May 14, 2008

Scoliwhatsis?

A few weeks ago, my husband brought our daughter home from gym with some unwelcome news: one of her coaches thought Megan was developing scoliosis.

None of the gymnastics coaches have medical training. However, the head coach has been leading womens' gymnastics teams for nearly 40 years and has seen hundreds of pre-adolescent girls through growth spurts and body changes that affect their performance. There are two other male coaches who are a lot younger, but have been working in this field for several years. If one of them had noticed something odd in our daughter's stance, I would believe it in a heartbeat.

But the source of this information was Megan's floor and beam coach. She's a 24-year-old woman who has only been coaching a few years, and while she has a lot of talent, her inexperience and immaturity have caused some difficulties. I didn't feel her assessment was all that credible (especially since Megan just had her annual checkup and her pediatrician didn't see anything), and I especially did not appreciate the fact that she offered her opinion in front of my daughter.

But both my husband and daughter were disturbed by this. I hit WebMD and other Internet sources and learned that Megan is at the age of rapid growth (12) when scoliosis can develop. She's grown an inch since that checkup. Now that the subject was raised, how bad would I feel if I let it go and it did not get discovered until her NEXT annual physical?

So I reluctantly made the appointment and drove down to her pediatrician's office yesterday after school.

"What's wrong with Megan?" the doctor asked.

I explained the situation. He raised an eyebrow. "Bring me a scoliometer," he instructed an aide.

I had no idea there was actually an instrument to measure this. It looked a little like a leveling tool, except that it was curved to fit across a young person's back. He asked her to bend from her waist and touch her toes.

"Looks good," he said.

He then measured the length of each of her legs. He drew dots on her hips and measured across.

"She has lordosis, but that's common for young gymnasts," he said. Funny. I had that too, when I was her age. I had to take a special corrective PE class for it, which was fine by me, because I was NOT a gymnast (or athletic at all!), and corrective was a lot less strenuous than regular PE.

"One hip is very slightly higher than the other, but that's not too significant," he said. "I really don't see any evidence of scoliosis."

This is exactly what I wanted (and expected) to hear.

"Now if you want a second opinion, I can refer you to an orthopedist," he added.

NO. I DON'T WANT A SECOND OPINION. I'M VERY HAPPY WITH THIS ONE.

Our doctor went on to explain that current medical thinking is that most of the braces and interventions done in the past for scoliosis didn't really help. He said that today, most doctors prefer to let it be -- that the problem tends to correct itself as the child grows.

I went home feeling very relieved... and a little bit angry at my daughter's coach.

links for 2008-05-14

May 13, 2008

Early Birthday Present

Shhh! Look what just arrived at my house...

A Votre Sante

Nearly a year ago, one of my oldest friends experienced a severe health crisis, which I blogged about here.

Because of her penchant for privacy, I never wrote a follow up post about her...until now.

Seeing my friend unconscious and hooked up to tubes and monitors was shocking. Hearing the prognosis for her recovery was frightening. Her situation scared me right into signing up for a weight loss program. I lost 56 pounds in seven months and today, I eat a lot better, work out regularly and feel pretty good.

And I'm happy to say, my friend is feeling good, too.

She came out of that crisis and embarked upon a regimen of painful and difficult therapy. She remained in the hospital for several months. I visited her a few times, ran some errands, and chatted. At the time, she was using a walker to get around.

And then school started, along with my daughter's gymnastics schedule. I'm ashamed to say, I did not keep in touch. It was difficult; during her first few weeks in the hospital, I learned that using the telephone didn't work; I could not reach her and my messages did not get to her, either. The only way to do it was to show up at the hospital and hope she wasn't in therapy or having a meal, and this became very hard to do when summer was over.

Did I feel guilty? Uh, yeah. But this post isn't about that.

A couple of months ago, my friend emailed me to let me know she had been living back in her home and making enormous progress in her therapy. We made a date for coffee.

I did not know what to expect when I arrived at her condo. I was definitely not prepared to see her walk confidently out her door without a walker or a cane. This is a woman who suffered a stroke and then had the misfortune of contracting a nasty infection while in the hospital. She has been to the brink and back...

...and she walks. She talks. Her brain has been rewired and is back to normal (or pretty much normal - after all, like me, she is turning 52 in a couple of weeks and we are both prone to some short term memory lapses. But hers are about the same as mine).

I was very near tears several times that afternoon. My friend is the poster woman for the power of a positive attitude. She has NEVER wavered, NEVER lost faith, has always been confident of a wonderful future. And her life had been good.

On that day, she talked about her illness and subsequent stroke and other problems as an "incredible opportunity to learn how to live again." And she truly BELIEVES this.

She said she had no idea that her situation had been so dire; this is something that she realized over time. She also did not know that I seen her during this period. I did not tell her that I was certain we had lost her. 

Before all of this occurred, she and I and our mutual friend (the one I wrote about in that old post) would get together every few months for dinner at P.F. Chang's in Burbank. We decided it would be great to resume this habit -- and last night, that's what we did. We sat, we laughed, we reminisced about our younger, crazy (and more alcohol tolerant) selves. And we made plans to do it again.

She also informed us that she's giving herself a birthday party, as she'd missed her birthday last year. "Yeah, I was lying unconscious on my kitchen floor," she laughed.

She's been certified to test for a new driver's license and plans to go back to work over the summer.

Life can be good. You just have to see the good in it.

links for 2008-05-13

May 12, 2008

Mother's Day, 2008

P1100382_edited1 Once again, we trekked down to Monsieur Marcel, to my favorite French cafe at the LA Farmer's Market. This has become our family's Mother's Day tradition.

My niece, Carly, took this photo of the three of us. I think this is the image we'll use on holiday cards this year!

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day, too.

links for 2008-05-12

May 11, 2008

Dreams of a Mother

Happy Mother's Day to all my readers (and their mothers)!

I'm excited, because this afternoon we're going to go on our annual Mother's Day visit to L.A.'s Farmer's Market, where we will shop, watch the pretty people, and enjoy French food and wine at Monsieur Marcel's lovely little outdoor cafe. And I get to be a surrogate mom to my beautiful 20-year-old niece, who isn't able to spend the day with my sister up in Sacramento.

Dreamsofamotherbuttoncopy For those of you who came here looking for something interesting to read, I'm going to have to direct you over to the MOMocrats, where we are celebrating the day with a special meme: Dreams of a Mother:

Each of the MOMocrats is writing about our own dreams as mothers and we encourage all of you to join us over the next week.  In true MOMocrats style, each MOMocrat will be sharing a political or social issue close to her heart.  We'd love it if you did too, but your own special non-political dreams are important as well.  We want the world to hear them.

I'd like to encourage you to blog about your own dreams for the world and your children and then leave a comment with your link on this post. I can't wait to read what you all have to say!

(And after you visit MOMocrats, you can read my latest post over at 50-Something Moms Blog.)

May 09, 2008

Friday Funny: No Parent Left Behind

Here's another of those humorous emails my friends and family insist on sending me:


Now, really, who should be going to school ? ? ?

I promise you cannot read these and not laugh out loud. These are real notes written by parents in an ALABAMA school district. Spellings have been left intact.

1. My son is under a doctor's care and should not take PE today. Please execute him.

2. Please exkuce lisa for being absent she was sick and i had her shot.

3. Dear school: please ecsc's john being absent on jan. 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 and also 33.

4. Please excuse gloria from jim today. She is administrating.

5. Please excuse roland from p.e. for a few days. Yesterday he fell out of a tree and misplaced his hip.

6. John has been absent because he had two teeth taken out of his face.

7. Carlos was absent yesterday because he was playing football. He was hurt in the growing part.

8. Megan could not come to school today because she has been bothered by very close veins.

9. Chris will not be in school cus he has an acre in his side.

10. Please excuse ray friday from school. He has very loose vowels.

11. Please excuse Lesli from being absent yesterday. She had diahre dyrea direathe the shits.

12. Please excuse tommy for being absent yesterday. He had diarrhea, and his boots leak.

13. Irving was absent yesterday because he missed his bust.

14. Please excuse jimmy for being. It was his father's fault.

15. I kept Billie home because she had to go Christmas shopping because i don't know what size she wear.

16. Please excuse jennifer for missing school yesterday. We forgot to get the sunday paper off the porch, and when we found it monday. We thought it was sunday.

17. Sally won't be in school a week from friday. We have to attend her funeral.

18. My daughter was absent yesterday because she was tired. She spent a weeken d with the marines.

19. Please excuse Jason for being absent yesterday. He had a cold and could not breed well.

20. Please excuse mary for being absent yesterday. She was in bed with gramps.

21. Gloria was absent yesterday as she was having a gangover.

22. Please excuse brenda. She has been sick and under the doctor.

23. Maryann was absent december 11-16, because she had a fever, sorethroat, headache and upset stomach. Her sister was also sick, fever an sore throat, her brother had a low grade fever and ached all over. I wasn't the best either, sore throat and fever. There must be something going around, her father even got hot last night.

Now we know why parents are screaming for better education for our kids.
 

links for 2008-05-09

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