JENNA MARIE'S UPDATE

February 7, 2009

Dear family & friends,

My, how time flies when you let it!! I can't believe it's been 1 1/2 years since I updated Jenna's website. Life gets busy and some things just get pushed to the side, like this website. I thought I'd bring everyone up to date...

Per my last update, Jenna was scheduled to have her left hip surgery in October of 2007. She finally had it in November of 2007 and everything went well. She had a lot of pain with that surgery, and besides taking off all the tape over the course of a month, was the worst part of the surgery. She didn't have to wear a cast (thank goodness!!!) but it made me a little more nervous moving her around.

In July of 2008 Jenna had her 2nd hip surgery, the right hip this time, and we made sure that she received the right meds to help with the pain. There was a pain management team that worked really hard to make sure Jenna was comfortable, and it worked! With the exception of a little rash, she did fine. After we got home, we had to make one trip to the local emergency room due to Jenna's inability to urinate, and that part was almost as bad as the entire hospital stay for the surgery. Some hospitals just don't have the ability or the right equipment when dealing with small children who have bad veins and need blood drawn. I thought my mom was going to punch out the nurse when she was trying to draw blood (not really, but we were all pretty upset!!). We took care of the original problem and went home, vowing that if that happened again, we'd drive the 1 1/2 hours to get to Cook Children's in Ft. Worth, where Jenna has ALL her surgeries done!!

Then, in November of 2008 Jenna had her knees stapled again, but in the front and back vs the sides like the last time. Her tibia (sp?) bones are hyperextended, so we're hoping to correct this issue as long as Jenna gets some growing in...

Speaking of growing, Jenna is still on growth hormones, but it gets harder and harder to convince the insurance company to approve it. Her growth is slow, but she's still growing and now that her knees are stapled she HAS to get as much growth in as possible in order for the stapling to "do its job". I am convinced that during the year Jenna was off growth hormones, Jenna didn't grow at all. Every little 1/2 inch counts, even if the insurance company doesn't think it's enough to justify the expense of the drug.

Jenna is now in the 5th grade. Yes, I said the 5th grade! It's hard to believe sometimes. She's at the "intermediate school", which is 5th and 6th graders only. When she was in elementary school, she kind of blended in since there were kindergarteners who were about her size. Now Jenna is very much the smallest person at the school. She's about 3 ft 6 in tall and that's about 1 inch taller than she was 6 months ago. Jenna is in a special needs class and we are sending her to an educational therapy clinic here in Waco that uses "brain gym", and I think it's helping her. Jenna's reading is still on about a 1st grade level but I think she's improving, which is always a good sign. She loves spending time with friends, but that gets harder and harder as her friends' interests are starting to go beyond Jenna's abilities, both mentally and physically. That's getting difficult for me to watch because I can see that Jenna is recognizing the fact that she isn't having "time with her friends". I just wish there were girls like Jenna around our area that she could get to know and who would be more on "her level".

Well, that should bring everyone up to date. We hope everyone is doing well and has a wonderful 2009!

Love always,

Keith, Sherri & Jenna