Monday, January 11, 2010

Four Weeks Today

Matthew's next appointment with Dr Dobbs in St Louis is four weeks today, Feb 8.

I have mixed emotions. First, I am hopeful that this time, finally, he will not need a cast. I am hoping that the lift on his shoe is doing it's job. That it is finally holding the correction. And, then, I worry that I am placing so much hope on a half inch piece of rubber. Seems that since seeing Dr Dobbs in October I have been holding his words too close. He said that at some point, Matthew will no longer need casts. Gosh, I know for the normal person, that statement seems silly. Of course at some point there will be no more casts. But after 7 years of this, I truly am no longer able to see the forest for the trees.

I am trying to decide if I should bring Matthew's crutches (yes, he owns his own crutches. Getting crutches for a young child is near impossible). Normally, I would think, yeah, grab them. Can't hurt. But now, with the new travel restrictions I worry that traveling with hollow metal tubes that are crutches will only slow us down and cause havoc. But, to have them if he is casted makes our lives so much easier as we change planes in airports. (they are supposed to keep all weight off of the cast for at least 24 hours to let the plaster cure)

And then there is the whole issue of travel restrictions. How can I travel from 7 am til 5 pm with a 7 yr old with only a small purse to carry things on? And, I have not owned a purse in over 20 years. Where do I even buy one? Days like this I want the chance to line up and kick Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab in the butt for making airline travel that much more difficult.

3 comments:

Michelle said...

Hi Joann, good luck with everything. When we traveled a couple of weeks ago, we were able to bring a backpack for each of us and then I kept a wristlet (to keep money, ID's, etc in) in one of the bags. It worked really well for us and we could keep our bags under the seat in front of us. Instead of bringing crutches, maybe you could borrow wheelchairs at the airport - they can have them ready for you when you get off the plane.
How long will you be in St. Louis?

Sue said...

That's coming up fast!! I don't know what to tell you about the whole flying thing -- I have a terrible phobia of heights and avoid planes at all costs (plus, we just don't travel anywhere!) -- but because of all this terrorism garbage it sure makes everything incredibly complicated. Sounds like the previous commenter (Michelle) had some good ideas for you ...

Stay optimistic -- yet I do understand how all this feels! In these situations, a part of me almost wants to stay a little negative, so if something DOES go differently than I had wished, then I feel somewhat prepared. Crazy, I know! We see Dr. VB on March 1 and I too am a bundle of mixed feelings. I'm almost afraid -- and this is going to sound NUTS -- that he'll be really happy with her foot and want to stop bracing. Right ... insane!! When she was born, I couldn't wait for that moment to arrive, and now that it might potentially be here I'm terrified!! If she hadn't gone through such a horrible relapse I would probably feel very differently, but ... it's just our reality. What a roller coaster!!

Hang in there -- those 4 weeks will fly. Can't wait to hear how it all goes ...

Sara said...

I hope the traveling isn't too crazy for you two. And I hope the news is good. I like the idea of asking for a wheelchair at the airport. That might work well and you never know... it may speed things along. All the best hun. xx