Update on Sarah

Sarah has made amazing progress from the surgery that she had in May.  It will take another 3 months for her spine to completely heal, but the incision has healed very nicely.   Her driving privileges were returned to her at her 6 week check up.  She is no longer in daily pain.  Instead, she gets sore every once in a while as her muscles are adjusting to being used again.  The most pain that she has at this point is from the nerves trying to reconnect and she says it feels like little bee stings.  She no longer has the pain that she felt prior to surgery, either!

Due to the surgery, we did not think that she would be able to cheer with her squad this fall, so she did not try out in the spring.  However, with many limitations, the doctor has allowed her to be apart of the team.  Bo and I approached the coach with this fabulous news and he gladly welcomed her back as a Senior Carrollton Trojan Cheerleader.  She will be ground bound and will not be competing, but being apart of the team for her senior year is what is most important.  We are so proud to see her in her uniform for one last year!

2011-2012 School Year Has Come To An End

School has been out for 2 weeks now.  Sarah, Tyler, and Connor all had a great year!  

Sarah walked away from her junior year with 7 A's and 1 B.  She earned her 3rd academic letter this year! We are so proud of her!  This was by far the toughest year she has had in high school.  She participated in an internship at a Carrollton Orthopaedics and really enjoyed it.  She left school early every other day to learn the ropes of a doctor's office.  While the experience was something that she enjoyed, she did learn that she does not want to be an orthopaedic doctor! Our baby girl is now a SENIOR!!  

Tyler made all A's and B's this year and is moving on up to the 5th grade.  He was accepted into the gifted program this year, which we hope will challenge him more in the years to come.  He was awarded the following awards on the last day of school:

• Certificate of Achievement for Recognition of Excellence in Reading
• Certificate of Achievement for Recognition of Excellence in Social Studies
• Certificate of Achievement for Recognition of Excellence in Science
• Certificate of Achievement for Recognition of Excellence in Language Arts
• Certificate of Achievement for Recognition of an Awesome Achiever - A's & B's during the entire 2011-2012 School Year

Connor is zooming to 2nd grade next year.  He was tested for the gifted program this school year as well.  More testing will take place over the course of the summer and we will know more at the start of the next school year.  Connor received the following awards:

• Music Award for outstanding participation and performance in music class
• Best Attitude Award for always having a positive attitude
• Mathematics Award for outstanding performance on the CRCT

Both of the boys took the CRCT  this year and excelled in every area.  A score of 800-849 meets expectations. A score of 850 and above exceeds expectations. 

Connor's scores:
Reading :854
Language Arts: 879
Math: 903

Tyler's scores:
Reading: 873
Language Arts: 930 (a perfect score!!)
Math: 876
Science: 890
Social Studies: 852

We are so proud of all of them!

Jeremiah 29:11

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord.  "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." 

I searched for weeks prior to Sarah's surgery for the perfect gift.  It finally came to me on a random Google search.  A ring with the scripture above engraved on it.  It was perfect!  Her scoliosis surgery is giving Sarah a future and a hope just as God intends for her to have.  Ironically (or by divine intervention perhaps??), this scripture has appeared in many places since, so it is now referred to as "our scripture".


As long as God, who knows the future, provides our agenda and goes with us as we fulfill his mission, we can have boundless hope.  This does not mean that we will be spared pain, suffering, or hardship, but that God will see us through to a glorious conclusion.


Sarah's surgery was a huge success and a glorious conclusion to a 10 year battle with scoliosis!  We can not be more proud of how brave she was to go through with it.  If I am being honest, I must say that I thought she would back out.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  She was so much braver than her dad and I were.


The surgery itself took 6 1/2 hours.  That was the longest 6 1/2 hours of our lives!  She did great in surgery; although she did lose enough blood right at the end that a blood transfusion was required.  Otherwise, there were no complications at all.  Before surgery, we were told that the doctor would need to fuse the rods down to L3.  This was a huge disappointment because we were counting on no lower than L2.  The lower the rods extend, the less flexibility she would have.  When the surgery was over, the doctor came to talk to Bo and I while Sarah was in recovery.  She happily reported that she only had to fuse to L1.  I've never seen Bo cry so hard (with joy, of course).


She had a 5 day hospital stay.  It was tough getting her pain management under control, which is what extended her stay. The muscle spasms and pain was intolerable most of the time. The change in her anatomy was upsetting because "it doesn't feel right," as she would say. The physical therapist had her walking only 20 hours after surgery, though and was a huge help in her recovery.

