After Melodina was discharged on January 30th 2006 she was still very ill. Her immune system and her body's natural production of blood was being supported by the steroid prednizone. The adrenal glands of a healthy adult produce aproximately 7 mg. of steroid each day. Melodina was getting 120 mg per day at that time.
You may understand steroids to be the performance enhancing drugs banned in international sport. Prednizone is what I call a performance dehancing drug. It certainly kept Melodina alive. You can tell if people are on high doses of steroids because they bloat like balloons. Our teenage daughter looked like the Micheline Man. She retained fluid and ate constantly. Melodina enjoyed three meals per day with us and usually had two more which she prepared herself. Unending hunger is a side effect.
Within a few weeks she was back at school except for weekly visits to the hospital. By the beginning of March she was skiing again, taking time off school to train and even entered a K2 individual race that spring. She started back at Karate. Mel got a stress fracture in her foot at a Karate Otario Grand Pre event. Prednizone weakens the bone structure much like osteoporosis. Never the less Melodina won both silver and bronze medals at the tournament.
Through the winter and spring Melodina struggled hard to keep up her studies. The staff at Centre Dufferin District High School went out of their way to help her and she was on the Honor Roll that year. That time was truly memorable and it was one of many periods of Melodina's struggle when I found her truly inspirational.
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