Lena: The Brave Badger
My group, consisting of 5 girls, ages 9 and 10, another chaperone and myself (DUH!) were the Badgers. Five little girls all quite unique, and 3 out of 5 of them in entirely endearing ways.
We had two girls who were not really "with us" as a group. One was ten, but looked and acted 13 or 14. She was too mature to hang with our little girls (stories to come later) and was always scheming something to lure the attention of the boys.
The other girl was a drama queen who wanted all attention on her. She got it through the nurse she traveled to Wisconsin with, here on out, known as Nurse Nosey. Again, stories to follow later. This little girl wanted to be with the adults, as a result had difficulty bonding with the other girls. She thought she should be our one and only princess, when I had a total of five girls I wanted to treat as princesses. Since this girl was also one of our healthier children, it was difficult to keep up with her demands when the sick ones never demanded a thing.
Then there was Lena. Precious, innocent, with a lot of health issues. Another little child, bald from chemo, round from steroids. She had a sweet little face, and a "I am soooo sorry I have to bother you, but..." demeanor. Her legs were weak from her treatments, and so she was always a few steps behind us. Sadly, too, we were on the second story of a hotel with no elevator. She had new ports and lines that couldn't get wet, so she was never able to have fun in the pool like the others, but still was excited to change into her suit and dangle her feet. We would sometimes get a football player, or Johnny, a chaperone always mistaken for a football player, to carry her up the stairs. When no one was around, we would use a luggage cart to get her down the long hallway. She never expected it, and was fine not having it, but was also relieved when she did get the special treatment.
Because of her leg weakness, by time we got her skis on her and walked to the bunny hill where the instructors were, she was ready to call it a day. She did play in the snow and make snow angels after a rest in the chalet. She was able to make her own fun and was always content.
The evening after ski, while simply walking by the pool, because goodness knows she couldn't run, Lena fell. She tried to catch herself with he hand, and hurt her wrist. Three different nurses, as well as our fantastic doctor who came as a chaperone, all looked at it. She still had a strong grasp and move her fingers and wrists. There was not a lot of swelling and very little bruising. Group consensus; ice it and give Tylenol.
The next morning she was still in tears. Not a normal thing for Lena. While the group went tubing, she went to the hospital. Sure enough--it was a bend fracture. The end of her bone bent, but didn't really break, when she tried to catch herself.
She had a soft splint put on, and returned in time to tube down the hill three times. She loved it. She tried everything, including snowmobiling and bowling. Bowling was tricky, though, with one arm. As it turned out, the alley had a ramp to roll the ball down. She used that and had a great time
She sang karaoke and did a great job, and she also danced as much as her little body would allow. Her only complaint was that her arm began to itch. She required help to dress and undress, but always tried before asking for help, and a few times even managed to do it alone.
Here was the curious, beautiful thing, though. Our two girls who had been stand-offish this whole time, rallied with the other Badgers to make sure Lena was having a good time, help her when she needed it, and looked out for her. Lena's injury, which I will not call a BLESSING, may really have had a purpose. She was the one girl probably brave enough to have it and still have a great trip, and it made the Badgers the cohesive group I yearned for them to be.
It also gave a little girl, whose self-esteem was low because of her body's changes during treatment, feel a little extra special. And as you can see, she is just that.
We told her tell everyone she broke the arm doing a 360 on the half pipe.
We had two girls who were not really "with us" as a group. One was ten, but looked and acted 13 or 14. She was too mature to hang with our little girls (stories to come later) and was always scheming something to lure the attention of the boys.
The other girl was a drama queen who wanted all attention on her. She got it through the nurse she traveled to Wisconsin with, here on out, known as Nurse Nosey. Again, stories to follow later. This little girl wanted to be with the adults, as a result had difficulty bonding with the other girls. She thought she should be our one and only princess, when I had a total of five girls I wanted to treat as princesses. Since this girl was also one of our healthier children, it was difficult to keep up with her demands when the sick ones never demanded a thing.
Then there was Lena. Precious, innocent, with a lot of health issues. Another little child, bald from chemo, round from steroids. She had a sweet little face, and a "I am soooo sorry I have to bother you, but..." demeanor. Her legs were weak from her treatments, and so she was always a few steps behind us. Sadly, too, we were on the second story of a hotel with no elevator. She had new ports and lines that couldn't get wet, so she was never able to have fun in the pool like the others, but still was excited to change into her suit and dangle her feet. We would sometimes get a football player, or Johnny, a chaperone always mistaken for a football player, to carry her up the stairs. When no one was around, we would use a luggage cart to get her down the long hallway. She never expected it, and was fine not having it, but was also relieved when she did get the special treatment.
Because of her leg weakness, by time we got her skis on her and walked to the bunny hill where the instructors were, she was ready to call it a day. She did play in the snow and make snow angels after a rest in the chalet. She was able to make her own fun and was always content.
The evening after ski, while simply walking by the pool, because goodness knows she couldn't run, Lena fell. She tried to catch herself with he hand, and hurt her wrist. Three different nurses, as well as our fantastic doctor who came as a chaperone, all looked at it. She still had a strong grasp and move her fingers and wrists. There was not a lot of swelling and very little bruising. Group consensus; ice it and give Tylenol.
The next morning she was still in tears. Not a normal thing for Lena. While the group went tubing, she went to the hospital. Sure enough--it was a bend fracture. The end of her bone bent, but didn't really break, when she tried to catch herself.
She had a soft splint put on, and returned in time to tube down the hill three times. She loved it. She tried everything, including snowmobiling and bowling. Bowling was tricky, though, with one arm. As it turned out, the alley had a ramp to roll the ball down. She used that and had a great time
She sang karaoke and did a great job, and she also danced as much as her little body would allow. Her only complaint was that her arm began to itch. She required help to dress and undress, but always tried before asking for help, and a few times even managed to do it alone.
Here was the curious, beautiful thing, though. Our two girls who had been stand-offish this whole time, rallied with the other Badgers to make sure Lena was having a good time, help her when she needed it, and looked out for her. Lena's injury, which I will not call a BLESSING, may really have had a purpose. She was the one girl probably brave enough to have it and still have a great trip, and it made the Badgers the cohesive group I yearned for them to be.
It also gave a little girl, whose self-esteem was low because of her body's changes during treatment, feel a little extra special. And as you can see, she is just that.
We told her tell everyone she broke the arm doing a 360 on the half pipe.
posted by Beth at
2:19 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home