Spinal Surgery Appointment

Harlie's appointment with her orthopedic surgeon went well. I was secretly hoping that she would say that Harlie's spine has not gotten worse since earlier this year, and that we could wait.

Well, what do you know I got what I wanted! WoHoo!!!

She went over the CT scans with us and showed us where the abnormalities are, and what our options are to correct them - or make them better anyway.

Luckily - none of the abnormalities are in her thoracic spine, which is fabulous. That's the part of your spine that needs to grow to be able to handle the growth of your heart and lungs.

Her abnormalities are in her cervical, lumbar and sacral areas. I'll get Tom to scan in the pictures so I can show you.

But, basically it came down to this ... the risks of doing the surgery are greater than the risks of waiting to do the surgery. So, she will see Harlie every six months to watch the progression of her kyphosis scoliosis. The goal is to buy her some time - hopefully one to two years.

She said that three years old is very young to get spinal fusion surgery. Once you fuse that part of the spine - there will be no growth in that area. So, clearly, the more time you give them to grow, the better it is for them in the long run. Plus, she will have to wear a brace or a body cast for three months - and the more wiggly the child, the harder it is for them. If we could wait a couple of years - say till she's five, then she might be better able to understand what's going on, which will help her recovery.

I'll explain more when I have the pictures to show you.

So, I'm very happy that we can put this on the back burner for now. I was really dreading this surgery. Well, I still am. But now it's far away again, so that's good.

Ahhhh, it feels good to get good news every once in a while.

Take care,
Christy