An update on Nicole Michelle Aldape, who suffers from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. She is now 11 years old; she just turned 11 in June. She is very good friends with Ronee' Le-Anne Reaux.
I am sorry if I haven't written in quite a long while, but ever since my daddy, Arturo, died this past Easter, well, I haven't felt like doing much of anything, really.
This is Nicole speaking. Remember me?
I have NOT been doing well AT all. It seems that since my daddy died, my arthritis has been acting up worse than it ever has been. I have already been in the hospital twice with flare-ups of this stupid disease of mine; and I expect to have surgery on my knees by year's end. I haven't been walking as well as I used to on my crutches, and I am in so much pain a lot of the time. Sometimes the pain gets so bad I get nauseated, and I then throw up.
As you recall, my daddy, Arturo, died; and mama and myself have NOT been doing well. We still cry just about every day, and we still can't look at his things or his pictures without busting out into tears. We don't talk much about it, and we don't care to. (Daddy died in a car wreck on the way home from church on Easter Sunday.)
In a few weeks, camp is starting up. I go to Camp SteppingStone, which is a camp for kids with arthritis, and I have been going there since I was seven; this will be my fourth year there. Camp was where I met my current best friend, Ronee' Le-Anne Reaux, who will be 11 on Christmas Day. In fact, Ronee' recently had knee replacement surgery herself, and she said once you get through the pain of the surgery itself and the therapy, and then the recovery, it is really not so bad; and now she is getting around much easier! In fact, the only time she has had to use her wheelchair in recent weeks was when she went back into the hospital for a staph infection (she went in on July 5, and got out about a week later); but once they got that taken care of, and once she got over it, she got right back up and started walking; and she's been walking on her crutches ever since! In fact, she is so fast now on her crutches I can't keep up! She is like a little CHEETAH!
I have mainly been staying indoors because it is hard to get around, and I have been trying to amuse myself with my video games or my movies; and right now I am so bored I can just SPIT! I'll be SOOOO glad when Camp SteppingStone starts up again; that way, I can get to DO meaningful things, things like write letters back home, watch movies, listen to ghost stories, or pig out on junk food! And best of all, I can see my friends again! (I see Ronee' just about every day, and that is okay, but I REALLY miss the ones I usually DON'T see until camp time!)
Mama has been trying her best to keep me occupied, especially since I have been in the hospital twice (boy, talk about a MAJOR downer!). I just haven't been feeling good lately, and mama has to put up with my grinchy moods! At times I wish I had a brother or a sister I could bounce off of when I get grinchy; that might make ME feel better instead of having to hold it all in or bouncing off Mama! (NOT a good thing to get mad at Mama!)
Shoot! I am sorry, but I have to go; Mama is telling me my bath water is ready; got to go and soak my achy, stiff joints!
Children love to sink their teeth into sweet and delicious fruit. This story and teaching will have them sinking their hearts into the Fruit of the Spirit.
This second book in Edie's 'Puddle' series is filled with wonderful catchy rhyming poems that have positive nostalgic messages. Her whimsical illustrations carry the poems along on ripples of warm vibrant colours.
