Time For A Second Opinion

This has gone on long enough...

The neck is still not better. He's not eating, he laid on the couch from the time he got home from school until he decided to go to bed at 8:30, he has a weird smell coming out of his pours (probably the meds), and he fluctuates between screaming at me and crying.

He won't put heat on his neck because it smells (it doesn't but his senses make him think it does), he won't let me touch it to gently massage the muscle (the doctor has also told me to not touch it), and he won't try to move it to loosen it up.

He's fading away before my eyes - all this because of a stupid muscle spasm!?!

Give me a break - something else is wrong and I'm not going to wait for the "meds" to kick in anymore.

Look out medical community - SportsMum is on the warpath!!!

Ugh - Snow and Sickness

This actually would have been a great weekend had it not been for Jackson being sicker than I have ever seen him!

We had a "snowstorm" Friday night and Saturday. It really wasn't much of a storm by Canadian standards - lots and lots of snow (about 12 inches)and Ohioans really don't know how to clear it away quickly. Or, as Canadian's would do, simply plow through it in their four-wheel drives.

We would have gone sledding except for Jackson's misery. Instead, Caeden invented a new game - "Professional SNOW Jumping"

So about Jackson...the sleepness night I spoke of earlier in the week became unbearable as the muscle spasms in his neck contracted to the point of excruciating pain in his ear and throat. We had xrays on Friday that showed his spinal cord in his neck pulled back as far as it could go from the muscle spasm. The doctor put him on an anti-inflammatory AND a muscle relaxant.

I don't know a great deal about meds as I truly hate taking them myself but I was horrified by the effect the muscle relaxant had on Jackson. He was a virtual zombie from Saturday morning until last night. I made the decision not to give him his second dose yesterday and he woke up this morning with (almost) his personality back. The neck is still a little funky (and he's still getting the anti-inflammatory) but I will NEVER give him the other pills again.

I will admit, he was still an absolute BEAR this morning but so is his mother when she's sick. Not so glad he inherited that trait from me...

Injury Report

We received great news from the orthopedic surgeon yesterday. What appeared to be a tear in Cameron's cartilage was actually part of his open growth plate in his knee! As the doc said "Wide Open"!

He DOES have a severe strain of his ligament; any strenuous activity (like playing sports) could tear it easily. He's out for four weeks while it repairs itself. Ice...Aleve...strengthening exercises and we're back in action!

President's Day With Our Next President

As most of you know I am Canadian, therefore not able to vote in this country. That small detail doesn't stop me from following politics, and actively working on behalf of good candidates. As a taxpayer, I still want my family to have the best life they can in our adopted country!
My children have asked me if I am a Democrat. No...
So they asked if I am Republican? No...
What am I then?...I am someone who believes in choosing the RIGHT person as our leader in a time in our history that we so desperately need change.

And today I took my children to see this person...meeting our next President on, what will be for them, a historic Presidents Day.

This was our day with Barack Obama...



It was amazing being a part of this day as Senator Obama visited our town. 5,600 people crammed into a gymnasium at Youngstown State University - many times these numbers will be exaggerated but I can attest there were very few empty seats.

I loved that I had my camera...I was particularly mesmerized by the media frenzy surrounding his appearance.


Even more so...the genuine outpouring of love, gratitude, excitement, energy - the hope that everyone felt in hearing him speak.




I was particularly impressed by his statement that he will refund a portion of a student's college tuition, providing they perform a number of hours of community service! What an awesome idea!!!

But the best part of the day was the woesome group who had assembled outside the auditorium to exercise their constitutional rights. You go baby...



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UPDATE ON CAMERON

Cameron had his MRI this morning. He has a "slight tear" in both his cartilage and his ligament (but not the ACL, it's the other one...). We will see the orthopedic surgeon (but this time a knee specialist, not a hand specialist!) on Wednesday...

Here We Go Again...

Cameron is injured - again!

He twisted his knee in wrestling practice on Wednesday night - going against one of the coaches no less!

We just came home from the doctor - he thinks its a torn cartilage. Could take him out of sports for up to six weeks. Could require orthoscopic surgery. Could affect his baseball season. Could reduce his Mother to tears - oh wait...it already did that!

On the other hand - it could be a really bad strain. Just like the wrist was only kind of fractured in the fall...

I'm praying for the strain. Care to join me?!?

The Turkey Bowl

(I am so far behind in my writing...I started this last Tuesday...expect several "catch up" posts to follow...)

Tomorrow is the annual Turkey Bowl and Cameron hasn't been invited yet. You can see he's anxious about it...it's the sporting event of the year!

Why? Because it's a no holds bar, clash of the titans, football extravaganza amongst hand picked 7th and 8th grade boys.

What parent wouldn't want their child to be one of the chosen few who get to play?! Well...me for one...You see, while every guy wants to play, inevitably there are a slew of injuries. Not just any injuries - broken bone injuries!

Last year, the school's number one athlete broke his leg. The year before that, I think another guy broke his arm.

For our own broken wrist reasons, we would be nuts to let him play. But here's the thing...Cameron is one of the quietest boys in 8th grade; hence, he doesn't hang out with many of the more popular kids; hence, he plays with his brothers a lot; hence, he needs to hang out with kids his own age so he'll stop tormenting his brothers!

(Cameron got his invite...read next post for the play by play of the game...)

The Cast Off...

We have a whole boy again. Cameron's cast came off yesterday and he got a big thumbs up from the doctor.
The fracture appears to have healed enough that he no longer needs the cast but he will need a brace during strenuous activity for a few weeks. I had to chuckle when Dr. S said he might want to wear it in the halls at school with all the horseplay between classes. These kids literally have four minutes to get from one class to the next; often needing to travel from the first to the third floor. The only chance of injury is the 100 yard dash he needs to make in order not to get a tardy.
You can't hold a good man down for long. I came home from an evening meeting to find Cameron running sprints in the backyard, wearing his brace! When he came inside, he disappeared into the basement. I found him using the hand-grips, or should I say over using the hand-grips. I know exactly where his head is, baseball...pitching...all-stars! The season is only five months away!
There is a silver lining to this injury. Last year Cameron wrestled on his school team. He had never wrestled before; we had never seen a match - ever! He didn't have a clue. During several matches, when his competitive spirit would overtake his common sense, he would literally turn into a pretzel to get out of being pinned. I would cringe, expecting something to snap.
This winter, the only thing that will snap is the rubber bands he will be using on his wrist for strength training...

It's Not Over...

Cameron looked like he'd been kicked in the gut around 10:45 this morning. That's when the doctor told us that the new x-rays showed he had indeed fractured the growth plate in his wrist.
Good news(and I actually think the doctor was proud of himself for this decision...),he had been wearing a cast for the last two weeks so the fracture has already started to heal properly. Had he not done this, we would have been dealing with surgery in order to fix it!
Bad news - another three weeks in a much bigger (and waterproof!) cast.
Of course - he can still play football...
The waterproof cast has to be one of the greatest inventions ever! For an extra $25, he can shower and swim without fear. We didn't go this route two weeks ago because we thought he wasn't really injured!!! (Bad Mummy...)
I said that Cameron looked like he'd been kicked in the gut - I, on the other hand, wanted to go back to Parenting Class 101. I didn't believe he was really hurt, even after the cast. I thought they were just being overly cautious.
Had I been thinking about this blog at the time, I would have asked for a digital copy of the xrays to show the real deal. Plain as day - the section of bone on the front of his wrist; clearly weaker than the rest and in the process of healing.
I'm not sure if Cameron realized why I apologized to him for the next hour - but my mother guilt was overwhelming. I didn't believe my child was really hurt.
So - if I was I really guilty mother, I would be cooking a nice new york strip for him right now...
Not so guilty - he's getting tuna casserole...

Summer Part Two...

We have a very large and lovely swimming pool - one of the perks of moving from California and making oodles of money on our house! Problem is, having a pool is wonderful until you have to pay for it, maintain it,and close it for winter.
We chose this house with the large pool because we like to have people at our home and anticipated many parties throughout the year - not to mention all the boy's friends hanging out. What we also got with the deal was EVERY SINGLE TEAM POOL PARTY! I never hesitated to volunteer our home, again; it's the reason we bought this house; but it also became apparent through the years that it was costing us big bucks and lots of energy.
So, for various reasons, by this time of year I am very anxious to close things down, if only to save some bucks before the heating bills start. But the pool is still open...and it's the middle of October...and it's 90 degrees! Don't believe me?...take a look at my rusted thermometer!

Our pool expert (our church pastor who became a "pool expert" living in Texas and putting himself through seminary - I think it had something to do with water and baptisms!); told me this morning that it's good we haven't closed the pool in this heat...it's an algae thing...
It's a strange thing to want summer to end. But I guess I go against the grain of normal Americans...I came to hate living in California, where the weather is the same; Every...Single...Day!! The boys used to laugh at me when it would rain (once a year) and I would go outside and do the "Mommy Dance"!
I believe that seasons MUST change. It's God's way of moving us along in life - change is very, very good. But this year - it's still summer...in October!
I want rain...I want crisp nights...I want to turn my air-conditioner off!! But, above all else, I want to close my pool and start fall. It's time for a change...but do I have to give up the margaritas?!

