The End of The School Year

The school year is coming to an end for 2010. Darein will be graduating 8th grade on Monday and Damein will be entering next year as a Senior. It is amazing how quickly time goes by. I remember when my children were small and how much we talked about what they were going to do when they grew up and working toward their goals all these years and always anxiously awaiting for this time to come. Now, that the time is here I find it very sobering and sad for me as a mom and yet so excited for my children to start the next step in their lives. It seems as though I have been preparing Damein for college as long as I possibly can imagine. We have always talked about what he wanted to do and focused on the steps that he needs to take to make that happen. Now, that it is here though it is very surreal and bottom line is that he still isn't positive what he wants to do. He is a very focused person however, and has a great head on his shoulders so I feel very comfortable with the fact that he is very prepared for the college part of his life. He makes excellent decisions and is just a model child. Darein on the other hand has a heck of a lot going on as well. Yes, she will be entering next year as a freshman but it is also time now for her to start the process of getting braces which is pretty typical for lots of kids. However, she will have to have jaw surgery in about a year and a half also. She will have anything from something as minor (which isn't very minor) as her jaw reset and that is it to something as major as Le Forte III Osteotomy which is a major facial reconstruction. This would involve bringing her mid-face forward, rhinoplasty as well as resetting her jaw all at once. We will have to meet with the surgeons and figure out which way we are going to go. Darein wants to have a rhinoplasty eventually but for insurance purposes it could be hard to get this paid for. We will just have to figure out after visiting with the surgeon, visiting with Darein and me and Shane talking and try to figure out what we all feel is in Darein's best interest. One surgeon suggested the major surgery but then when we had to switch, the other surgeon suggested the minor surgery and now we are considering a surgeon that is closer to home and so we will have to see what his opinions are. These are major decisions and a lot of planning and consideration will have to be taken into account. Darein is very excited about the end results but more than a little nervous about the surgeries themselves which is exactly how me and Shane feel about it as well. We are fortunate that she does not have to wear a back brace for her scoliosis at this time as this improved when she stood up the way she was supposed to.
I have to say that I am very thankful now that I am able to take this summer trip with her as the next few summers could be very limiting for her. This will be something very special for her prior to the many changes she must face over the next 2 or 3 years.
We will meet with her endocrinologist on Friday and will probably get some labs rechecked and talk about her adolescent development some more. She will also get the last of her vaccinations on this day as well and then the following Monday we will go back to the orthodontist and get the budget and plan for her braces and probably be set up to meet the oral surgeon here in Springfield so that we can decide for sure if we will use him for her surgery or not and see what his recommendations are. Hopefully, the bulk of her appointments will end by the end of May and we would like to hold off on her braces until after she gets back from vacation. I want her to be able to eat whatever she wants with no worries plus the inconvenience of keeping up with the cleaning and slight pain while traveling.
I am trying to take things one day at a time so as not to get overwhelmed. Darein does well talking about what is going to happen at the appointments on the day of the appointments, a little before and after. Other than that, she doesn't like to think about it either and we both seem to deal with things a little better this way though as a mom I find myself thinking about it a little more than is probably healthy. Always, preparing for the worst, thinking of all the different scenarios and possibilities and different plans. Have to remember to breathe sometimes :)
As any major changes occur I will keep you posted, otherwise look for my blog postings daily as I will try to blog everyday while on vacation about all the exciting things that Darein is experiencing.
I also forgot to mention how well Damein is doing in baseball! I am so proud of him and had no idea that he could pitch as well as he has been at this level. Still looking forward to his baseball tryout on June 7th as it will be here very soon. He also will be playing legion baseball this summer for the whole month of June and part of July. I am glad that I get to be here for the bulk of his games in June but will be disappointed to miss the districts and All-star games in July! He is definitely playing better than we have ever seen him play. Everything just seems to come together this year between his hitting, pitching and fielding. In the past usually one area has suffered as he has moved to the next level but this year, everything is flowing great and going very smoothly for him.
I'm gonna wrap this up today by just saying that I am a very proud momma!!! :)

Getting Ready For The Next Steps

I wasn't sure what to call this post. A lot has happened with Darein in recent weeks and we are trying to get things figured out. As you all know from my last post Darein has been diagnosed with scoliosis. The doctor wanted to see her back in a week and we have had quite a time trying to get that scheduled. Evidently the doctor is in only 1 day a week and of course he is normally in on Tuesdays but was not going to be able to see her until this Friday. Unfortunately, Darein is schedule to show her bench at State in Lake of the Ozarks at Lodge of the Four Seasons this Friday. Therefore, I had to reschedule her appointment to next Friday as her doctor will be out next Tuesday as well. We will get a repeat xray on the 14th and the orthopedic doctor will then tell me if she needs a brace or not at that time. I then proceeded to find out if she is ready for braces on her teeth or not as she was scheduled to have a follow up appointment with her orthodontist sometime in June. I called to check on this appointment and evidently they were not able to get a hold of Dr. Marsh in St. Louis. After speaking with the nurse at the orthodontist office it became unclear how Dr. Marsh, the plastic surgeon fit into everything. I then called to speak with his office some more in regards to how he fits in to Darein's major reconstructive facial surgery. I was told that it was our choice and that it was all considered jaw surgery. Darein's orthodontist's office works very closely with an oral surgeons office her in Springfield and states that they are very good. Therefore, Darein will go Monday for impressions and xrays to see how long she needs to wear braces prior to any reconstructive surgery on her face. They will then work with the local oral surgeon's office to set up appropriate timing of her surgery as well as braces in accordance with surgery. I think we will be able to get rid of Dr. Marsh in St. Louis and have everything done here locally but we will confirm all of this on Monday.
We are a little concerned about Darein possibly having to have braces on her teeth as well as a back brace all Summer during her vacation. We will just wait and see what her doctor's decide this week and go from there. That is all we can do at that time. Otherwise, I get a little frantic and tend to freak out as a mom :)
She is doing well and is not looking forward to the following braces but has accepted these as a possible reality and knows that we will work to do whatever is necessary. She is really a trooper and I am so proud that she has such a wonderful outlook on things. She doesn't get upset by all of this and understands the importance of doing whatever is necessary. I will have more information on her progress by the end of next week and will try to write again then.
Damein is also excelling at his baseball and we couldn't be prouder of him. We went to look at MU as a possible college choice and he actually seems like he is leaning towardds Drury. He does however have baseball tryouts at Rolla S&T June 7th so we won't know for sure which college has moved to the top of his list until he sees how that tryout goes. He is excelling so well at baseball this year that we are hoping that he gets rewarded with a few titles but we will see.
Darein goes to State tomorrow to see how well she does with her bench that she made in Shop during the 1st semester. We are wishing her well.
Take care and I wish you all well and will write again next week when I have more details on the upcoming appointments of next week!