Shelby's JDMS Journal of Events
March 2000 to present

Week 7

Sunday 4/16/00 :  Another day of not-so-nice weather today. Shelby did a lot of lounging around today. She did some reading, some coloring, and she helped me fold and put clothes away. She looked forward to the 'N Sync concert which was on Fox Family TV tonight. She really enjoyed that! We are noticing her rash is getting better (and she hasn't even started the Plaquenil yet...maybe she won't need to?). Meal time is taking a lot longer than normal, as are most other tasks but that is to be expected. 

Monday 4/17/00 : Shelby asked for help getting dressed today. I think she can do it herself, except the socks and shoes, but I helped her anyway. I think after a boring weekend, she was really glad to be going back to school. She read me one of her library books this morning. Thanks to her, her brother is reading very well already. Shelby isn't going to be a kid that needs a lot of reminding to do her chores. She does most of her work on her own without being asked. She puts away her clothes the minute I put them on her dresser, she makes her bed every day, and she keeps her room neat and clean. I know how lucky we are, because Sheridan is the complete opposite. He'd walk over a floor covered with clothes and toys before he'd think to keep it neat like Shelby does. Shelby told him "Sheridan, your room is a mess, you need to pick it up". He pretended like he didn't hear her. :-) Boys will be boys. He'd rather be outside getting muddy shoes and throwing rocks around for no particular reason. Shelby was looking forward to PT already this morning, telling me not to forget her swim suit. I may get in the pool with her one of these days. She is tall enough to touch the bottom now, which makes it much easier (Our therapy pool is a 4 ft. lap pool). She is the longest-legged kid I think I've ever seen. They say she may grow slower than normal now while her muscles are healing. We've noticed that she isn't growing at the same rate as Sheridan, we noticed it last time we took their heights which was just about 2 months ago.

Shelby has the opportunity to go to "Camp Spirit" which is a camp for kids with arthritis and related diseases. It's a whole week, from June 25-July 1. She's not sure if she wants to go for 2 reasons. 1) It falls on her birthday, June 29. 2) That was the week she was planning to go to her Grandma and Grandpa Baatz's house. Hutch and I are ambivalent about her going, too. I'm not sure she's ready physically. She still needs a lot of assistance and she isn't the type of kid to ask a perfect stranger for help. I do think it would be good for her though, not only for the social aspect of it and to gain independence, but also to meet other kids who have physical limitations because of a medical condition. The other hesitation I have is her medication. She isn't swallowing the pills whole, we cut them and grind them up and give them to her powdered in milk by spoonfuls. I don't know if the camp counselors would be willing to do that or not. It might be best to wait until next year, but we'll continue to think it over and talk to her doctor before we make a decision.

Next

 

Home || About Shelby || JDMS Journal of Events || Current Treatment
What JDMS Looks Like || E-mail Shelby

Page created 04/06/2000 last updated 06/19/2001.