Scott Update: 6/2

It has been a long time since I updated about how Scott is doing since his surgery. I thought I'd pop a little update on here, since I often get questioned about him.  I have to say that he is doing better that I imagined he could be at this point. We are 4 months + a few days since he had the surgery and he is so much stronger and has so much less pain now than he did before the surgery. (Thank heaven!) His scars have healed nicely and he is down to a small amount of a non-narcotic pain medication during the day, which he is gradually eliminating. He still has some nagging pain, but it is nothing like it was before.  Clearly, his overall core strength has really increased and he is now able to walk much further and stand and sit longer without pain or with less pain than before. We feel very good about our decision to pursue minimally invasive lumbar fusion surgery after exhausting all conservative options over the past several years.  It has paid off and we have hope that it will continue to do so.


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The Results are In

Now that we've had a few weeks to rest and recover from the grueling pace, here's a link to the pictures from our OM team's trip to the State Tournament.

The good news is that we took 3rd place out of 12 teams--excellent, excellent work from our team! I am so proud of each one of them! And when I really examined the detailed scores, we held our own, even out-scoring the 1st place team in the long-term problem and style scores. Where they beat us was in the spontaneous problem. There was a tie for second place.  Either of those teams could have had 1st if they hadn't incurred penalties--a hard lesson.  The same goes for a great team that I watched earlier in the day. I thought they were just fantastic and figured them for a 1st place contender. It turns out they forgot an important element, incurred a significant penalty and didn't even place, which is a shame because they really had all the right "stuff" in terms of long-term. 


Ah, Williamsport...driving up there was a soggy, foggy mess. I hate driving in the rain and I kept thinking we'd have to get past it, but alas we did not. And the hotel--not the worst hotel ever, but our room may have been in the worst part of it.While the staircase smelled of vomit, the hall and our room, which had a LARGE no smoking placard on the door, smelled of smoke.  The people in the room next to ours sounded like mountain men, having a kegger. Fortunately, they quieted down about 10pm.  I wasn't so sure they weren't going to be up all night.Oh, and our TV didn't work and the red carpet stained our socks. So that was interesting. It was kind of funny when the lady at the front desk asked me how everything was. I answered "it was a place to sleep." For which they charged me just shy of $100 for double occupancy because they know they can do that when the OM tournament is in town and people need a place to stay and all the hotels fill-up. It's the same at pretty much all the hotels up there--they overcharge for what you get. Far too few are actually "nice" hotels.  There is no inducement for them to worry about upkeep. I'm sure the place we stayed is a $59 a night hotel regularly. The good news is that next year's tournament has been moved--let's hope the lodging is better.  Based on the location, it should be.  And hopefully, we'll be there.  Just in case, we may make early reservations and cancel if not needed.

I am amazed at how much energy I still have for OM this year. I was so worn out afterward last year. This year, I've got wheels turning and turning.

Going to States

The Cat and Mouse Squad celebrates its 2nd Place finish at Regionals
(top) Vivian, Nick, Isha, Lenda
(bottom) Lucas, Max, Abbie

The latest and greatest news is that my son's Odyssey of the Mind team has placed second place in their regional competition and will be moving on to the state competition in early April.  That means another 4-5 weeks of practices. Did I mention I'm one of three coaches? We divide the coaching duties, which is great. (Last year I coached a team solo--nothing more crazy-making than that.)  All three coaches and the seven team members work really well together which is so great.

I won't provide any additional pics or video, due to the secrecy surrounding our team's solution and keeping our competition from knowing what we are doing, but we are enhancing our performance for the state level (as is every other team I am sure).  Our "problem" that we compete in this year is the "vehicle" problem, entitled "Extreme Mousemobiles," where the kids must design mouse trap powered (!) car or cars that are designed to complete 6 different challenges. 4 of the challenges are picked from a list given to us in our instructions (although there is plenty of room for interpreting the way to complete the challenge) and 2 of the challenges are designed by the team. We looked at the judges' scoring and comments carefully after the regional competition and examined where we could make the biggest improvements. That is where we are making "enhancements" to our performance. 

Oh, yeah and the performance isn't just about the technical building of the cars and the challenge.  The kids also have to have "style" elements, which are an important part of their score. Did I forget to mention that? This means they have to have a theme (sorry can't share just yet--spoilers) and perform a skit, have sets and props, etc.  All of the elements, including the cars, costumes, sets, props, etc. must be designed and CREATED by the team members, not the coaches.  We are facilitators.  The entire performance can only last 8 minutes or the team will be penalized.  This performance is worth about two-thirds of the team's entire score for the day.

The last third of their score is based on their performance solving a problem spontaneously.  This could be something verbal, hands-on or a combination of both. In the months leading up to the competition we actually practice all of these types of problem and the kids decide who is strongest at what, because on competition day only 5 of the 7 can compete in spontaneous.  When they find out the nature of the problem, the 2 who aren't competing decide quickly whether they will stay and observe completely silently or excuse themselves from the room. An organized team knows and decides all these things before they even get to this part of the competition.

After competing, one of the best parts is getting to watch other teams, especially the more experienced kids (middle and high school) compete, even in other problems. We usually take the time to watch our competition if possible and then watch other problems when we can. Structure, where teams build small structures out of balsa wood that can weigh mere ounces and then place heave Olympic-size weights on them until they crush (while performing a skit!) is always neat.  We saw a team place almost 1,000 pounds on a structure at regionals while performing the most entertaining skit.  That team has been together eight years. (Go Cedar Crest High!)

