Over the last 3 years we have come to know Annie as a very smart little girl, with the ability to think through and reason out problems. She gets 100's on her report card and wants to be a doctor when she grows up. She can be a real charmer and keep us laughing with her dramatic flair. At the same time, she exhibits more symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress than the others.
Recently the Discovery Channel featured the results of a study on young pigs who suffered PTS caused by weening too early. These stressed pigs were more aggressive, fighting until they dropped. When they were placed on an elevated platform their anxiety level would rise and they would stay in a safe zone where Plexiglas surrounded the platform. There was a decrease in memory which prevented them from learning and remembering how to do an easy task.
The visual impact of the healthy pigs vs the stressed pigs was eye opening. Trauma is an unseen but very debilitating injury and a silent stalker of it's victim, knocking them down when they least expect it.
For "our kids" the trauma began long before Hurricane Katrina, when they were "weened too early" by lack of attention and affection from their mom. Following Katrina, when the kids would pile on our laps with a book their mom would accuse me of "spoiling them".
The Mayo Clinic has a list of common symptoms resulting from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. "Our kids" are very fortunate that they do not have the deformaties or mental retardation. The last symptom on the list, however, is very familiar:
"Abnormal behavior such as a short attention span, hyperactivity, poor impulse control, extreme nervousness and anxiety."
We are fortunate to have a wonderful group of therapists for the kids to help them work through these problems. Progress seems slow at times, but then we think of how far they have come.
Annie will need some help to give her big smile a beautiful new look. Tomorrow she will get some baby teeth pulled that will not come out on their own. Losing her double set of front teeth will help her eat easier. Then she will get her first set of braces on September 4th. She has worked hard to speak more clearly, and getting her teeth straightened should help that as well. The self confidence that will come in the end is worth as much as the million dollar smile she will have. Our huge thanks to a very generous orthodontist!
Annie is learning how to coordinate her clothes (not that she really cares that much!) This photo was taken October, 2005, the day that they moved into their house. It reminds us how much she has grown, and it always makes us smile.
The other day Annie told me she wanted to be the kind of doctor who takes care of kids. She would be a wonderful Pediatrician. With her charm, intelligence and spirit, she will be able to do whatever she wants to do with her life.
To be continued . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment