MRI Results

Oh boy, not good.

No basketball for three months. No activity whatsoever for 4 weeks; physical therapy after that, if his pain is improved during physical testing by the doctor.

There are two stress fractures, both at the L5 level in the pars interarticularis. One fracture is worse than the other; one was a new fracture, the other was older. We don't know what caused the fractures.

Eric was the third person today, his age, that his doctor saw with the same diagnosis. It's common. Nothing to do for it but refrain from physical activity. The doctor gave him permission to be a "couch potato."

The news is hard for E, especially since the team got their new shoes yesterday as well as their new warm-ups (really cool maroon sweats and warm-up jacket). He was so excited. The roster has been printed out. The players were introduced at a parent meeting.

But hey, it happens.

It will heal.

It could be worse.

Right?

Lynne's Lowdown

lowdown definition

☆ low·down (lō′do̵un′; for adj., -do̵un′)

noun

Slang the true, pertinent facts; esp., secret or inside information: with the

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The Brentwood game at the Edward Jones Dome will be televised on Fox Sports Midwest at 1:00 today.

Here's a great article from today's Post Dispatch about the "boys from Brentwood."

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My new favorite show is on Animal Planet; it's called Pitbulls and Parolees. It's about a lady who owns the largest pitbull rescue in the country and she employs parolees who otherwise would not be able to get a job because of their felony records. It's sooo good!

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Is anyone else upset about the new government sponsored mammogram guidelines suggesting women wait until age 50 to have their first mammogram unless they have a family history of breast cancer? What!!?? Eighty-five percent of women with breast cancer do NOT have a family history. Also, by the time a cancerous lump can be felt, it has been growing for 8-10 years! Ask my stepsister Gina, who wouldn't be alive today under these new guidelines how she feels about this. If you are a woman or you know a woman, you should be outraged.

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Who was I kidding when I told myself the limited edition white fudge Oreo cookies I put in my shopping cart the other day are for Eric? Honestly.

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I've listened to both of my parents...in one week. Turns out they're smarter than I thought.

First of all, I've taken my mom's advice to take Calcium pills with vitamin D. My mom's mom had osteoporosis and now she does, and because it's easier to prevent than to treat, I thought I'd better start now.

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Then, thanks to my dad, who insisted Eric see a doctor about his back problem, as well as my stepdad, we were able to get Eric in to see one of the Blues' orthopedists. Larry Pleau (the Blues GM) and Ray Barelli (the Blues trainer) pulled major strings to get us an emergency appointment. I can't thank them enough.

Good thing I'm such an obedient daughter, because the doctor took an x-ray and found...

Get this...

TWO broken bones in Eric's back. No wonder his back hurt when he went to practice and tried to play through the pain the other day.

We don't know when it happened, or how, but an MRI is scheduled for Monday and with that the doctor will be able to tell if it's an old fracture or a new fracture. If it's an old fracture there is a concern and question as to why it hasn't healed, and if this is the case Eric could be out for three months. If it's a new fracture it could be a shorter period of time. All we know is that for now he is not to play basketball. Eric is soooo bummed. But I'm glad we finally got an answer. We had a physical therapy appointment (I was going to try that route since the chiropractor didn't help) later that same day, and the doctor told us absolutely not. The bones need to heal.

Hope everyone had a great Turkey Day!

See you at the Dome!!

Lots of Heart and A Bit of Luck

***Updated. I added three more pics at the end, as well as the three newspaper article links.

The Brentwood Eagles are goin' to the Dome!

If you didn't have high blood pressure prior to this game, you certainly did by the end. The Eagles beat the Centralia Panthers 28-27 in the best, most-exciting game ever played in the history of the world. Well, at least in the history of Brentwood.

Centralia had not lost a game in two years. This season they were 13-0. The Panthers thought they had this one in the bag. Especially when they looked across the field at the start of the game to see Brentwood's 25, maybe 30 players, as opposed to their 80 or 90. The Panthers had 10 players listed on their roster at over 200 pounds. They looked scary. The Eagles had no discernible way to intimidate the Panthers, but through their grit, grind and determination, showed them that 30 hearts together, though unseen on the outside, can win a game.

I heard someone in our stands throughout the game yelling, "We've got more heart!!" A truer statement has never been spoken.

Brentwood has not been to the state finals since 1987. It's no wonder then that after the game the Brentwood police and fire department met the team bus at the interstate and escorted them back into town. Everyone is a little excited.

