After some consideration, I decided to gather the money to buy two beach passes.
Since school let out and the neighbor kids are home, I'd noticed Maggie had become ever more dependent upon their company, her attitude had gone downhill, and she was no longer able to entertain herself. In other words, she was always bored unless she was playing with friends who were proving themselves to be a less than salutary influence. Now, don't get me wrong: they aren't bad kids. It's just that too much time with friends seems to make my kids icky. So I determined that we needed to curtail most of the playtime with the neighbors.
However, because of Maggie's scoliosis, she needs to be outside, playing, exercising, in the sunshine and fresh air. But what is there to do outside when you've become accustomed to playing with your friends and are now cruelly deprived of them? So she has a new bike, one that fits her taller size. And we've hauled out the scooter. But she's really missing those hours that she spent in the neighbor's pool.
That's why I bought the beach pass. Cheaper than buying our own oversized inflatable pool. Less convenient geographically. More convenient as far as effort needed to take care of it.
On that day I bought the pass, we couldn't go to the beach because I had to fetch Gary from O'Hare. The next two days we couldn't go to the beach because Harry Potter was newly out and we didn't get our audio version, but had to read aloud for hours upon hours each day. The next five days I was out of town and couldn't take Maggie to the beach. So the next day we were rarin' to go. Drove over to the village with the beach... not a place to park in the whole town. Not one! The Lions were having their annual Lobster Boil fund-raiser, and there were no available parking spots even 1/2 mile away.
Disappointment reigned. But do you know how sweet my husband is? He took Andrew to town to do the paper route, and he did my part of the route for me, so that he could drop Maggie and me off at the beach and then fetch us when they were done doing my job for me. And then Maggie and I drove over tonight too, and I got in four chapters of Harry Potter. Before we even left the beach, Maggie was trying to elicit a promise from me to take her back tomorrow.
Sun, fresh air, and exercise. Some of our main anti-scoliosis weapons. I may feel like I'm goofing off at the beach, but those early puberty years of great gains in height are when scoliosis worsens the most. So what we do now for Maggie's back will have consequences for the rest of her life. So I guess I need to find time to go to the beach again tomorrow. And I suppose that means I'll have to read more Harry Potter!
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I'm glad the beach will work out for Maggie....and consequently for you! Even if you are just goofing off -- that's OK. Even God rested on the seventh day. Recreation is one of the good things which God gives us to support this body and life. Goofin goff is the mechanism that God uses to recharge us. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteWell said. Susan you are hardly a slacker and honestly some of my best memories of my mom when I was a child were spent at the beach or simply doing nothing but working on our skin cancer in the back yard. I got to spend time just listening to her and that was the best. Have great fun!!!
ReplyDeleteThe beach pass sounds like a wonderful idea! My children get icky too, when they've had too much time with friends, even if the friends are really bad. I think it's just too much peer stuff going on or something. I am trying to catch-up on your blog, since I haven't visited in so long.
ReplyDeleteKathy
How old was your Maggie when they discovered her scoliosis? I am almost hyper-vigilant about keeping an eye on my 10 1/2 yr. old daughter (at least that's the impression the doc gives me) I had bone graft and Harrington rod surgery when I was 16 and so I watch Emma closely. Hopefully she takes after her daddy in this area:)
ReplyDeleteBeth
Huh. I had scoliosis, too, although not bad enough to require the intervention that Beth, above, had.
ReplyDeleteNever did the exercises they gave me. Guess it was unintentionally treated it the way you're treating Maggie's.
A beach sounds wonderful. Miss all those lakes.
Beth, scoliosis is very very likely in kids who have vcfs. It was about 2 years ago or so that we asked the doctor to check, and sure enough, her back was crooked. Not terrible, but enough that a normal doctor would've sent us on the regular rounds for scoliosis treatment.
ReplyDeleteI did a lot of websurfing on alternative treatments for scoliosis. It sounds to me like a lot of people found helf in ultra-good nutrition and exercise.
We also have some friends who both have minor scoliosis, and all four of their boys have it. The eldest had conventional treatment, including a brace. But their chiropractor said that a brace was like trying to corral branches of a tree so as to make the trunk grow straight. It won't work. Something has to be done to make the trunk of the tree straight. (Rods will do that, but that surgery is pretty much a last resort.)
So we take Maggie to a D.O. (a chiropractor would be fine if there was one who'd work with us according to what we want) regularly. We give her raw milk, as well as other good nutrition. And for the last couple of years, I bite my lip when I'd like to call her in from playing outdoors to do seat-work for school.
The D.O. (who is much more conventional than our local primary care physician) was really pleased at the last appt. Maggie has grown SO much, and by all rights should've gotten much more crooked in the last half-year. But she hasn't. So things are looking good.
That's wonderful--I know a few young women with mild scoliosis who were really helped by exercises that strengthen the tummy and back muscles--like tumbling and ballet---done during those growth spurts. Mine developed within 18 months---2 very significant curves. If surgery was not done, my diagnosis was dreadful. That's why I watch Emma so closely----I guess that it really snuck up on my folks and every 2 weeks the curves were worsening--there was no time for a brace nor any other treatments. It wasn't fun being a 16-year-old girl in a body cast (but, it probably kept me out of alot of trouble:)
ReplyDeleteBeth, yes, I've heard some of those stories. There are vcfs kids who have to have the surgery done before age 10. The curvatures can get so bad that there just isn't any room for lungs and livers and other organs. So far, Maggie is showing no signs of that. I'm relieved. They did tell us, though, if she needs to have rods put in for the scoliosis, they now have rods that will not set off MRI machines, which is important knowing how many times she's likely to need that done too.
ReplyDelete