Re: Need advice for Hannah

[Guest guest]

Kathy and Beth,

Are y'all going to AJAO in Atlanta? I would really love to meet y'all as

well as EVERYBODY in the list - kinda put faces with names so to speak. LOL

[Guest guest]

Cool - I got a scholarship from my local AF

We live in Alabama. Only around a 4 hr trip for us. We'll be staying at the

Omni also.

love, prayers, and blessings

(age 36 - poly since age 3)

[Guest guest]

I'll be in Atlanta. I registered online Friday and booked our room at the Omni.

We're arriving Thursday (not sure what time, but we're driving up from FL) and

leaving on Sunday afternoon/evening. I'm still trying to figure out how much

time I want to take off from work before and after as I'm sure we'll need to

make extra stops along the way and I don't want to have to rush the whole time.

It's about a 9 hour non-stop drive, and I'm figuring we'll want to break every

couple hours. It will be me, hubby and 2 kiddos: , poly, age 19 mos and

Luke age 4-1/2. I look forward to meeting everyone.

Re: Need advice for Hannah

Kathy and Beth,

Are y'all going to AJAO in Atlanta? I would really love to meet y'all as

well as EVERYBODY in the list - kinda put faces with names so to speak. LOL

[Guest guest]

I wish my answer was Yes, but no. Unfortnately, Hannah has missed so much

school this year I have very little vacation time left. Hopefully next year.

thewalkers1989@... wrote: Kathy and Beth,

Are y'all going to AJAO in Atlanta? I would really love to meet y'all as

well as EVERYBODY in the list - kinda put faces with names so to speak. LOL

[Guest guest]

Beth, My Elaney was 8 when she was diagnosed. At that time it wasn't so bad, but

now it is. In her church group it was announced that she had JRA and then she

got to answer questions about it. I think it helped her to feel more control

over the JRA. Also, the Dr. really listens to her and even lets her make some

decisions about her health.

Maybe your Hannah feels a lack of control over her health issues and I imagine

that you probably do to. I pray things get better soon.-- & Elaney(12

poly)

Beth Yohnk <yohnkmom@...> wrote:

Hi everyone:

I read your post to Jo and plan on showing it to Hannah. She has a

hard explaining her problems to her friends.

Here's where I need the advice. Hannah has been through so much in the last

six months. Her asthma was out of control; she started with the joint pain; she

had go to all these doctors who kept taking blood; she chipped her femur and is

now in a leg cast; had another asthma attack while in the cast and today woke

with what we thought was a UTI, but it looks like yet another virus. We are

going to the ortho and immunologist next week and are hoping finally for some

answers.

Here's my problem: through all of this Hannah has quoted me in saying " I know

I'm sick, but I know God has chosen me for all of this for a reason " . Pretty

profound for a 9 year old. Well, over the last few days she is sooo down. I'm

really starting to worry about her mental health. How have your children who

were closer in Hannah's age when their problems started dealing with all of

this? I'm running out of ideas to help her and I don't want to go broke buying

her things to cheer her up. She just can't catch a break right now and I don't

know how she'll do if they do finally give us a diagnosis.

Sorry to ramble, but she means the world to me. I could just cry (and have)

seeing her like this.

thanks..

Beth

Beth Yohnk

Happy Thoughts..Be Well

[Guest guest]

Beth:

My son was diagnosed at age 12, although a little older than Hannah, went

through depression as well. We finally got him into a counselor. He and I

would both talk to the counselor together, then I would leave the room

and they'd talk. It was remarkable how much it helped him to vent to a

person not involved in the situation.

I must add that it was very important for him to have a counselor he felt

comfortable with, who understood chronic pain, and had experience

counseling children.

I hope that this helps.

and Rob 17 Spondy

On Mon, 5 Jun 2006 16:52:40 -0700 (PDT) Beth Yohnk

<yohnkmom@...> writes:

Hi everyone:

I read your post to Jo and plan on showing it to Hannah. She

has a hard explaining her problems to her friends.

Here's where I need the advice. Hannah has been through so much in the

last six months. Her asthma was out of control; she started with the

joint pain; she had go to all these doctors who kept taking blood; she

chipped her femur and is now in a leg cast; had another asthma attack

while in the cast and today woke with what we thought was a UTI, but it

looks like yet another virus. We are going to the ortho and immunologist

next week and are hoping finally for some answers.

Here's my problem: through all of this Hannah has quoted me in saying

" I know I'm sick, but I know God has chosen me for all of this for a

reason " . Pretty profound for a 9 year old. Well, over the last few days

she is sooo down. I'm really starting to worry about her mental health.

