(no subject)

[the_rck]

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.

Comments

alarms

[dialecticdreamer]

change the noise -the alarm sound- for the time, based on which med she's to take. It REALLY helps!

Separately, the stairs.

[dialecticdreamer]

Going up or down stairs with crutches is a skill. She SHOULD have been shown how to use the crutches when she got them, ESPECIALLY for more than level surfaces as you have more than one story in your home. It is worth PESTERING the pediatrician or the orthopedist (more likely) to make SURE she gets the current, relevant information she needs, which likely means a visit to a physical therapist (PT.

Basically, Cordelia is now the person with three feet. Most often the crutches will work together, as one foot, and her good foot is the other one.

Stairs-up.
1--PLANT those crutches comfortably, and solidly, about shoulder width apart, then step up with the good foot. DO NOT PUT MUCH weight there, it's just to get ready.

2- MOVE the crutches up to the step, taking the weight and stride as she is used to-- the hesitation is more to allow for the space the crutches need and to keep from banging the tips into the riser ahead, which can freaking HURT if the vibrations are strong enough.

THE HESITATIONS will disappear, often in a few hours of use, but practicing with a single-step area is WAY better than trying stairs up to the second floor.

Stairs DOWN-
1-Get ready, make sure there is plenty of clear space for her movements, as this is the 'unfamiliar' movement. Having a spotter is great.

2- Move the crutches, together, down. They- and her arms- are going to be taking her weight for this, so keep them a little closer than shoulder width so there's less chance of splaying or slipping.

3- Transition her weight down, lifting her good foot MORE than usual, as a thump can actually cause her to twist in reaction. Plant the good foot.

4- CHECK everything, THEN ease her weight evenly between the crutches and her good foot. This step will also disappear with practice.


I am NOT- NOT- NOT a professional. When I was about Cordelia's age, I had surgery that required me to be on crutches for weeks on end, and since I have always been concerned (paranoid) about falling, the PT broke down the steps and explained them, and specifically had me learn to use the crutches on a level surface walking between the parallel bars in the PT room. DROPPING the crutch if she feels like she's starting to fall is a GOOD idea if there's any fixed surface to grab-a door frame- or HEAVY furniture to grab.

BTW, Please! Pass onto Cordelia as much of this reply as she'd be interested in, along with my assurances that it took only a couple of weeks for me to go from "these are strange and alien objects" to using the same crutches to navigate the uneven heights and VERY narrow spacing of getting on and off a school bus, along with that what, foot-wide aisle between seats-- without much extra thought at all. Kids leaving their backpacks in the aisle were more bother! After awhile I was also doing a wide "Monkey Swing" lope in lieu of running when getting between classes, which was admittedly FUN... so I might've looked for extra opportunities to use it!

Last note- for the hand blisters and soreness-- pick up some good quality lotion, (I prefer aloe-based)-- and pick up a sheet of sticky moleskin. Apply to the hand grips if they're the hard rubber kind, just fitting as wide a grip around the top half of each handle as the sheet allows-- right where the top edge of HER palm sits, which may not be the twelve o'clock top.

[brunettepet.livejournal.com]

Here's hoping they agree to the meeting and it will help lower Cordelia's anxiety levels about the logistics of going to school.

[hobbituk.livejournal.com]

I think having the meeting is a very sensible approach to making it easier and for Cordelia to feel happier at going back to school.

Poor lovey is having a horrid time.

[bubblesbrnaid]

A meeting is a very good idea, if only to make sure all her teachers are aware of the situation. Sometimes the gossip misses one.