Things Ain't How They Used To Be

I took Cameron to the orthopedic hand specialist today. I had gotten into a comfort zone of believing his injury really wasn't a big deal and we would leave with the doctor wondering if we had just wasted his time.
This is always the way I think when I visit a doctor. Perhaps it's because I used to fake being sick so often when I was a kid; I expect the doctor's to see through the ploy. It always shocks me when they actually confirm something is wrong -- like when I was waiting to deliver Cameron and they suspected he was breech. The xrays clearly showed his bum down position and yet I couldn't believe they would need to deliver him by C-section. Excuse me Doctor...I'm just faking there's a problem to get attention-he's not really breech! Wait a minute - maybe I was just faking being pregnant too...
I've noticed this same tendency in my oldest son. Actually he's very rarely sick with anything, but the times he has come to me with various bumps and ailments have generally been more imagined or embellished when investigated further.
You can't fake swelling though. And the doctor was very thorough in his exam -- with additional follow up xrays.
Here's the problem...my 5'8" son is still growing; therefore his growth plates have still not closed; therefore they can't see if there is a fracture in his wrist with x-rays; therefore they need to put a cast on it for three weeks in order to protect the wrist from any further damage. But wait - there's more! Even though he has a cast - he is okay to play football!


Here's the "when I was young" speech...if you had a cast when I was young you basically did nothing for months.
The only criteria now is that you put pads around the cast so you don't hurt the other players with your club...I mean, cast!

I Just Want To Play

Cameron discovered it's not so glamourous to be injured, especially when your team has the highest scoring game in school history!
The night before the 61-8 record breaking game, he was displaying his injured wrist like a badge of honor; one of the walking wounded who gave his all for the team. On game day, when he had to stand on the sidelines and watch his teammates make history, he stopped bragging about his injury. All of a sudden it didn't really hurt anymore, the swelling was going down (in his mind), and he could move it more! In fact, he expects to be starting in the next game this Thursday!
But the swelling hasn't really gone down and after a consult with the ER doctor, the specialist wants to see Cameron at 8am tomorrow morning...not a good sign!
While Cameron is suffering his set-back, his brother's are stepping up to retain the family honor. Caeden came first. John gave me a play by play - "I saw this kid in the other team's end zone jump high into the air, make a huge interception and run it up the field for yards. It wasn't til it was over that I realized it was Caeden..." Quite the turn-around from our deer in the headlights from last week.
Jackson was next...he became a defensive BEAST! Flag after flag was torn off the opposing team. They dropped like flies. He was everywhere; quick out of the box--showing no mercy -- tackling several players to the ground! Problem is - IT'S FLAG FOOTBALL!! We'll need to work on his competitive spirit...
A side note - I quit my job on Friday. One day, when this isn't so fresh, I will explain my sudden departure from a job I loved. But, on the other hand, I have all the time in the world to spin my blog yarns to my loyal following!
Problem is, while I love writing, I also love to work. Hey coach - put me in...I just want to play...

We Are Now True Sports Parents

We joined a very elite group today - a group of sports parents who wear their badge of honor proudly - a group that knows no expense, as long as their athletic child is treated fairly.
Cameron, our 13 year old All-Star pitcher, tore or partially tore the tendon IN HIS PITCHING ARM during football practice!

We lived the drama today, in all its glory. Swelling...xrays...two hours in the emergency room...splints...pain killers...orthopedic specialists...
The best part for Cameron - it was Friday night - football night in America - he was able to come back to the stadium with his war wound, surrounded by his fellow soldiers (8th grade boys...)and the sympathy of the junior high girls...
It was the pinnacle moment in a young athletes career...he was the center of attention!
As for is parents - my first reaction..."oh my God...that's your pitching arm!" How warped is that?!? Thank God his Dad is so incredibly low key!
I was a little offended that he wanted his Dad to go with him to the emergency room and not me...Why wouldn't he want his "drama queen, fix my boy, that's his pitching arm" mother with him?!
So the prognosis? He wears a splint for at least a week and will see a specialist who will determine it's only a pull and he will be able to play in his next game as long as it's wrapped. My lesson will be...injuries happen...they heal...he's not and probably never will be in the majors...just let him play...