Costume teaser

Our terrible Tuesday spilled over into Wednesday a bit. Maggie went to school but she couldn't make it. I had to go get her at 11ish. I think the stress of the day before was just too much. I was worried she was really in trouble, but after a couple of hours she was back to herself again.

The trauma of the tests on Tuesday was not wasted, though. I spoke with the doctor yesterday and they obtained some good information that may end up helping Maggie. Fingers crossed. We talked about timing for scheduling the next procedure. I specifically asked if we could do things after Halloween. Maggie does Halloween in a very big way and she missed last Halloween because she was undergoing medical tests. The doctor was completely on board with that, so we have a breather for a couple of weeks.  

The Halloween costume is under construction as we speak.Steve always does an elaborate decoration for her chair and this year will be no exception. You will have to wait for the big reveal.  Maggie and I went to the Halloween store to focus on her costume and I think you will be wowed. As we wandered through the store I had to laugh at the political masks on the wall. Maggie fit right in.

Just to keep you entertained, I am reposting pictures of past costumes. These are all Steve's creations.

2004 Hell on Wheels

2005 Leprechaun, complete with the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow

2006 viking with her own ship

2007 Race Car Driver (and her nurse came dressed as a pit crew worker)

and the Chef in 2008, (my personal favorite). The oven door rally opened

2009 Pirate

As noted she had to skip last year but she will be all ready for 2011. This year the costume really fits the Maggie we all know and love. 

Stay tuned!

No Soup for you

Just a drive by today. In two hours Maggie has to be in the admitting office at UCSF. They are doing two procedures in the OR which of course means anesthesia. Hopefully we will be home by dinner time, but there is a possiblity that she (we) will spend the night. Last year we did the same thing came home and had to go back in emergently the next day. I suggested they just plan to keep her so she will be safe. that was a few weeks ago when she was still showing signs and symptoms of that stubborn infection. Now she's very healthy. I will do whatever they say, but I don't feel strongly one way or the other. (See, sometimes I'm compliant.)

I have to gather up all the necessary gear for both an 8 hour stay and a 24 hour stay. So I'm off.

Maggie is on her computer asking for breakfast over and over and over again. She cannot eat because of the anesthesia. She gets that, but doesn't at the same time.  I just tell her "No Soup for YOU"  and she laughs her head off.

(If that doesn't make sense to you , go watch reruns of Seinfeld.)

Keep a good thought. I'll check back in later

Do You See What I see?

I was so hoping the new administration in Washington would take some of the emphasis off standardized testing in the schools. Maybe they will eventually, but it certainly is not happening yet. There is federal money available to help some ailing schools in California and presumably in the rest of the country as well. However, schools that are “lowest performing” on test scores, are forced to take some draconian measures in order to get the money.

According to this morning’s SF Chronicle: (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/26/MNA31CK4FP.DTL)

Schools on the lowest-performing list each will be eligible for up to $2 million in federal Title I money annually for three years if they initiate one of the following reform strategies starting in 2010-11:

Turnaround model: Replace the principal and at least half of the existing staff. The new principal would have flexibility to hire and to set the school calendar and budget.

Restart model: Convert to a charter school.

School-closure model: Shut down and send the students to higher-achieving schools.

A transformation model: Replace the principal, reform instruction, increase learning time and provide operational flexibility.



Maggie’s High school, Mission High is one of those schools. However because the principal has been in place less than two years he does not have to worry about losing his job. I am glad. He is a good principal and Mission High is a vibrant community with dedicated teachers and staff. I have no idea what happens next, though I am sure the school will not close or become a charter school.

Admittedly, my involvement with the school is limited to the Special Education arena. I do not know anything about how the students do on standardized tests (other than what I read) nor do I know what is going on in the classrooms. However, this is not the dark ages. The special ed students are part of the schools’ population and Maggie’s classroom is right next to classes of regular ed students. I have met several of the teachers, and I feel safe in my assumption that they are doing the best job possible.

I can tell also you this, the energy and activity in the hallways is like that of many high schools. I see essays about Haiti and posters for student government elections on the bulletin board in the hall and read about the basketball team’s success on the court. The student body is comprised of every ethnicity known to man and I cannot even estimate how many different languages are spoken in the hallways of the school or the homes of the students. The kids are respectful and polite to me and to Maggie and her peers. During class time, the hallways are quiet and during free times, they are teeming with energetic teenagers and all the drama and angst that come with that.

I’m willing to bet the smartest kids go to good colleges and those who don’t’ achieve fail to graduate – just as in every other school in the United States. I am willing to bet that some kids get into trouble for bad behavior and do not do their homework, that others are excellent student citizens and that some parents are involved but many are not, just as in every other school. I am also willing to be that Mission High has more English language learners than many high schools and there just might be a few reasons they have not excelled on standardized tests. Despite those reasons, however, the scores are improving. It is a long road back and the school is making its way.

The federal money is needed and welcome. I am sure the school will do whatever they have to do to get the influx of resources. There certainly will not be any coming from the State of California, so it will be the only money around. I wonder, however, how long the federal and state governments will continue to use one measure - standardized test scores – to measure how well a school is doing. As a parent of a child who has never taken a standardized test of any kind (by my choice), it automatically eliminates my child from the equations.

It is not practical, I know, but these bureaucrats need to walk through some of these schools before they order ½ the teachers fired or close the whole thing down. Walk through the halls and see what I see and tell me this isn’t working.

Pshaw, it's nothing.

I have always known Maggie was a tough chick, but I have a new appreciation today. Maggie has had so many surgeries that I have lost count. I know it is over 70. That does not include other “procedures” like CT scans, MRI’s and other non-invasive tests. There have been hundreds of those. If procedures do not hurt and are non-invasive, I do not think much about them. It is just no big deal. It could go something like, "Maggie has an MRI scheduled at noon, but I can meet you at two, does that work?"  No more. She gets my full attention and respect for all these procedures. Generally, she has to be sedated for these tests because she cannot possibly stay still. That is a lot of drugs in her little body, which sometimes requires an IV. That just exchanges one stressor for another.

A couple of weeks ago Tim had to have an MRI for his injured knee. He had one last year and expressed concern and trepidation about the test. I pooh poohed him. Of, c’mon, it’s 20 minutes and it doesn’t hurt. He did fine.

Today it was my turn. I was more than a little freaked out. As I was entering that very small tube with my bad shoulder fixed under some gizmo, I felt the panic starting to rise. I closed my eyes and said about 1000 Hail Mary’s. When it was supposed to be finished, the person said he had to do it again because there was movement in my shoulder probably from my breathing. Right. That did not surprise me. I was hyperventilating the whole time. I concentrated on slowing my breathing and started the Hail Mary’s all over again. I was afraid to move my “free” arm (not that there was much room) because I envisioned getting it stuck as I was coming out of the machine. It was wedged uncomfortably against the side, but I just left it there for the 20 or so minutes I was in the machine.

When I got out I texted Tim to tell him I now understood his fear. He definitely has a bit of claustrophobia. He went in feet first and could look around the room and he was still freaked out. I went in headfirst and learned almost immediately that he inherited that claustrophobia from me.

I took the bus home from the place but I needed to take a few minutes to collect myself before I hoped on the bus. I sat down at Starbucks and had some hot chocolate.

I felt like a huge baby. When Maggie gets home I am going to give her an extra hug today to start to make up for all those MRI’s that I thought were nothing.

She will probably laugh, though, because my daughter is a stud.