Little Man Update

We have made it out of the dark tunnel. This wasn't done alone. It was done with an incredible amount of love and healing energies from people near and far, people close to us and people I might not even know.

The Little Man is walking again. He is without walker or crutch. He has a slight leg length difference (his left leg is 3 cm shorter than is right) that he didn't have before, so he wobbles a bit. The doctors say that this should correct itself in 1-2 years. All regular activities have pretty much resumed although mom is a bit hesitant to allow sledding, skating etc...The Little Man though is resilient and oblivious to his wobble or what he has gone through.

At Gillette in October just after break

I guess this is the light that the nine year old holds...he is very much in the present (although he has already been planning his double digit birthday coming up this summer). The Little Man has physical therapy twice a week now. One day is land therapy at Gillette Children's Hospital and the other day is water therapy.

Water Therapy started in late November

Going to Gillette weekly, I see how lucky we are. The Little Man is walking, unlike so many who will never walk. He talks, unlike many who will never utter a word.

Minnesotans complain a lot about the weather. This incident has converted me from a fellow commiserator to a daily gratitude giver. I wake up thankful for all the little things. I am thankful for the snow, the cold, my heated home with warm bed covers that are soft and fluffy. I get out of that bed every day and I am thankful that I can. I walk out the door on my own each day...unassisted. I eat... unassisted. I taste delicious foods. I have a variety of food to chose from. How LUCKY is that?!

Yes, very thankful...for all the little things.

Etch- A -Sketch Prodigy

Ok - I suppose every parent thinks that their child is talented, special and fairly smart. I am no different. BUT... the Little Man, who is nine and in a cast is freakishly talented. No, he is not reading "Being and Nothingness" by Jean Paul Sartre or doing quantum physics...he is creating amazing pictures on Etch-A-Sketch! You know, the magnetic thing that uses one continuous line!

Now, if you have read my earlier blogs and have seen pictures of my house you will see the resemblance. This is a picture of our house, trees, bushes, wood-chip paths and all! I barely can write my name legibly on Etch-A-Sketch. Now, please tell me if I am blowing this out of proportion but I have never seen an Etch-A-Sketch picture like this...well, only in the movie "Elf". Pretty cool.

MN 80's music - here's to you Gary

The Professor and I watched the B52's on Gary's site...it brought us waaaayyy back. The Professor said as he watched, he could smell the smells of the time.

As he and I are both very passionate about music we thought we would share one of The Professor's all time favorite bands of the 80's. He once wrote a personal note to Chan Poling, who is now in "The New Standards" and he wrote back. Beej Cheney is one of his all time guitar heroes.

Feel the feelings and taste the flavor of the 80's.

'80's flashback

What makes you feel good when you are feeling down? A flashback from the '80's! I used to go dancing 6 nights a week in Minneapolis. I think the only night I didn't go out was Monday, every other night there was dancing... somewhere. I have tried to go out dancing in recent years but have not had quite the experience that I used to. I really believe it is the music. It is just not as good.

The best times I have had dancing recently have been in someones living room. Most recently it was to "Hung up" by Madonna. She's inspirational - I WILL DO YOGA EVERYDAY!!!!

Update on the Little Man

He is home now, in better spirits and taking things in stride. The surgeon in charge of his surgery drew this witch on his cast to help make him feel better. His favorite holiday is Halloween - the first thing HE drew on his cast was a jack-o-lantern.

The hospital bed arrived yesterday evening and we put it in the front room. He also has a wheelchair that reclines that he is able to move around in. I would like to get him outside as the weather here has been gorgeous and the fall colors are bright and in bloom but it may be a bit too soon for that as he opposes the idea of anyone other than good friends and family seeing him in a wheelchair.

There is hope though that he will be able to maneuver around in crutches down the line since he has his right leg free from the knee down...we'll see what happens.

What good comes from something like this? A friend said that it is "love" and I believe she is right. We have had such an outpouring of love and support from our family, friends, co-workers, and schoolmates that it makes things so much more bearable. The Beatles sung it like this..."All You Need is Love".

Send prayers/ healing energy this way please

The little man (my son, age nine)was born with a genetic bone disease called Osteogenesis Imperfecta type I. He breaks bones more easily than most. Luckily his "type" is not the most severe kind. He doesn't break when you touch him or is unable to live a complete life because of his disease. Up until now, most of his breaks have been fairly manageable, not extremely painful.

Today though, I am sitting by his bedside in the hospital where they care for kids with chronic conditions. While playing on the monkey bars yesterday at school, he fell and landed quite wrong on his leg hearing his bone snap as he landed. We were unable to move him when I got there and called 911. He was in excruciating pain and it took hours to transport him to the ER. It then took hours to try and get an x-ray because he could not move his left leg and the pain was so horrible when anyone else touched it even with morphine.

What we know now is that he has a spiral fracture to his left femur. The x-ray they finally got was ugly. The doctor said that it looked more like the type of break you see when you are in a massive car accident.

We are currently waiting for the surgeon to tell us what will happen next. We know that he will have to have some kind of surgery to put the bone back into place and either put in plates or wires to stabilize it. After that he will probably be in a full body cast- BOTH legs and hips from his waist down to his toes for weeks.

If you at all believe in the power of prayer or healing collective energies, please send them to the little man. He will need to be strong and patient with himself. He will need to be brave in endure the pain and he will need have courage to not get DIScouraged...he WILL heal! I also pray that he will not have to go through another break like this again and that this will be his last large bone break.

We are lucky to have family around us at this time for strength and help as we will need it caring for him as the weeks go.

This is bad but could be worse. We have hospitals, we have medicine, we have food, we have shelter and our family is together. There are many people who have experienced worse. I send my healing energies to them as well as my own son.

Neko Case ROCKS or Peggy vs. Patsy

I've never been to a better concert! Neko was everything I thought she would be and more. First Avenue was packed. Neko came on stage and the crowd went wild. She has an awesome band most of whom are Canadian. Her steel guitar/banjo player is from AZ and he was incredibly talented. Her on stage performance sounds just like her albums - that is the amazing thing. Many performers that you see live lack the talent to sound right on stage but not Neko, her voice is as crisp and clear and genuine as you hear it on her CDs. "I'll Be Around" sounded amazing live, it was the last song she did and left me with goosebumps.

I have great admiration for her. She promotes animal adoption and visited the Minneapolis Humane Society while she was here. In between songs she spoke of various cats and dogs that were up for adoption, dedicating her songs to each of them and she went.

Neko reminds me a lot of a variety of other woman singers of the '40's -'60's. Patsy Cline, Wanda Jackson, and Peggy Lee were woman in charge with sultry voices.

"Is That All There Is" is one of my favorite Peggy Lee songs. Check out this psychedelic video probably from the '60's.


Now, my good friend The Potter has been having people vote on singers and actors. It seems to be a very effective tool to get people to comment on your blog. I will do the same and see what happens.

So, who would you pick from the gals of the past...Peggy Lee or Patsy Cline. I'll just go with those two and see what we get. Have FUN!