Friday, June 28, 2013

An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward. When life is dragging you back with difficulties, it means it's going to launch you into something great. So just focus, and keep aiming.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Pre-Admission Testing

Today was Allie's pre-admission testing. She had a brief physical, we met an anesthesiologist and a Child Life Specialist who walked us through everything from our arrival to Allie being transported back into surgery. Then we sat and waited, and waited, and waited. The last thing that needed to be done was a blood draw. They had a "situation" in another room so we had to wait until that was taken care of. I tried to get Allie to give up the bed so that I could nap but she wouldn't budge. Finally the nurse came back in, got the blood sample and gave us our instructions for the day of surgery.

Surgery is still on for July 2. It will start at 7:30 am and we have to be at the hospital at 5:45 am.


Outer Banxious




The original plan was to leave around 5 am on Saturday, June 15. A couple weeks prior to vacation we decided to leave at midnight and drive through the night. On Friday, June 14, I spent my morning talking with coworkers about vacation. By lunch I was really anxious to get on the road. I texted Duane to see what he thought about leaving earlier. He was just as anxious. As soon as I got home, we got packed and were on the road by 4:30. We drove until about midnight, stopping in Winchester, Virginia, for the night.


Saturday morning, we left early planning to stop in Williamsburg to eat at Capitol Pancake House. After traffic delays from Richmond down to Williamsburg, we made it to Capitol in time for lunch. On our way into the Outer Banks, we stopped at Morris Farm Market for yummy fruits and vegetables. Every time we stop at Morris, we take pictures of Allie and Will on the tractor. We made it to our rental house by 4:30. It was a nice house that had a great view of the sound.



Sunday, we headed down to Ocracoke. We had lunch at Howard's Pub (one of our favorite restaurants), drove by the Ocracoke lighthouse, drove up Howard street and passed Tow Mater. Then, FINALLY, we went to the beach.


Monday, we drove north to the town of Duck. We visited a couple of stores and discovered that a boardwalk had been installed along the sound. We took a little nature walk. Duane saw something moving in the water and started taking pictures. As the object moved closer to the boardwalk we saw that it was a river otter. Duane was able to make out that the otter had a crab in its mouth.




Tuesday, we headed south to the Pea Island Nature Preserve. Once again our turtle friends met us at the bridge. We counted over 20 turtles. We walked about halfway up the trail and saw only ibis. It was hot and not much breeze/wind to keep us cool so we decided to head back to the visitors center. On the porch is a display of a variety of items you will find on the beaches. Duane picked up this dried out skate--a relative of the stingray. I think it looks funny because of its lips sticking out.



On to Bodie Island Lighthouse. This is our favorite lighthouse. Five years ago, the base was open and we were able to go in. Soon after the decision was made to restore the lighthouse. This past April, the lighthouse was opened for the first time for the public to climb. This was something that Duane was looking forward to doing. When we got to the lighthouse we found out that the next few tours had been sold out. Duane bought tickets for the last tour of the day. We then headed to Manteo to have lunch at Big Al's. Late afternoon we headed back to the lighthouse. Will did not want to climb so I stayed on the ground with him while Duane and Allie climbed. It was very windy and we had heard that one of the groups did not get to go out on the gallery because of it. Luckily, that wasn't the case for Duane and Allie. In this picture they are standing in the middle (Duane has on a black shirt and Allie has on a blue shirt). Allie did say that she felt like she would be blown off.


June 19--HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLIE! She is now 14! We started the day at the Aquarium. This has always been one of our favorite places to go but this time there were so many people that we didn't stay very long. We then went to Elizabethan Gardens. The flowers were amazing--especially the hydrangeas. They were in bloom throughout the gardens in all different colors.

In the evening we went for a cruise on the sound. Always a good time.



Thursday was a beautiful day. We went to the Wright Brothers Memorial and then spent a few hours on the beach.

Friday came much too soon. We didn't go back to the beach to swim because there were beach hazard warnings for rip currents. We played putt-putt golf in the morning (Allie made hole-in-one on two holes!), hit a few more stores, then went back to the house to start getting our things organized and packed for the trip back home.