There is a lot to think about during practices and on competition days but the team and the coaches get so much out of it. And I can't help but note the pride on the faces of the parents and grandparents who have come to watch the performance and the awards ceremonies. The energy and excitement and fun surrounding so much creativity is contagious. Rather than being catty and negative, the kids really appreciate the props and costumes and performances of other teams. It makes them start thinking ahead to the possibilities of  what they might do next year. Yes, we're not even finished THIS year and they are already talking about what the problem might be next year and what they might do.  That's how much they are loving it.  And I'm so glad because I love it that much too.  

The super-cool "build team" waits to compete.

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The Latest : 2/28

Scott's recovery continues. It has been a long road. As I predict it will continue to be. At our last visit to the surgeon's office, where we saw the PA that assisted with Scott's surgery, we discovered that Scott was  over-medicated. No shocker there, based on his cognitive state, I could have said that, but we were giving him the dosages that were prescribed to him the day he was discharged from the hospital. There were no instructions to taper the medications gradually as needed.  Granted, we had Nurse Ratched on discharge day, so perhaps our instructions weren't explained as fully as they could have been and since we didn't care for her we didn't ask questions. In any case, after that visit to the PA, we dropped the meds back and Scott's mental/cognitive state became much more Scott-like, while still controlling the pain.  He was able to walk much more often without the walker around the house, still using it for trips outside and to stores, etc. His overall range of motion and flexibility and ability to care for his own needs increased greatly.

Flash-forward to this week and Scott has now discontinued the long-acting narcotic that kept a constant level of pain control in his system. That leaves him to control the pain with just a short acting narcotic. So far that road has been a bit bumpy, particularly in the mornings, when he has been sedentary for a long time. He has trouble getting moving.  In that way, he has regressed a bit. Also, his body seems to need more sleep/healing time between exertion. If Scott takes a walk, he is really exhausted and falls asleep as soon as he gets a chance to rest and will sleep for a couple hours to recharge. The change in meds has created a new "pattern" and we're not adjusted to it yet, partly because it is harder to anticipate because there is less predictability. I will admit that I of all people deal the least well with change and have been the most stressed and least patient with these recent changes. I like routine and predictability. I would have made a terrible nurse (much like the aforementioned Nurse Ratched). So, send out some prayers for both Scott and I...we need them. This has been a stressful time.

Our next visit with the surgeon's office is 3/10. Scott is hoping for more "privileges." It will all depend on how much pain medication he is taking at that time. We diligently keep track of amounts, so we will have to see where we are at. Also, I think he will be referred for PT which will keep him be busier and help him get stronger.

This week is a bit of a crazy one for me, personally. My OM (Odyssey of the Mind) team has its regional tournament on Saturday. Along with our two other coaches and oodles of props, we head to ELCO Intermediate School to compete with our Extreme Mousemobiles and see if we can win the big prize! There is lots of last minute practice and preparation involved and that equals stress and anxiety and excitement all rolled into one.On that note, I have some serious paperwork to do.

Scott: Update 2/8

The last several days have been busy. Mainly because, not only are we keeping track of all of Scott's meds, etc., but also because he has gotten much stronger and wants to move around more. Unfortunately with the snow on the ground, walking outside isn't happening. 

The past few days Scott has walked around the house, using his walker, restlessly moving from room to room. I can tell he's feeling stronger and much less pain. He has reduced the frequency of the pain meds he is taking, though he is still on a long-acting twice a day med, as well as a short-acting one. If the doctor discontinues the long-acting one, I'm not sure how that will impact his pain level, especially in light of how much he has been moving around.  We'll cross that bridge, as they say...

I had to remind Scott many times not to leave the walker behind, because it was getting in his way and he would leave it and walk without it if he was going a short distance. It really is a pain to have to use it all the time, and he may not need it 24 hours a day--maybe he could just use a cane now, but I'm not sure. We didn't get really good instruction and physical therapy isn't supposed to begin until 4-6 weeks post-op. We see the surgeon's PA this week, so we'll ask about that when we see her.

Yesterday (Monday) we went to the mall and walked for a bit, picking up a few things we wanted along the way.  2 hours was a long time to be out and Scott was really played out by the time we were done. I was figuring we'd only be there for an hour but he wants to push it and that's probably because he likes being out of the house so much. It would be better if the weather and road conditions were nicer and we could walk outside for shorter spurts more often, so he wouldn't feel like he had to push himself. If anyone has any ideas where we could walk indoors as an alternative to the mall, which is just huge, I'd appreciate the feedback. 

Again we encountered a few people that were just unbelievably rude to Scott with his walker. The most glaring instance, and the one that just made me lose my temper, was as I was helping Scott to the car at the curb as we were leaving the mall. An older woman stepped up onto the curb and didn't see Scott because he was behind the pillar but walked into him but then stood there waiting for him to go around her. With his walker. She finally went around him, shaking her head as she walked to the door and that's when I lost it. I'm afraid I had to yell after her something to the effect that one day she'd be using a walker and she'd see what it was like.  I'm not exactly proud of losing my temper, but I am amazed that people are so rude to those that have walkers, wheelchairs, etc. It's almost like they think they've brought them along to get some sort of special accommodations. Ah, well, I'm off my soapbox now. I know that I certainly see the world very differently due to this.

The activity of the past couple days really had an impact and Scott woke up with a much higher level of pain this morning. So I gave him a max dose of his short-acting med to make him comfortable again and put him back in bed.  I'm going to have to make sure he takes it easy today. I think he may be trying to do too much at once and "cheating" a bit by not wearing his brace as often as he should. I think he's using the walker as he's supposed to again, but I'll keep an eye on that too.  He has really amazed all of us with how quickly he has been able to get stronger and do things he wasn't able to do when he first came home.  I think, though, that maybe he's pushing it a bit too far. It's a delicate balance. You need to move to get stronger and heal. If you do too much, you cause yourself a setback. Somewhere in the middle is just right.

I'll try to update again after our visit to Annapolis with the surgeon's PA on Friday. /A