elisa]

Ah that actually slipped my mind because I still can't figure out how to join without having a website. It keeps asking me for a website and I don't have one.

That's strange. You don't need a website to view the blog. I was having trouble with the little comment box so I got rid of it but you can just add a comment by clicking on 'submit comment' at the top of the page. Does anyone else have the same problem? Let me know. Try this direct link: http://eliasscoliosisjourney.tumblr.com/

[Pooka1]

That's strange. You don't need a website to view the blog. I was having trouble with the little comment box so I got rid of it but you can just add a comment by clicking on 'submit comment' at the top of the page. Does anyone else have the same problem? Let me know. Try this direct link: http://eliasscoliosisjourney.tumblr.com/

I click on "Follow" so that I assume I will get whatever you post directly in my email inbox but I need to enter:

email address
password
url

If I don't enter a url I assume I will not be notified of updates. I may just add the blog site to my banner so I will see it and click it every day.