The Life of the Rorabeck's: February 2008

I finally got a chance to get to my parents' so i could give you all an update on Hadley's back. She had her apt 11:30 wednesday. We went pretty confident thinking that her back looked better; however, we left leaving scared and sad. The results were not good. First Hadley had her x-rays, which are always hard for her. We fought through it and she did ok. Then we saw the doctor. They had her x-rays up on the screen and Andy and I looked at each other while waiting for the dr wondering if those were her x-rays or some other kids because they looked horrible. The nurse came in and said they were hers. She said that Hadley's back worsened. Her curve went from a 30 degree curve to a 55. It pretty much doubled. Her spine was in a S shape and now makes a C shape. Andy and I were obviously wrong. I didnt understand. How could this be. She seemed like she was doing so well. At this point, I was doing everything I could not to break down in tears. Finally, the doctor came in. He explained to us what her x-rays meant. This obviously meant she needed a brace. The nurse had thought maybe their was an extra peice of bone in Hadley's back that could have been causing this, but the dr said it was too early to determine anything like that because Hadley's bones were not all formed yet. He said that if they did think something like that in the future, she would need to get a cat scan, but for now, that is not needed! Thank God! The doctor said there is no cause of this. Some kids get better, some stay the same, and some worsen. I asked how seriuos this was... He said, if you were to ask somebody on the street, they'd probably say, pretty serious and uncommon, but to him, it was not seriuos. He was very confident and said, we will fix her back one way or another! I asked, is surgery in the picture. He said, I am hoping this brace will fix her back and if it doesnt, we'll try another brace and then another and then another, then a cast. Surgery is the last resort. He said he has a lot of tricks up his sleeves before she has to have surgery. That was pretty reassuring! I also asked the dr if this was going to be a struggle she deals with for the rest of her life. He had no idea. Even though i was scared out of my mind, it was reassuring to have such a confident doctor. After Hadley's apt, we had to go to another clinic to get her fitted for her back brace. By this point, Hadley had enough of people touching and picking on her. Everytime the guy tried measuring her or even came close, she screamed. I felt so bad for her. There was nothing we could do. She had just had enough! The type of back brace she will have is an older brace, but has had very good results. There will be a brace on her shoulder, thigh, and then on one of her sides pushing the curve in the other direction hoping to straighten it out. The good thing about the brace is it shouldnt effect her mobility and development too much. She will hopefully get used to it. The bad thing is she has to wear it all the time and can only remove it for bath time. (we'll be taking long baths for her sake)! The doctor also does not know how long she will have to wear it for. She will have to get x-rayed every 3-6 months to see if it is helping. The brace is being ordered and will be done in 2 - 3 wks then we have to go back to fit it on her and get more x-rays! I feel so bad seeing my little baby having to go through all this, but God is in control and thats all we have to know and remember! He's taking care of her. There are a lot worse situations we could be in! I have added some pictures so you can see the before and after pictures of Hadley's spine. And also her future brace! Please continue to keep Hadley in your prayers! I just pray that this brace will correct her spine so we can be done with all this! Also if you can just keep the whole situation in your prayers! The time it takes away from work to travel to Children's Hospital, the stress it adds on our lives, and of course the finances! I got a call yesterday from the brace place and and they said because we havent met our deductable, they will not pay for any of the brace! Of course, already being emotional, I teared up on the phone to the lady so i didnt want to go into it too much. The brace ALONE will cost $600! Thats only the brace.... We are paying a ton of dr bills and x-ray bills too! This is just more to trust God with! He will take care of it! I just pray as well that through all this, we can just learn to depend more on God and trust him with all this! We are going through this trial for a reason only God knows! But through all it, I hope to gain a stronger relationship with him! Thanks for all your cares and prayers!!!

Hadley's 1st x-ray taken 3 months ago: