A Crazy Summer Comes to an End

One-handed typing takes some getting used to. Had my ulna shortening osteotomy Sept. 3 and all went as well as can be expected. It's painful, in a cast from elbow to fingertips and itches like crazy. I go back to see the surgeon tomorrow to see how I'm doing and hopefully will get a shorter cast.

Margaret continues to make progress, although she is still in some pain. Last week was the first two days of school, and she weathered them. The first day was actually a half day because the afternoon was more like a carnival, so I brought her home. She was exhausted and very, very sore. Had to take a pill mid-day. The next day was a full day, and she had to take one mid-day as well. She comes home exhausted. Tomorrow starts her first full week. The school made what is called a 504 plan for her to comply with the Disabilities Act -- but they would have done this anyway. They gave her a permanent hall pass so she can change classes when they are empty, she isn't in gym, she has special chairs in each class, etc. She can't be in a situation where she could be jostled or bumped.

Patricia, meanwhile, continues to be a huge support to me by helping her sister as much as she can. She's a great kid. This year, for the first time, she's taken up a sport -- modified cross country. It's hard, and she's been discouraged, but she's doing great and we're very, very proud of her.

Brigid loves being a Pre-K girl. Her class has a few new kids in it, so she has some new stories to tell (apparently Oliver shoots people with whatever he can create to make a gun). She's liking the idea of being a big kid there, and you can almost see her developmental milestones jump out at you. Her vocabulary has increased tenfold; She's grown so much taller. Her conversations are rational and well-thought out. The melt downs have dwindled to a few a week rather than a few a day. Most days, she's a joy to be around.

Jack is entrenched in the world of academia now -- he is officially part of the SUNY Plattsburgh faculty. It was a hard transition to make -- going from a job he could do on auto pilot to one that takes tremendous planning and interaction with so many people, but he's doing well and getting the hang of it. Pretty soon, he'll be talking about writing textbooks and getting his Ph.D. no doubt.

Fall is in the air, and as we roll along into a new school year, it's hard not to look back on this summer without mixed emotions. It was glorious (the weather, Cape Cod); sad (losing John to a new parish); difficult (work frustrations for both Jack and me); fun (going to Montreal for Andre Rieu and an overnight, the beach); and painful (Margaret's fall, my surgery). Here's to falling back, to new challenges, pain-free living and mended bones -- all in the next few weeks.

The End of Summer Has Had its Downfalls, and Benefits

We finally had Margaret's appointment in Burlington with the spine specialist today. They took new X-rays to compare, and the doctor -- whom I liked right away but who was quite curt -- said it was more of a good news/bad news scenario. We were doing the right thing for the last three weeks in keeping her quiet and as still as we could. The bad news was that instead of one fractured vertebra, she has two. We saw it plainly on the X-rays they took today. However, both breaks are stable, so the doctor was confident Margaret would do well.

She was adamant that the healing process takes 12 weeks from the day of the accident. As a result, we won't be in gym for the first quarter or so; she needs to be able to change classes at school when there are no other people in the halls -- can't take a chance and have anyone smack her in the back or bump into her. She can't carry her own books or lift anything heavier than 10 pounds. They will create a plan for her to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act that allows all these things. After 12 weeks, she should be able to resume activities, including her dance class, which I was surprised about.

We return for a follow-up in four weeks at which time, I believe, they'll take more X-rays to see how the fracture is healing. The t-6 disk looks like a marshmallow that has been squished down; the other disk, 5-7, has a crack in it that you can see in the film. The doctor said they will never spring back good as new, but they will heal. She may experience pain up to a year, and she may have other problems down the line like arthritis. But I keep looking back at the what-ifs, and I can't think of a thing to complain of.

Other than that, both girls are truly looking forward to the start of the school year -- Patricia as an 8th grader, Margaret as a sophomore. Patricia has joined the cross country team and has been practicing the last few mornings. So far, so good. We're very proud of her and hope she is happy to keep at it. Brigid, meanwhile, is happy to be back at Sibley. She is now a Pre-K girl -- that's how she describes herself. She's very pleased to be a big kid. There was no transition or hesitation. She just took off down the hall on the first day after a week of vacation and waited at the new door for me to open. Most of the kids she's gone through day care are in her class with the exception of a few who are in the pre-k programs in their own school districts. She does have four new friends who I haven't really gotten to know yet, but there's time for that. But at the end of each day so far she's been very enthusiastic to talk about what she's done and boast about being one of the big kids.

My world will be turned upside down on Friday when I go to Burlington for my ulna shortening osteotomy. They'll shorten the ulna in the hopes that it will give me some pain relieve. If they can do that, I will be forever beholding. The temperature on Friday should be in the high 80s, as it has been all week. Perfect weather to be in a cast. We've had a week of record high temps, which I've loved. But everyone else says it's too hot. By week's end, we'll see a 30-degree drop in temperature if Hurricane Ernie comes up the coast as expected. But I don't care. We've had a glorious summer, horseback accidents and wrist surgeries and all.