For dinner that evening we went to Miller's Waterfront Restaurant. Allie had Mahi Mahi, Will had a cheeseburger (couldn't get him to try any seafood during the week except shrimp) and Duane and I got a platter that included scallops, shrimp and crab. All of it was very good. After dinner we did go to Coquina Beach to take pictures of the ocean and to collect more shells. Because of the strong currents, the waves crashing on the shore were absolutely beautiful.


PAT

A lot has been going on in the past few weeks and I am hoping to get it all posted by this coming weekend. Curvy Girls held an open house on June 10 and Allie gave a speech. It was a fun evening and Allie did awesome! June 14 through 22 was vacation in the Outer Banks. Today is pre-admission testing. A week from today is surgery.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

It's quotable...

Allie has been saving quotes that are inspiring. Here are a few of them:

  • I don't need easy, I need possible. Bethany Hamilton
  • Scoliosis doesn't happen to everyone. It only happens to the girls who have enough courage to fight it.
  • Hope is the only thing stronger than fear. President Snow in The Hunger Games

WHEN LIFE GETS YOU DOWN, JUST BOUNCE. Allie Thompson (you thought I was going to say Tigger)

WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS, MAKE APPLE JUICE. THEN PEOPLE WILL WONDER HOW YOU DID IT. Allie Thompson

Pit Stop at the Dublin Sports Med Office

Allan C. Beebe, MDJune 3, 2013
We met with Dr. Beebe, our surgeon, and his team. It was a very encouraging pre-op conference. Here are some of the points that we found out:
The surgery will take 6 to 8 hours, with the first hour being for anesthesia.
There will be two surgeons working on Allie--Dr. Allan Beebe (top picture) will be the primary surgeon and Dr. Jan Klamar (bottom picture) will be the secondary.
Jan E. Klamar, MDAllie will be in the hospital 3 to 5 days dependent on when her belly "wakes up".
At this point we do not know what type of metal will be used--it will be either titanium (a stronger metal) or stainless steel. She will not set off metal detectors but should she fly she will need to be hand scanned at security.
There will not be a need for blood donors. They will use a system called "cell saver" that recirculates her blood.
She will have electrodes attached to her head and will be monitored from head to toe throughout the procedure. This system will let the surgical team know if any adjustments need to be made whether it be moving a rod, loosening a screw or even adjusting the temperature in the operating room.
We did not ask about what kind of music will be played in the operating room but I am going to suggest Lawrence Welk. July 2 is the anniversary of when the Lawrence Welk show debuted on TV and Allie loves watching the reruns with us (not).



A full set of x-rays was taken at this visit. This is the standard scoliosis view. Her thoracolumbar curve has increased in the past 3 1/2 months. It was between 45 and 50 degrees. It is now closer to 60 degrees. With the continuation of the increase in the curve, there is no question that she needs to have the surgery.

The other x-rays done included bending and stretching. This is done so that Dr. Beebe knows how flexible Allie's back is and can plan out which vertebrae will be fused and where the hardware will be placed.

For the stretching x-ray, Allie laid on a table and one tech held her head and the other her feet and they stretched her out. This is the results and this is what Dr. Beebe will try to come close to in the corrections. However, it is estimated that the curves will be corrected only up to 50%. We are looking at her thoracolumbar curve being corrected down to maybe 30 degrees (provided it doesn't increase any more over the next 4 weeks).

Our next stop will be either at the hospital for pre-op testing (has not been scheduled yet) or the Outer Banks (we leave on June 15 for a week at the beach!).

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Congratulations!

Be checking the Curvy Girls website in the month of July. Allie is going to be featured as Curvy Girl of the month!

http://www.curvygirlsscoliosis.com/

Monday, June 10, from 6 to 8:30, Curvy Girls Columbus will be hosting an open house at the main branch of the Columbus Public Library in the auditorium. Allie will be presenting a speech on her scoliosis experience. All are welcome to come!

Allie was named a Student of the month for the month of May at Worthingway. To earn this recognition a student must demonstrate the core values of Be on Time, Be Prepared, and Be Respectful. She also received a certificate for being on the honor roll!