Just When You Think You Have It…Back to the Drawing Board

As many of you know, my trip to Ohio was a success. Not only did I survive 9 days, 2000 miles, one flat tire and numerous hours in the car with 3 boys; I completed 10 interviews. I was hoping to get 20 but 10 proved to be a challenge.

The stories I heard and the families I met are completely amazing. So many stories of strength and faith, of family and of hope. I have learned more from the past 9 days of interviews than I could have ever expected.

I came home and quickly dumped my footage and started to process. Previously I spent weeks developing a template and perfecting the story lines. This time I took one look at the pictures and the footage and I had a better idea. So I went back to the drawing board and started from scratch. It was a painful process especially because I didn’t make back ups of my selected footage (stupid brain!). But the best part was I caught this early and didn’t have to re-edit more than 5 stories. I am confident the new style is exactly what I wanted to portray. I am very proud of the work and hope to have it online soon. (I know I have been saying this for months).

For those of us with AMC or with AMC kiddos, going back to the drawing board is second nature. We may find that a painful surgical procedure wasn’t as effective and will need to be done again; we find that insurance companies won’t pay for the treatments or the equipment so we need to be creative to get financing; We find that we all do the best we can with what we know at the time. Sometimes we just have to call do over.

This trip really drove that point home. To hear the stories of frustration with the system, with treatments and day-to-day challenges, we need to learn to expect the unexpected and be ready for anything.

I found out that Owen’s October knee release (a procedure that almost killed him due to a blood clot) wasn’t effective alone. Dr. Van Bosse wants to try an external fixator once Owen recovers from his June surgeries. If you know anything about the Illizarov method or fixators, you know this is every parent’s nightmare. And not too easy for the patient. I was so upset and spent the night wallowing in self-pity for me and crying for Owen. But the next day, I woke up and realized I have control over the situation, not the doctors. I came up with a solution that will eliminate surgeries and possibly help many more people in the same situation. Once Owen is out of the casts, we will assume a 1 year aggressive program of chiropractic, acupressure, hippotherapy, aqua therapy and massage to help straighten his legs. I have talked with our team, slowly gathering the medical records and worked out a plan. The doctors tell me it won’t work, surgery is the only option. I however love a challenge and believe this is the right way for Owen.

So simply put life lesson #43: always be willing to go back to the drawing board, you never know what you will find.