Swimming Against The Current

October came sooner than I had expected. I was having my surgery at Children's Hospital in Boston and there were so many sick children around me. I felt so sorry for all of them and all their families. When I saw the little girls with no hair and the little boys so weak they couldn't walk, I realized my situation wasn't that bad. I thought in my head, I can do this if these kids can. I had to go a few weeks before my surgery to have my pre-op. They did blood work and made sure I was healthy enough to go through with the surgery. Everything seemed to be okay except that I had had my period for several weeks straight. I also had to go a few weeks before to get fitted for a brace that I "might" have to wear, depending on what the doctor found after he cut me open. The day of surgery came. I couldn't eat after midnight the night before so I was so hungry that morning! They brought me right in when I got there to get me all settled. They told me to change,...

After visiting Mickey, the physical therapist in Boston twice, I realized I could continue the exercises at home or with someone a lot closer. My doctor was ok with that and sent me to someone who used to work with him. She was very nice and helped me a lot. During all of these visits, I continued to cheer. I was hoping the physical therapy would take away a lot of the pain and make me stronger so I could be a cheerleader in high school. I had a few more visits with my doctor before school started and he didn't see that much improvement. I didn't have good range of motion, my shoulder "popped" all the time and I was in pain 24/7. The physical therapy wasn't working and he didn't want me to cheer anymore. The next step was surgery. We scheduled the operating room for my first surgery in October 2000. I was never so scared in my life.

I'm getting very scared my dystonia is moving to my right side. I have had spasms in my right foot a few times, but now my right hand is very sore. Although I haven't had any spasms in my hand, it is very weak and my wrist and fingers hurt a lot. I'm not sure if this is from using it more because of my left hand or what but I hope it goes away soon!! Other than this, things seem to be going well. I'm getting a big belly and going tomorrow for a 3-D ultrasound! I can't wait. Today I'm bringing Ryan to a baseball game for Father's Day! He's going to be a great Daddy!!

The most amazing thing happened. Last night I was staring at my belly and could see miss Hailey dancing. It was the coolest thing I've ever seen/felt. I cannot wait to meet my little girl. I also had a good day at work today. I have been working in the infant room at the YMCA and lifting them is becoming impossible. I was originally hired as a receptionist but have not been at the desk at all. Today I finally got the news that I will be working in the office instead of the classroom. Now maybe I won't break my back since the past couple days I couldn't even walk by the time I got home, from lifting the kids. Everything is looking good with the pregnancy, only 15 weeks to go!

The day came quicker than I expected to see the specialist at Children's Hospital in Boston. I was looking forward to meeting someone new and heard that he was a great doctor. He not only is an orthopedic doctor but has also written several books and teaches classes at Harvard Medical School. I was very hopeful that this doctor was going to help me. He did an exam on me and took several x-rays. It didn't take him long at all to tell me that I had multi-directional instability in my left shoulder. Most people develop this from a traumatic injury to the shoulder such as playing football or another sport. I guess I developed it just from overuse. The patients that have atraumatic onset usually have loose joints to begin with, which is what he told me I had. Multi-directional instability is basically when your shoulder dislocates in every direction possible from doing simple things such as doing your hair. This was exactly what was happening to me so I was happy to finally ...

Hi Everyone. I hurt my shoulder once again. Every time I lift anything it pops and I am getting so frustrated. It's so hard to work but I can't not work either. I feel like everyone is just getting annoyed with me because it happens so often but its annoying to me too and I can't help it. I don't know what to do anymore, if anyone has any suggestions let me know. =(

So, I was going into high school and wanted to cheer more than anything. I went to the tryouts to be on the Junior Varsity cheerleading squad even though I was still having problems with my shoulder. There was no way I was letting pain get in the way. Tryouts were all week and I went in there with a smile and pretending nothing was bothering me. By the next week I had received a call from the coach that I made the team. I was so excited! We started practices the summer before I started ninth grade. It was so much fun going to pool parties and cookouts while we practiced. My shoulder was throbbing but I ignored the pain until my next doctor's appointment. The next visit with the doctor was when I found out that my first doctor was giving up on me. I guess this was a good thing since he didn't know what was wrong or how to fix it. He sent me to Children's Hospital in Boston to see a specialist. I continued to cheer until the day came when my new doctor would give me...