Lauren’s Unending Pain

I guess Lauren as hit another bump in the road, there’s been plenty. From the time she was diagnosed , at age one, with Cerebral Palsy, there has been one bump right after the other. Life as certainly not been kind to this little girl; certainly not fair. The challenges that come with Cerebral Palsy have been too many to count. You might say will look on the bright side; well I’m looking but not seeing a lot of brightness at the moment. There is nothing pretty about Cerebral Palsy and if she were your child, you would probably understand our frustrations and helplessness.

Now don’t get me wrong, Lauren is one of the most beautiful children you could meet, she is an angel personified. She awakes in the morning and I say, “how can you look so beautiful the first thing in the morning?” She gives me a smile no matter what. Her intelligence goes far beyond my own, well in that case she doesn’t have far to go lol, so let’s say Mommy’s. We are so thankful for the many positive qualities that Lauren possesses.

But we cannot overlook the obstacles, when it comes to her health, that she has to endure. The castings, surgeries, physio, etc. that she has had to tolerate, is more then an adult could ever endure. But she is brave, strong, and courageous, yet we cannot turn our hearts away from the not being able to walk, not being able to sleep alone, the seizures, the cries and screams of pain and fear. Those are the things you can’t overlook and ignore and only see the good. Because with this illness comes the not so nice side.

Lauren was scheduled (so we thought) for her third femoral and acetabulum osteotomy, this time on her right hip. The surgery was booked for tomorrow (August 9) but after we finally got someone to answer the phone (after calling for two weeks), we were told there would be no surgery and they couldn’t give us a time when it would be done.

Now please understand my anger and frustration with the Janeway Hospital. It’s bad enough that we experienced this same crisis on her last surgery and now for it to happen a second time, is beyond belief. Here we have a little girl who just recuperated from one hip surgery and spent weeks in a body cast, And from today, to the day her cast came off, Lauren as screamed in pain every time she is moved. So her summer as not been what you would call playful and enjoyable.

For the past few weeks , the haunting thoughts of having the next surgery performed, plagued our thoughts. How could we do this again and live through the horrors? But we were willing to do it because it was what Lauren needed done so desperately to help ease some of the pain that is not going away without this surgery. Then to be told so politely that the surgery was not taking place, just devastated us. How can she go any longer, enduring this inhumane pain but according to our Health Care; that’s the way it is in the summer. In the SUMMER??? The season should not dictate available health care for our children. She’ll have to suffer a while longer until it’s convenient for someone to come back from holidays. If this were a dog that was in pain and we were withholding from taking her to a vet; we would be charged with animal cruelty and be aired on the 6:00 News. But in this case it’s a child and our hands are tied.

We are Lauren’s advocates right now; and we speak on her behalf but right now Lauren is going to speak for herself:

‘I can’t walk, my legs won’t work”

“But I want to walk like Bruddy”

“Am I having a cast this time?”

“Why did the Doctor have to cut me?”

“What did he cut me with?”

“My leg hurts”.

“Could you rub my leg and make it better”.

“I’m afraid”.

These are some of the questions and statements that Lauren as said over the past few months. Could you please help her and answer some of her questions because we just don’t know what to say anymore.