Sincere Apologies . . .

I'm so, SOOOO sorry it's been soooo long. Unfortunately, this time 'no news is NOT good news.' Sumana started out great after surgery, but we've had a rough couple of weeks. First of all, I took her back in on her birthday (November 22), to check on the way her back was 'bulging' or 'sagging' as bad or worse than before surgery. Usually, she comes out straighter and taller, but this time we saw little, if any, improvement. At that visit Dr. Sander's nurse practitioner said things looked good on the x-ray, so the obvious answer was that we didn't get as much benefit from the expansion as usual. This was the last expansion on these rods, but I can't help but wish the doctor had put in new rods THIS time. I'm afraid she'll be having surgery much sooner this time.

Well, pain-wise Sumana did very well: that is until Thursday when she started up with a sharp, stabbing pain on the right lower side of her back. It seems to be at the place where the rods connect on the lower side. So, we were off to see Dr. Sanders on Friday, Dec. 3. Once again, the x-rays showed nothing. The rods look like they are properly secured and there was no sign of infection. However, she's back on the narcotics and she wakes me up EVERY night for meds. If she's not better by Thursday, the doctor wants to see her again.

So, it's been a rough time this time around. Add to that, the fact that Daddy has been in New York City, Philadelphia and Albany for work . . . Sumana really misses her dad (ditto for the rest of us, too!)

We're off to celebrating the Christmas season. Gretchen has a choral concert Thursday, our Williams family get-together is Sunday, the Foster Family party is next Tuesday, and the list goes on. I still have pictures to load, but it takes awhile, so that will have to wait for another time.