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Calling All Angels....

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CellarDweller:
Thoughts and prayers for Olivia.  Please keep us updated.

Lynne:
All my best, David, to Olivia and to you and your family.  I hope everything turns out allright.

David In Indy:
Thank you everyone for your thoughts and your prayers. Olivia was released from hospital yesterday morning and she is now home. What a dreadful way to end Christmas!

They had just returned home from their Christmas visits at relatives' homes and Olivia was carrying a present up the stairs to her bedroom. For some reason she decided to turn around on the stairs and go back down, and when she did she missed the third step from the bottom and fell to the floor. Christy, my niece (Olivia's mother) said her leg was completely bent backwards behind her back. They rushed her to the hospital by ambulance and she went into surgery the next morning.

They inserted two rods into her right leg, which will have to come back out in 1 to 3 years. They installed a rod in her left leg a couple of years ago when she broke it, and that rod is permanent. I don't understand why these two rods will have to come out. I can't bear the thought of that poor little girl going through yet ANOTHER surgery. She has been through more in her eight years than most people have been through in their entire lives - medically speaking. Anyway, she's back home now and her spirits are high. I talked to her on the phone today and she has a very "chin up" attitude about it.

Yes, Chrissi is correct. She has OI or Osteogenesis imperfecta. It is sometimes referred to as "brittle bone disease". Olivia is eight and she is the same height as her four year old sister, Chloe. She will always be quite small, probably. Christy is divorced and has two children by her former husband Glen. Glen also has OI, and the disease is passed down genetically. Their oldest son Eric, does not have OI and he doesn't have to worry about passing it down to his children. Sadly Olivia did get it, and it will be a threat to her future children. Christy's two youngest children - Chloe and TJ (Thomas Jason) are Jason's children (Christy's present husband) and so obviously, they do not have OI either. Just Olivia.

I bought Olivia a violin last summer and she's currently enrolled in violin lessons, which she loves. I would have taught her myself, but I have never taught anyone how to read music, and I figured it would be better to leave that to a professional. However, once she learns the basics of music, I might take over and teach her myself. All of the other kids are very active, Eric is into sports (football, etc) and Chloe enjoys gymnastics. I'm sure TJ will get involved with something or another once he gets a little older (he's 19 months old) but Olivia cannot do those things because of her OI. So the violin is something perfect for her, something she can be good at and excel in. And she's been talking about learning how to play it since she was 4 years old. So it appears she has the passion and the desire.

Thanks again everyone!  :-*  :-*

David In Indy:
Olivia

Jeff Wrangler:
David, I didn't find this thread until, well, now. I'm glad to hear Olivia is home from the hospital.

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