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| Family settles into a new life |
Morgan Dunnigan, 7, searches for information after her teacher asks a question. |
| More Photos |
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
By KATHRIN KLENSHTEYN - Bulletin Staff Writer
School days mean busier days for the Dunnigan family, with everyone, including grandparents, rising at 6 a.m. and not settling down until about 8 p.m.
But you won’t hear anyone complaining.
Morgan Dunnigan, 7, daughter of Colin and Laura Dunnigan, had a life-threatening tumor removed from her spinal cord in December 2005 and has been undergoing therapy to relearn skills most people take for granted. Just the fact that she’s back with her second-grade class at Carlisle School is something the family, at one time, didn’t think would be possible.
Laura Dunnigan, Morgan’s mother, said it takes four adults — she, her husband and Morgan’s grandparents, Russell Ingersoll and Pat Ingersoll — to get Morgan, who is gradually moving from a wheelchair to crutches, and her brother, 23-month-old Conner, ready for school. She remembers feeling busy before Morgan’s tumor was discovered, she said, and now thinks what a breeze it really was.
Colin Dunnigan, who is upper division director and head college counselor at Carlisle School, said things are different now that school has started. “We’re up earlier,” he said. “Everything takes a little longer,” he said, adding that he makes sure he gets home earlier to help Morgan.
THE DIAGNOSIS
Morgan’s ordeal started about six months before the discovery of the tumor last year. She had complained of itching in her neck, but doctors weren’t worried. Her parents used creams to soothe the itching.
Morgan’s parents said her tumor was misdiagnosed for months until Laura Dunnigan demanded an MRI be done on her daughter.
The test revealed a tumor so big doctors nicknamed Morgan “carrot girl” because of the tumor’s size and shape. It stretched from Morgan’s C2 to C6 vertebrae, Laura Dunnigan said, and a doctor told her, “I’ve never seen an MRI like that.”
After removal of the tumor and recovery from surgery, Morgan was transferred from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center to the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore for rehabilitation.
During that time, the family depended on friends and relatives to take care of Conner while Laura and Colin stayed in Baltimore. Carlisle School raised almost $100,000 for the family’s expenses.
Colin Dunnigan said Morgan’s self-motivation was exceptionally high, and on her worst days in therapy, she still made progress.
Laura Dunnigan said that, at Krieger, the family saw situations much worse than the one Morgan was in, including quadruple amputees, children who couldn’t speak and children who had no parents.
“I think she’s put it in perspective,” she said, referring to Morgan’s attitude toward her own problem. “She’s very in tune with what’s important.”
One night, she said, as she was convincing Morgan to go to sleep, her daughter said she knew the tumor she had was rare and she understood why she was the one to get it: “So none of my friends would have to get it.”
Colin Dunnigan said Morgan walked out of the institute on her last day there in May, a feat no one thought possible a few months earlier.
A STRONG COMMUNITY
Laura Dunnigan said Carlisle School has accommodated Morgan in many ways, even small things such as allowing her to sit in a place where she can see the teacher straight ahead because it is hard for her to turn her neck. Also, she is allowed to leave class early to go to physical therapy.
Morgan said she was excited to come back to school because of science.
“I like science because I want to be a neurosurgeon when I grow up,” she said.
Morgan’s teachers, fellow students and her friends’ parents all have been accommodating, Laura Dunnigan said, helping out in any way they can.
Morgan also was excited about her recent birthday party. It was a sleepover, and Morgan said there were so many girls “there was not a space for walking, period.”
Laura Dunnigan said not one child has laughed at Morgan’s inability to do some things. When Morgan was kicking a soccer ball from her wheelchair, children encouraged her with “pop a wheelie, Morgan!”
Colin Dunnigan said that what the school and community have done to support the family has made the experience “survivable.”
“Not a day goes by that we don’t realize how unique the injury is, how uncommon her recovery has been and how fortunate we are for those things,” he said.
A STRONG SPIRIT
Dunnigan said the family starts its day with stretches and, at school, Morgan walks up the steps herself using her crutches.
The family gets to school so early in order to do these things that they usually must wait for class to start, said Laura Dunnigan, who is now serving as Morgan’s teacher’s aid and attending school with her every day.
Morgan said when she first came back to school, teachers and her parents thought she would be doing oral spelling tests, but, she said, “I don’t.” She writes down her own words.
Morgan also writes most of her own homework, Laura Dunnigan said, and only occasionally needs help.
On top of school and homework, Morgan does physical therapy every day.
Dunnigan said Morgan must wear a neck brace 20 hours a day to prevent “swanning” of the neck — when the neck leans forward. She also wears a back brace to prevent scoliosis.
Once a week, she does therapeutic horseback riding, Dunnigan said, although Morgan doesn’t think of that as therapy, just something fun.
She said even simple tasks can be a hardship for Morgan, such as opening her left hand. She said Morgan must will it to open, and she compared it to someone doing a stomach crunch for 30 minutes.
Dunnigan said it is Morgan’s drive that is perhaps the most amazing thing, and Morgan never complains. She fell once in school, cried and, two minutes later, got back up and started walking again, she said.
Dunnigan said physical therapists told her there would come a point when Morgan would refuse therapy.
“She never refused,” she said.
A BRIGHT FUTURE
Laura Dunnigan said she looks at life pre- and post-tumor. While many things have changed, she said, Morgan’s spirit has not. She remains quirky, intelligent, sensitive, determined, kind and grateful — only more so.
Colin Dunnigan said he learned profound things about Morgan since her battle with the tumor and physical therapy, including her intellectual capabilities and a capacity to reason beyond her age.
Morgan and her family have given names and personalities to her body parts and braces. Morgan’s trachea is called “Trachicia,” the “g-tube” in Morgan’s stomach is named “Giovanni,” her left hand is “Lefty McLeft,” her right hand is “Righty McRight” and her neck brace is “Necky McNeck.” When Morgan’s neck brace slides to one side, Laura says Necky is misbehaving.
Morgan’s tumor also has a personality. “He’s a jerk,” Laura Dunnigan said.
On Sept. 2, Morgan’s birthday, she had a fever and had to be rushed to the hospital. She saw Dr. Steven Glazier, who had performed surgery to remove the tumor. Laura Dunnigan said she couldn’t help thinking how appropriate it was that Morgan should spend her birthday with the doctor who saved her life.
Colin Dunnigan said he gets sad for Morgan sometimes, saying she is “too wise” and that a 7-year-old does not need to know, for example, some of the intricate medical terms she knows. And he gets sad for Conner, because his parents had to leave him for five months so suddenly. “Overnight, we were gone,” he said. “We just got thrown a curve ball.”
As a family, the Dunnigans swim, go to restaurants and spend a lot of time outside. Conner and Morgan enjoy drawing and coloring together.
Colin Dunnigan said the activities the family now does are “not a whole lot” different than they were before the tumor was found.
Morgan is improving every day, her mother said. She is back singing in her church choir and plans to be playing soccer soon. She and Morgan were driving back from the soccer field one day when Morgan pointed out the place where she used to play.
“I’ll be back next year,” she said. |
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