Update on Hadley

Just wanted to give all a quick update on what is going on with Hadley. After doing some research on infantile scoliosis I found a great website with a lot of information and a support group that I joined. I have learned a lot including that a brace will not correct Hadley. Andy and I were under the impression that in 3 months we would go to the Dr and if the brace was working, we would see improvements on her spine. However, we were wrong. Andy talked to the nurse and she informed us that we are on a long journey! If this brace works correctly all it will do is stop her spine from curving more and Hadley will most likely be in a brace until she hits puberty when either a brace will correct her spine finally or they will do surgery! I was shocked after hearing this! Definitely not what I wanted to hear! With all the research i was doing, I found a newer study of casting designed specifically for infants. I realized that this is what most of the infants and toddlers were doing that belonged to my support group. This Mehta(sp?) casting is only performed at certain hospitals. Unfortunately Children's Hospital of Milwaukee is not one of them which explains why Hadley is most likely in this brace and not doing that procedure. But fortunately, Shriners Hospital in Chicago does have this infantile scoliosis early treatment plan and is trained in this casting procedure. The Mehta casting is a newer alternative method used to hopefully take the place of needing surgery. And for a lot of the families, it has been working wonders. Ive read a lot of stories of children going from 40 degree angles down to 4 degree angles! Awesome news! So, we started the process of getting into Shriners and was told we had to first be accepted, then it would take 6-8 wks to even get in! With Hadley being at a 55 degree angle with rotation, we really didn't want to wait that long since a brace is not known to stop the spine from rotation. One of the mom's in our support group gave us the nurses direct number and said to call her with our situation and maybe she would get us in sooner. So I did this and God answered our prayers! Hadley has an appointment next wednesday at 10 AM in Chicago! I am just amazed how God is in control of all this and is on our side! What an amazing God! So, that is where we are at now. I saw how the whole casting procedure is done on the infantile scoliosis website and it is really scary! Made my stomach sick! But a lot of the mom's comforted me in telling their stories. Plus in the long run, it would definitely benefit Hadley IF they even decided to do it. Id rather go through the casting process for hopefully only a couple years of Hadley's life, in which she wont even remember, than to have her in a brace until she's 13 or 14 and still needing either a brace for correction or surgery! One thing Shriners did say is that Children's Hospital of Milwaukee is one of the best hospitals out there and to not doubt their treatment. We would and still may just stick with them. The main reasoning for going to Shriners is because of their Specialization and training in Infantile Scoliosis, which Children's of Milwaukee does not have. I will keep you all posted to what they say about her. Only God can correct Hadley's back! I pray that his will be done! But I also pray for the desire for him to correct her back! Dr's say since she progressed from a 30 degree angle to a 55 degree, that her back will most likely not self resolve, but I still hope and pray that it will. My prayers are that we will go down to Chicago and see that her spine has gotten better! Please just pray for her and our next appointment in Chicago! Thank you again!