Special Prayer Request-tomorrow (Friday, July 25) at 11:00 am is
INTERNATIONAL {{{{{{HUGS}}}}} COLEMAN DAY.
Please take a moment to send up your prayers for Coleman and hug your kids (or spouse, or dog or yourself). The power of prayer (collectively) can help them right now. We love you Larsons!
Hannah had her DXA scan on Tuesday, took an hour to drive there, an hour to drive home (of course, not including the Olive Garden lunch) and about 3 minutes for the scan. Hannah was very happy that this time there was no prodding or poking, needles or sticks. We were in and out of there in about 10 minutes total, which was nice.
I'm here now trying to interpret some of the results. The report says that the diagnosis is osteoporosis and her fracture risk is high (Paul, her z-score is -3.1). Low bone mineral density is a Z-score that is less than or equal to -2.0, adjusted for
age, gender and body size. So, Hannah is not only low, but very low. They scanned her lumber spine and her hip. The hip is not as reliable for data as the spine, since she is still growing. The Z-score we got today was from the spinal scan. From what I can interpret from the report, the average density for her age/weight/height and race is around .65 and Hannah's density is .4. She is more than 3 standard deviations below the mean for her comparative group.
So what does all this mean? I don't know. Much of the data I have read says that it should not be qualified as osteoporosis unless the child also experiences several bone fractures. As far as we know, Hannah has had none. However, the only thing that would show more definitively would be a CAT scan, not a normal x-ray like she has had in the past. There are many variables that go into this diagnosis, not just the DXA. Tomorrow morning we will go in for a blood draw and urine test that the endocrinologist ordered in addition to the DXA scan. All of this information reviewed together should give us (him) a better idea of what's going on and where to go from here.
I have a new found respect for endocrinologists, this information is all very complicated to interpret and so many factors are interrelated, it's often difficult.
Tomorrow should be interesting. We will go early in the morning for her blood draw, then Hannah's tutor is coming at 9am. Monday Hannah ran from the room and I couldn't get her to come back. They finally worked it out, and studied for about 45 minutes. Today she did not want to work on her homework, she is crying because "everyone else has summer, why do I have to have a tutor? It's not fair." She finally refused to do the rest of her homework, and said she is going to run out tomorrow morning also. I tried reasoning with her, the whole explanation, but nothing seems to be working. I think she's just tired of it, she is frustrated and she sincerely does not care whether she learns or not. This isn't up for negotiation, so we'll see how it plays out. I felt so badly though, I wanted to yell out "no, it's not fair." But when I think of all those other children who are dying from this cancer, I do feel this is something I can't even begin to complain about.
♥♥♥ Kim ♥♥♥
3 comments:
Hey Hannah!
How's the pool!? I was at my parent's house last week but I don't think you were home :( Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I too am going to school this summer. I have to drive an hour to and from and stay there for THREE hours at time! Also, I am tutoring a student in math, so you are not the only one that misses out on a couple of summer hours a day. I definitely know how you feel, not wanting to "think" when you are on vacation, but at least it is only for part of the day. I wish I had something more encouraging to say, but just know that you're not alone! Keep up the good work, and enjoy the free time that you do have :)
-Erin
sorry to hear about your coding problem with the town! That sucks. I hope he had a crappy night sleep that guy! But on the upside. once everything is in place.. you will sleep better knowing all is safe in your yard!
I don't know what to make of the whole bone density thing either. I will just pray for Hannah to be safe and experience NO broken bones of any kind at any time. And the whole tutor thing... yikes! That's a tough one too. Hannah is already smart beyond her years so I can only wish you great luck. I am hating every second of knowing that I have to figure school into Kasey's life again real soon. It's kind of a nightmare with everthing else that is going on right now. I will be thinking of you buddy Coleman today. It's not fair at all what happens to these precious babies of ours. Cookies sounds like a good way to stir the thoughts some where else if only for a minute or two. Maybe you can exchange a cookie bake for some tutoring with Hannah today?
Have a good weekend, keep on enjoying that pool.
Sending thoughts and hugs your way!
Amy... Kasey's mom
Hi Kim and Team Hannah!
Will you be getting more news about all these bone density results? I hope it doesn't bother her much.
Tell Hannah Kelly has a new tutor that is starting Monday. So it is back to the books for Kelly now. She is so behind from this last year, she has a lot of catching up to do. This new tutor sounds good though. It is a shame they have to do this during the summer.
Enjoy the pool!
Love from California,
Kathy and Kelly
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