How have your children who were closer in Hannah's age when their

problems started dealing with all of this? I'm running out of ideas to

help her and I don't want to go broke buying her things to cheer her up.

She just can't catch a break right now and I don't know how she'll do if

they do finally give us a diagnosis.

Sorry to ramble, but she means the world to me. I could just cry (and

have) seeing her like this.

thanks..

Beth

Beth Yohnk

Happy Thoughts..Be Well

[Guest guest]

Beth,

Have you heard of the book " its not just growing pains " . Its a good

book that is well illustrated and written from a young girls

perpective on getting sick and how she plans to tell her friends

about it.

Aundrea has taken this book to school each year and at some point

she will have the teacher read it to the class and then she answers

their questions regarding jra.

She said that she gets tired of people asking why she is limping,

using crutches, missing school, staying indoors etc....By talking

with the class this sort of allows her to take control and get the

whole topic out of the way.

Aundrea is 10 and she seems to really benefit from journaling. She

also likes the computer and will even send me emails. The kids chat

room was started thru this group but for some reason it just hasn't

taken off. If Hannah would ever like to email Aundrea I am sure

that she would love it and I know that she would correspond with

her...If you want Drea's address just email me off-list

sonia1md@...

Sure hope things get better for you both soon!

Blessings,

(Aundrea 10 systemic jra)

> Hi everyone:

>

> I read your post to Jo and plan on showing it to Hannah.

She has a hard explaining her problems to her friends.

>

> Here's where I need the advice. Hannah has been through so much in

the last six months. Her asthma was out of control; she started with

the joint pain; she had go to all these doctors who kept taking

blood; she chipped her femur and is now in a leg cast; had another

asthma attack while in the cast and today woke with what we thought

was a UTI, but it looks like yet another virus. We are going to the

ortho and immunologist next week and are hoping finally for some

answers.

>

> Here's my problem: through all of this Hannah has quoted me in

saying " I know I'm sick, but I know God has chosen me for all of

this for a reason " . Pretty profound for a 9 year old. Well, over the

last few days she is sooo down. I'm really starting to worry about

her mental health. How have your children who were closer in

Hannah's age when their problems started dealing with all of this?

I'm running out of ideas to help her and I don't want to go broke

buying her things to cheer her up. She just can't catch a break

right now and I don't know how she'll do if they do finally give us

a diagnosis.

>

> Sorry to ramble, but she means the world to me. I could just cry

(and have) seeing her like this.

>

> thanks..

>

> Beth

>

> Beth Yohnk

> Happy Thoughts..Be Well

>

>

[Guest guest]

:

Thanks for the advice. My son (age 11) saw a counselor a while ago for some

self esteem issues. I called her offic and she said she would be glad to see

Hannah. I'm going to wait until her 2 appts next week. We are hoping to have

some more answers after that. She has also been e-mailing Aundrea ('s

daughter) and loving it. She has really been able to express herself with her

and getting advice from someone the same age.

snooksmama@... wrote:

Beth:

My son was diagnosed at age 12, although a little older than Hannah, went

through depression as well. We finally got him into a counselor. He and I

would both talk to the counselor together, then I would leave the room

and they'd talk. It was remarkable how much it helped him to vent to a

person not involved in the situation.

I must add that it was very important for him to have a counselor he felt

comfortable with, who understood chronic pain, and had experience

counseling children.

I hope that this helps.

and Rob 17 Spondy

On Mon, 5 Jun 2006 16:52:40 -0700 (PDT) Beth Yohnk

<yohnkmom@...> writes:

Hi everyone:

I read your post to Jo and plan on showing it to Hannah. She

has a hard explaining her problems to her friends.

Here's where I need the advice. Hannah has been through so much in the

last six months. Her asthma was out of control; she started with the

joint pain; she had go to all these doctors who kept taking blood; she

chipped her femur and is now in a leg cast; had another asthma attack

while in the cast and today woke with what we thought was a UTI, but it

looks like yet another virus. We are going to the ortho and immunologist

next week and are hoping finally for some answers.

Here's my problem: through all of this Hannah has quoted me in saying

" I know I'm sick, but I know God has chosen me for all of this for a

reason " . Pretty profound for a 9 year old. Well, over the last few days

she is sooo down. I'm really starting to worry about her mental health.

How have your children who were closer in Hannah's age when their

problems started dealing with all of this? I'm running out of ideas to

help her and I don't want to go broke buying her things to cheer her up.

She just can't catch a break right now and I don't know how she'll do if

they do finally give us a diagnosis.

Sorry to ramble, but she means the world to me. I could just cry (and

have) seeing her like this.

thanks..

Beth

Beth Yohnk

Happy Thoughts..Be Well