Surgery date Nov 5th

Just an FYI that Eli's surgery has been scheduled for next Wednesday, Nov 5th at 1:45pm. We will be in the hospital 5-7 days, but I hope we are home by the end of the weekend. I will stay home with E a couple of days the following week, and then we hope to have home care for the rest of the week and the following week. Hopefully he will be strong enough to return to school the week of Nov 24th - which is Thanksgiving, so only a 3 day school week.

I am anticipating his recovery to be similar to the last back surgery - and he did so well. Hopefully this time will be the same!

More surgery for Eli

Here's Eli visiting with Granny and Pa at school the first week in September. While he is leaning right in his chair, you can see that his shoulders are square.

A couple of weeks later I noticed his right shoulder was really drooping. Todd brought it to my attention as well so we thought we'd better take him for a check up with Dr. Bellflower, the orthopedic surgeon.



To all of our shock and amazment (including Dr. Bellflower...perhaps mostly Dr. Bellflower), X-Ray shows that he has broken one of the rods in his back. Apparently there must have been one spot on his spinal column that did not fuse - while the bone above and below that spot did fuse, so there were 2 solid counter measures bending with each one of Eli's movements. The rod was like a stretched out paperclip that was bent back and forth, back and forth and finally snapped. The other rod looks like it could completley snap at any time.

So...back he goes for another surgery. This one won't be as big as the initial surgery - the incision will be 6-8". They will put "sleeves" on both rods at the breaking point and they put some kind of protein accelerator on the bone at the weak point to encourage the bone to fuse. He will be in the hospital 5-7 days. We will get a date for surgery on Monday.

Thankfully Eli doesn't seem bothered by the snapped titanium rod in his back! Apparently this is usually very painful, but he has not shown any signs of distress.

Bless his sweet little heart.

Fall beauty

There is no question that these Northern Hemisphere temperate climate Hoosiers are on to something in the fall. The changing leaves produce incredible bursts of colour that almost make one's heart stop. Too bad it represents nastiness ahead in the form of winter.

All of these shots are at the pond at the entrance to Ft. Ben State Park - where we had family portraits done in 1993. Just 0.8 mile from my home.




This will look familiar to Mum, Dad and perhaps Brad. The old Fort HQ is in the back ground - now converted to a restaurant and B&B.

Fall Day "leaf watching"

It is a gorgeous fall day in Indiana. Kevin took me on an impromptu road trip along the country roads of eastern Indiana. We had lunch in Oldenburg, close to Brookville, at The Pearl Street Pub and continued through winding roads enjoying the country side and beautiful colors of fall.

Day(s) of travel

Mum and Dad were safely deposited at the Indianapolis International Airport with baggage checked all the way to BNE.

At this moment in time they are almost landing in St. Louis. On to LA in a couple of hours, then leaving LAX at 2:30am my time. Landing in BNE 6am Saturday Aust. time - 4pm Friday my time.

Boggles the mind!

I am sad, it is always so bitter sweet - bitter because we have to say good-bye, sweet because we have created such wonderful memories!

Wednesday Oct 1

We enjoyed a day downtown at the Indiana State Museum. The temperatures dropped today - chilly for the tropical guests, but actually quite delightful for those of us who have to live through the next 5 months.

The museum opens onto the canal - which has memorials and many art and cultural interests along the way. This pendulum is facinating - with it making a full rotation turn every 40 hous or so.




The museum houses one of Indy's IMEX 3-D movie theaters - so we enjoyed a 40 minutes film on the Grand Canyon. Incredible photography....and of course the need for the 3-D glasses - below.........