Splash in the Face

At the beginning of this week we are all looking forward to the beginning of construction on the elevator. Hearth Professionals found a carpenter to do the work for free! We are also looking into having the material donated by Home Depot. The installation of the elevator will change many things in our house for the better. A year ago we could not even imagine that we would be so blessed as to have these changes in our house!




Erica continues to do well. She did have a little trip to the ER while on the bus due to a spinal chord "stinger". This is similar to what happens to some football players. The spinal chord gets a ding and the arms and legs go numb, an electric shock goes through the body and the muscles cramp. Despite my efforts to tell the fire department that this happens frequently and she would be fine, they had to transport her. She was in and out very quickly. It did take a couple of days for her to walk again, however.



CJ has undergone more tests for his asthma. It is still unclear what is causing his breathing problems. Some medications were adjusted and new ones given, so we will see how it goes.



Elizabeth has been in some pretty bad pain lately. She went to see the physical rehab doctor. I told him that we are hoping she could go one month without needing her crutches and then we could start to send her to school all day. He told me that it was unlikely to happen that way. It has been a year since her injury. (He tore her hip tendon while sitting in science class) She has done all of her exercises, we are in the process of adapting her environment and surgery is out of the question. There is nothing left to do.



It was like getting cold water thrown in your face. I know it hit Elizabeth hard. The doctor looked upset as well. What do you say to a comment like that? My heart just broke. Have I been pushing her too hard? Am I expecting too much of her? This caused me to really sit back and evaluate our approach.



In the mean time, Elizabeth seemed to just give up. She did not want to go to school, she was in pain all of the time. She did not want to do anything. I think this is understandable, but we cannot stay here. She cannot give up. Okay, there is nothing more the doctors can do, but that does not mean we sit in the corner and cry. Well, maybe a couple of days.



We pushed her to return to school on Friday. She said that she cried through school. She had an appointment to go to swim therapy and we forced her to go to that. By the end of the day she was walking again. She is still in pain, but she was much better than before. She needed a couple of days to lick her wounds, which is okay. This cannot be a permanent state of mind, however.