Revision Surgery

As some of you may remember, our darling son, Mr 17 had scoliosis correction surgery exactly 3 years ago. His two major curves covering 11 segments in his spine, were corrected with rods, screws and bone grafts. Yesterday his annual X-ray showed that the bone grafts in his lower back have not grown to form a single bony structure. This structure is supposed to stop the curve from reforming. His back muscles that support the spine are pulling in one direction and the instrumentation is tugging in the opposite direction. No bone mass to stabilise his spine. I can only imagine the pain he has been living with, day after night. Our son needs revision surgery involving more instrumentation and more bone grafts. And soon. Next week soon. Too soon.

Your thoughts and prayers will be much appreciated.

The following posts (in chronological order) refer to our scoliosis surgery experiences I wrote about when I first started this blog:

Your typical Saturday...not so
Coffee?? Maybe not.
Anterior, Posterior.
Professor of Fashion, Form and Fit.
A joke and a prayer.
His shoes are bigger than you!
Change and New Heights.
Khazakstan and Lebanese Food
Exposed on all levels
It's still me.

Story Competition: Matching Velvet

Image from: http://treasureupwisdom.blogspot.com/2009/10/since-you-went-away-wwii-letters-from.html

She sat in the cafe feeling very self conscious as she wrote the last few words of a sentence she had been struggling with. That will do, she thought to herself. She looked the part but did not feel it. Her coffee had become cold. She did not know why she had ordered it. All she felt like doing was lying down and placing a pillow over her head. Deciding to leave she secured her hat and uncrossed her legs, her suede pumps brushing against one another. Her left hand caressed the lush velvet of her skirt. She stood up and, walking into the crisp Autumn air, she saw his eyes. He was alone. He looked a little scruffy yet appealingly handsome. She pictured him in a vest matching her skirt. Silly thought, she cursed herself, but, cute all the same. She slowly walked over to him, fearing he would turn away, her heart beating in her ears. His eyes pierced hers. She paused. Could she? Would she? If the most outrageous thing she had ever done was team a leather jacket with leopard print then this would be worth it. Yes, she would do it. She picked up that handsome puppy and took him home with her!

Have you written a story about a particularly interesting picture you've seen?

Celebrating: (almost) 10% of my book, Draft 1.

I have written almost 10% of my book (1st draft) and I would like to celebrate by devouring these Parisian delicacies and drinking the best coffee.

But, considering that the cafe where I had these last is a little out of my way

(oh, about 20,000 km), I guess I will have to settle for...

Image from www.ohhowposh.com

The Day Our Life Changed, Forever

When the sun is high

Not a cloud in the sky

A breeze on our cheek,

On a late winter's day

We remember the year,

the day,

the moment,

That our life changed forever.

Friday 13th August 1993.

This day greeted the entry of our first-born. This calm, intelligent, sensitive and responsible young man has placed in our hearts an indescribable happiness.

The image you see above is of Mr 17. He is carrying his cousin who is 15 years his junior and virtually the exact image of him at that age.

Happy 17th birthday to you our son, our friend.

A New Chapter

Source: www.googlethis.blogs.linbucks.com

I have been a pretty unreliable blogger (both visiting your blogs and posting on mine) for quite some time now. I will not go into the reasons for my absence. However, I have some wonderful news to share. My darling hubby and I have now completed our new surgery/business premises. Leaving work commitments aside, I now have some mental space (!) to do what I set out to at the inception of this blog in July 2008. That is to satisfy a niggling, ever-increasingly reddening, drive-me-mad-if-I-don't-scratch-it ITCH to write my first novel. This annoying itch will continue unless I make a major commitment to my book, hence this announcement. I owe it to myself and even to my darling Mr 8 who asked me recently: 'Mum, when are you going to publish your book?' (...aarm, it has to at least be written dear!). Most importantly though, I owe it to the characters whom I have developed to such an extent that they really do exist for me. I love them, each in their own way.

So the next step: just write. This blog will be my monitor for the book. I will place a word counter in my side-bar to track my progress. My deadline for a first draft is April 1st 2011 (no significance other than the joke being on me if I do not comply). And as presumptuous and arrogant as this may sound, I have never missed a deadline.

Have you made any commitments/resolutions of late?