the_rck | (no subject)

I’m annoyed with myself. Last night, around 2:00, I was half to three quarters asleep and somehow got the idea that Cordelia no longer needed painkillers, so I deleted all the alarms on my cell phone that would tell me what to give her when. Fortunately, I woke up further before we’d gotten much past when she was due for the next dose, but… That could have been bad. And I had to recreate all of the alarms. The times are easy enough; it’s remembering whether this particular dose should be ibuprofen or Tylenol that’s hard.

Also, when I got up to give Cordelia medicine at 7:00, my left ankle (so not the one I injured last year) hurt a good bit. That kept me from getting back to sleep between then and when Cordelia needed me to help her get to the bathroom. It mostly is hurting at rest and doesn’t seem to be worse when I put weight on it, but it feels like it should hurt more when I put weight on it, if that makes sense. I’ve wrapped it to see if that helps at all.

Cordelia’s pediatrician’s office sent me an electronic copy of the form for the school so that they’ll give Cordelia medication in the middle of the day. Unfortunately, there were two problems. The first was that the dose was wildly wrong. It said 4 milliliters when it should have said either 20 milliliters or 4 teaspoons. The second problem was that the words 'Error! Reference not found.' covered the bottom of the first page, obscuring the text that was supposed to be there. I have asked them to correct and resend, but I’m not sure when they’ll get to it.

Cordelia’s friends persuaded her to sit at the dining room table for a couple of hours, playing games. We used a stool with a folded blanket on it to prop up her leg since having it hang down hurts a lot. They played Apples to Apples, either Jr or Disney (I wasn’t paying attention to that) and Pandemic. They actually won the Pandemic game.

Cordelia tried to go out the front door yesterday afternoon with me behind her and her friend in front of her, but she got too scared that she’d fall and didn’t make it even onto the porch. There’s a step down from both the front door and the back door to their respective porches. I haven’t measured, but my best guess is between two and four inches. I’m pretty sure that Cordelia will feel safer doing this with Scott because she knows that he can carry her if he has to. Scott spent a good bit of time last night, after we were in our bedroom, looking at instructional videos online to find out how to use crutches on stairs.

I emailed Cordelia’s teachers and principal to ask if we could have a meeting before Cordelia faces a full day at school. Cordelia has asked for that, and I think it’s reasonable and shouldn’t take very long. She just wants to talk to her two main teachers (or even just her advisory teacher) to be sure that we have a plan for things like where she’ll sit in each class and who’ll carry her stuff from class to class and whether or not she gets an elevator key, and, if not, how she will reach the person who needs to give her access to the elevator when she needs him. Cordelia thought we could do the meeting before school on Wednesday, but I also suggested after school on Tuesday. The teachers may not go for after school because they’ll be coming off of the over night field trip, but if they’re willing, I think it would be better not to have the deadline of school starting hanging over the conversation.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh, and technically, we only have one level to the house. She doesn't need to go into the basement for anything, and that's the only interior stair.

The steps to the front and back doors, though, are pretty much universal around here. Many houses have more steps than we do. I'd have been pleased if they'd shown Cordelia how to handle steps. Instead, the guy who brought the crutches adjusted them to her height and had her go up and down the hallway a couple of times.

I'm expecting a referral for PT, but that will probably mean something in April, after she's been back at school for a week.

Sigh. That's not instruction- that's ASSUMED instruction. He ASSUMED that she wasn't having any problems and didn't ASK. STAIRS area problem everywhere. Outside, they're usually called CURBS. Grumblemumble, what a JERK! Honestly, if you have the spoons to spare for it, it's worth complaining, and explaining all the stress Cordelia has suffered, ESPECIALLY with a basement classroom. What was she supposed to do for the week she has to attend the class? Figure out HOW to handle stairs on her own? NOT COOL.

The process DOES become natural enough that the first few days after she doesn't need them will be just as weird and awkward as the first days without them, so tell her that, too. The good news is that the movements ARE grooved into muscle memory jut like riding a bicycle, so she won't need to relearn them later. (LOL, yes, in my thirties, I needed them again after a different surgery.)

I will mention the issue to the orthopedist when we go in on Monday.

I've always been afraid I'd end up needing crutches. I think I'd end up wrecking my wrists.

At this age, or older, my best idea is to use wrist supports (like for RSI/carpal tunnel) which have that steel spoon insert, and adjust my grips to compensate for the wrist braces. If you're worried that carpal tunnel is in your family history, MENTION it to the PT in particular; they will probably make a point of teaching Cordelia best practices, and remind her to do stretching and wrist flexes during her day. Make a habit now to use the same stretches suggested for RSI and heavy typing every time she gets home and puts her leg up after school, and again at some point after dinner. Twice a day when she has no visible NEED for the exercises nevertheless gives her both the skills/information she needs AND and easy habit she can take for granted as much as brushing her teeth or combing her hair.

I don't know that there's a family history apart from me. I've never had carpal tunnel, but I've had RSI of various types in my hands, wrists, elbows, and shoulders. Given any excuse, my tendons start complaining. When I was in college and when I was working, I could count on having some sort of injury, often RSI-ish but sometimes due to falls and the like, two to four times a year and lasting for at least a month. I got to know the PT folks at the campus clinic really, really well.

None of my immediate relatives have had this problem, but I'm also the only one with fibromyalgia, so I suspect it relates to that. But I will definitely talk to the PT about it. I don't want Cordelia having those sorts of problems.

(no subject)

Re: Separately, the stairs.

Re: Separately, the stairs.

Re: Separately, the stairs.

Re: Separately, the stairs.

Re: Separately, the stairs.