Click here to read an article about the football frenzy in Centralia. This was published in the Columbia Tribune on Friday morning, before Saturday's game.

Click here to see an article from today's Columbia Tribune about the game.

Click here for St. Louis Post Dispatch article. Taylor was interviewed and the article mentions his interception.


Julie in her purple jersey on the fan bus headed to the game






The student section at the end zone



Interesting how they had the two school sections together



This picture of Amanda isn't very clear, but it's still cute



Look at the number of players they had compared to Brentwood (I love this picture)





Here is the same picture but cropped (Taylor Dee #45)



Here it is...PROOF!



Oh yah, baby!!



The students running on to the field









I took this picture after everyone left the stands and ran on to the field



Julie, Taylor and Amanda



Taylor and Amanda



Tywan, Anthony, Andrew, and Dejuan



This is blurry but I like it. Taylor hugging Adam Kobler. Notice Eric in his maroon sweatshirt.



In case you didn't know where the Eagles are going



Same picture but wider view



Brian took the next three pictures.

I LOVE this one of Taylor hugging his mom. Absolutely priceless.






Taylor and Alex D.




So I guess you know where we'll be next Friday at 1:30.

Lynne's Lowdown

lowdown definition

☆ low·down (lō′do̵un′; for adj., -do̵un′)

noun

Slang the true, pertinent facts; esp., secret or inside information: with the

Once a week I'm going to do a sort of random post to give you the lowdown. You may see it as one of those boring mass Christmas newsletters, but hey, it's my blog, I can do what I want.

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Larry left this morning for California to attend his niece's bat mitzvah. His sister Joan would be so proud and I know it will be bittersweet for the family. I will be sans husband for 5 days. He'll be home just in time to get the house ready, set the table and arrange the flowers for Thanksgiving at our house. Julie and Jason will be home for a few days as well.

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Eric's most recent progress report:

English 2 B+
Spanish 2 B+
Old Testament B+
World Studies II, III B
Algebra 2/Trig/Geom B+
Chemistry A

His school is "weighted," meaning the 4 B+'s would be A's at a public school. Good job, E! Keep it up.

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We bought a new mattress - a Tempurpedic - which was delivered yesterday. Why is that newsworthy? Because our mattress was 25 years old. Who has a mattress that old??

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All six of Larry's condos have been rented, the last one by a couple who want to stay there for 25 years! Um, okay.

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Eric's friends are slowly but surely getting their licenses. I've never seen such reluctance by a group of kids to get their licenses. My friends and I could not wait to get ours. To us, a driver's license equaled freedom. To Eric's friends, a driver's license means having to drive themselves around instead of being chauffeured. A driver's license equals too much work.

It's a relief to me when Eric's friends can pick him up, but also scary, having had their licenses for only a short time. My faith abounds as they drive away. Only two more months and that faith will be abounding all the more when Eric turns 16. He can't wait. I cannnn....ttt either.

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Chiropractor appointment today. We'll see how E feels. He's been going to practice but not playing, and he told the coach he'll be able to practice on Sunday. I don't know if he's better or not. He's been icing...and heating...religiously. Their first game is a week from this Monday.

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Brentwood football game tomorrow. Semifinals baby! A group of fans are taking a bus to Centralia, which is about 2 1/2 hours away. Long day - 10:30 am to 6:30 pm. We're hoping to bring home a winner, but if not, we're happy they've come this far. Go Eagles!

DeSmet is in the semifinals too. They play tonight, and if they win they play in the finals next Friday at the Jones Dome where the Rams play. And YES we will go! Go Spartans!

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Is it really almost Christmas?

Icing it Up

Eric's daily post-basketball therapy

That's ice under his back



Ice on the ankles



Nice set up, huh? I think he's asking the trainer (that would be me) for a smoothie...



Stella having back therapy, under the watchful eye of KC, the trainer









KC demonstrating an extremely difficult yoga position (Folks, do not try this at home).



Seriously, though, Eric's back has really been bothering him and the season hasn't even started yet. I took him to the chiropractor yesterday, today, and am taking him on Friday. He has a pinched nerve in his low back, and the coach is not sympathetic. Thankfully they don't have practice on Friday and Saturday, but do have it on Sunday. He should be able to play by then. The pain started early during the week of tryouts and just got worse. The day of final cuts he could barely walk to the car.

No worries, we'll have him up and runnin' in no time!