Once home, her recovery has been steady. She gets in and out of bed on her own. Dresses herself on her own. Feeds herself on her own. She couldn't do any of this the first day (or even on the 5th day!).

The first picture of the xray below was taken during surgery to assist with the rod placement.  The next picture is a before and after (1 week). As you can see, it's a huge change in her anatomy. My biggest fear in all of this is that she would regret her decision once it was too late to turn back. In the hospital, with all the pain she was experiencing, she said "Mom, I'm already so glad I did this". That was music to my ears.

The time has come.

Gosh, I just don't know where to start. I guess I need to back up several years. Sarah was diagnosed with scoliosis when she was just 7 years old. At that time her spine had an 18 degree curve. The doctors wanted to take the "wait and see" approach, so we did. One year later, her curve had progressed to 28 degrees. 10 degrees in one year is an aggressive progression, so she was braced. Her first brace did nothing and her spine continued to worsen over the years. We tried 2 other types of braces in conjunction with supplements, diet, and therapy for an hour every day for the next several years. Still her curve increased. Surgery has been recommended to her for years, but we always knew that would be a last resort. We have tried every natural way of correction with no avail. In the summer of 2010, she underwent an extremely intensive, week long therapy that gave us some hope. She started the therapy at 65 degrees and ended it at 54!! We were so hopeful that the correction would hold, but to our disappointment, it never did.

The pain has increased over the last year and her lumbar spine is getting stiffer. The x-ray to the left was taken on May 2, 2012. She has returned to having a 65 degree curve. As you can see, she has 2 curves in her spine. The top curve is the main curve of concern. The bottom one is called a compensatory curve. It is simply compensating for the top one.

 At 17 years old, Sarah is mature enough to make her own decisions regarding her treatment. After many months contemplating her course of action, countless sleepless nights, and many tears shed she has made the decision to proceed with surgery.  She will have 2 titanium rods fused to each side of her spine beginning around T4 and ending around L3. The x-ray to the right was taken with traction to show how much correction could potentially be made.  Her body will be tractioned while in surgery to straighten her spine as much as possible allowing the rods to be placed against a straighter spine. We are told that the surgery will improve the main curve to 34 degrees or better and the compensatory curve to 23 degrees.

The surgery will be performed on May 25, 2012 at Emory University Orthopaedics and Spine Hospital in Atlanta. The past 10 years have not been easy on Sarah and we are prayerful that the surgery will improve her adult quality of life.

Sarah's Junior Prom

"They grow up so fast"! "Before you know it, she will be going to prom"! I never believed it would go by as fast as everyone said it would. Sarah went to her Junior Prom last night. She was so stunning! I had so much fun taking pictures of her and Mason before the prom. They had a nice dinner at Sam and Rosco's in Douglasville and participated in the senior walk later that evening. After the prom, several of her friends went to a bon fire. Here are some of my favorite shots:

Connor's 7th Birthday

It's hard to believe it's been 7 years since we brought him home. He had a wonderful birthday celebration with some of his closest friends from our subdivision. They celebrated with a few games of bowling. Of course, he had to have a baseball cake!!

It's Baseball Season!

About 2 months ago, Connor began telling people that he was playing baseball in the spring. This was news to me, so I quickly signed him up to prevent his disappointment. I barely made the cut off. Shew! We headed out to the store to purchase all the necessary equipment. Boy, I had no idea he needed so much stuff ($$$$...ouch!). He has been playing for about a month now and is doing great! He had no idea how to bat, catch, or even the rules of the game when he began. He was pumped for his first game and went up to bat twice. He struck out twice. He has made so many improvements since then and you can count on him hitting the ball every time he comes to the plate now, thanks to his AWESOME dad. This picture was taken before the first game.

Bo was asked to help coach the team. He was reluctant at first, but has really enjoyed it and looks forward to the games now. You can find Connor and Bo in the front yard everyday after school practicing hitting and catching. Tyler has even gone out to practice with them several times and has picked up a lot of skill from it. He is saying that he may try to play next year, too. Here are a few highlights from the games. I love the one where he makes his first hit ever and Bo is at first base directing him in. Priceless! The next one is the high five in the dugout after the run home.

I have enjoyed watching Connor play baseball more than any other sport he has played, but more importantly HE has enjoyed it more as well. I can already hear them announcing "Connor Richardson #10" at the Carrollton High School games!!