Fantu's Ups and Downs

Fantu has been having occasional knee pains since school started. Never too bad, but she did complain on occasion. Over Christmas break it started hurting her a bit more. No exercise or stress on the joint... growing pains? First day back to school in athletics class they had to run for 25 minutes. By the end of the day she could barely walk. By the next morn, she couldn't. She stayed in bed. She had to use the crutches we had from Abates injury a few months earlier to get around. I called the Doctor, first appointment would be Wednesday Jan 4th in the afternoon. She missed school on that day too.

At the doctor they started with x-rays, inconclusive. There is water on the knee so something is wrong. The doctor has his suspicions, to confirm he ordered an MRI. After a week with hassles from the insurance company she finally got her MRI Jan. 11th. We didn't get results then until Friday afternoon the day before her birthday party. She has a full lateral miniscus tear – torn cartlidge. She would be sent to a orthopedic surgeon in Waco. So here we are a week later, Fantu is still on crutches and we have an appointment to see the Doctor on Monday morning.

So as I mentioned above Fantu had a birthday this past weekend. She has been planning a bowling party for the past 6 months. Crutches – knee in pain – hmmmm, I don't think so. So with a last minute change in plans we turned the garage into a disco, ordered tons of food and drink, hit the party supply store and sent out invitations to 17 girls for a Disco theme slumber party.
What a day getting the garage cleared and decorated. It took all day. Fantu was on the phone double checking who all was going to be here when several of the girls backed out due to the livestock show and some sports activities. I then had her crying and shutting herself in her room thinking no one would be coming. Well 10 girls came and they had a blast. WE were busy all night making “mocktails” Frozen virgin margaritas, strawberry daiquiris, and pina coladas. All served in cute little plastic cocktail glasses with brightly colored straws and paper umbrellas. Trays of food quickly disappeared and so we ordered pizzas, which were gone in blink. I've never seen teen girls eat so much. It was great hearing all the laughter, squeals and fun coming from them all. It made the hard work so very worth it. I think this will be a birthday that Fantu will remember for a long time.

Now we just have to see what the Doctor says on Monday, we are trying to prepare her for the possibility that she will require surgery. Right now I'd guess the odds are 50/50. I think she will recover quicker with the surgery than she will without it and will be less likely to have problems with it down the road. But I'm not the expert – that’s why we wait weeks for a good doctor, and argue with insurance companies all to be sure we can hopefully get good advice and treatment.
Hopefully the news will be good. I'll keep you posted.