I Forgot to Tell You!!!

Brentwood won their quarterfinal game against Caruthersville. They move on to the semifinals on Saturday, November 21st. It was soooo exciting!

The kids running onto the field after the game

Julie running to join the celebration

Taylor being congratulated by one of his 8th grade basketball coaches

Me and "my" boy :)

Taylor with the high school principal

Julie, Taylor and Amanda

Eric's friend Billy

Amanda and Eric

The poor Brentwood basketball coach...he asked Julie at the football game if she knows when the first basketball game is. She said, "No, when?" He said, "November 21st," the same day as the football game. All five starters for the basketball team play football. Poor guy!

Let the Season Begin

Thought you might need this...

DeSmet Basketball Schedule

Scroll down to "Sophomore Basketball" for E's games.

Woo hoo!!!

I don't know who else is on the team except for Michael (yes, Eric's friend made it too!), but I'll find out after practice today.

Final Cuts

Final cuts will be posted tomorrow (Monday) morning at the gym. I'll let you know if he makes it!

Basketball - The Latest...

Here's the latest: Yesterday E played well at tryouts. The other kids were telling him to dunk, I guess because he can, so he did, and the coaches were watching too. Brian says his dream is to see Eric dunk in a game :)

Ten kids were cut this morning, leaving 18 kids, only three from the white team that Eric played on last year - Eric, BJ, and Chris. The others left are kids who didn't try out last year and all the kids from the maroon team (the other freshman team from last year). E is feeling confident and loves the contrast from last year when he felt inadequate and weak. I told him that confidence is a huge part of the game.

Tomorrow morning they will make more cuts - he thinks about 6 or 7 kids. Saturday morning they have another tryout and then maybe next week they'll make final cuts.

Oh, and the JV team has a new assistant coach who, according to E, really likes him. Eric said the coach takes him aside and works with him, and he said he knows basketball well.

That's all I know for now :)

Football and Ferraris, Basketball and Birthdays

My dad sent me this picture of us. I don't think I've seen it before. It was very dark, so I lightened it with Photoshop.

And Eric wonders where he got his long skinny legs :) And Maysen wonders where she got her, um...




On Sunday we went for a drive with the Ferrari club even though we don't have a Ferrari. It's been a few years since Larry has had one, but the people in the club are so nice and it was a beautiful day. Every year we go to a winery owned by the club president's in-laws. It's about an hour and a half away, but it takes us 15 minutes. Just kidding, but it's anything but relaxing. Ferrari and Porsche drivers do not know how to drive slowly. As Larry drove what felt like 100 around a hairpin turn, I said, "Oh, wow, what a nice, relaxing Sunday drive."

It was relaxing once we got there.




Thankfully, a few others drove Porsches, so we weren't the only ones. The economy...you know.







My wonderful friend Julie had a birthday dinner for me.

From the left that's Eric, Marlys (Brian's wife), Taylor (standing), me, Amanda, Brian and Trevor (Julie's friend's son who goes to SLU)

Marlys wants to know why we put her right next to Eric :) And yes she is standing.



Basketball update: First day of tryouts was yesterday. Eric said he felt really strong (his words). He said they ran most of the time, though, and he hates running (my words). But for the most part he thought he had a good day. I think there are about 30 kids trying out for 15 JV spots. The final teams will not be announced until football is over because DeSmet is still in the playoffs and there are a few kids on the football team who also play basketball. There are four freshman trying out for varsity. I'm not sure, but I think Eric has a good chance to make the team (JV), especially if the one tall freshman makes varsity, but next year is going to be tough, tough, tough. Eric is really going to have to work. Juniors cannot play JV, so you either make varsity or you don't, and the competition will be fierce.

Speaking of football playoffs!!! Brentwood beat Maplewood last night (10-7) for the first time - in basketball or football - in six or seven years. It was awesome. Taylor's beaming face afterwards made me all teary-eyed, and especially when he ran up into the stands to hug his mom and his grandparents, who drive 2 hours from Decatur to see all of his games. So sweet. And I wish I had my camera when he ran off the field and the first person he hugged was his sister Amanda, who is a cheerleader, or when he was interviewed by a reporter afterwards for about 10 minutes.

This Saturday, when they play in the quarter-finals against Caruthersville, I will bring my camera. I don't know if they have a chance of winning, but that they've come this far is amazing...and definitely worth a picture or two :)