Hadley had her follow up appointment and Shriners Hospital of Chicago yesterday. The apt. was to check and see if her cast was fitting her properly without problem, to X-ray her and see if the cast was still holding her spine at a descent curve angle, and to determine when they could do her next cast.
The appointment went very well. We got there early and they got us in right away. First they X-rayed her and then we waited for a bit.
*Funny story- while waiting in the waiting room after x-rays were taken, the technician came out by us with the x-rays and asks us, "are you missing a hair barrette?" Hadley had one in her hair, so i said, no. (it was one of those little metal barrettes that just clip in your hair). I thought maybe there was one back in the room and they might have thought it was Hadley's. So, the technician pulls out Hadley's x-rays and points to it saying, she must have a barrette stuck in her cast. And sure enough, the x-ray had a clear picture of a barrette by her ribs(on her back). It was so funny. (maybe you had to be there!) The technician reassured us that it doesn't look like she ate it because it was too low to be in her stomach. So, it was clearly stuck in her cast, but its not causing any problems so its OK. We'll get it when she gets her cast taken off! :) *
After the x-rays, we went to the waiting room to wait for the Dr. And he said everything looked great! He didn't even comment on the barrette! You can tell she is definitely growing, but she has some growing room left. There were only minor bruises under her arm pits, but thats to be expected. Her curve is now 25 degrees in the cast so it did relax a bit and the cast loosened up a bit. But compared to her 74 degree curve without the cast, 25 degrees is good. (i don't know if you remember, but when she first got the cast on, they straightened her into a 17 degree curve).
So, he wants us to come back in July to recast her. We'll drive down there the wk before her casting day to get the cast off. That means a full wk of baths and splashing in the water! YAY!
They like taking the cast off a wk before they put the new one on because it allows the spine to go to the shape is going to take. That is how we will actually see if the cast is correcting her spine or just holding it.
I asked the Dr. again if he thinks the cast will correct her or if she'll need surgery. He said again, since her curve is over 50 degrees, she has a 50 50 chance of going either way. If it were under 50, he thinks the cast will correct her. But either way, if she does need surgery, he will most likely cast her off and on for 3 years so they don't have to do surgery when she's this young. He said he really couldn't tell if she would need it or not. Just depends how her body reacts to the cast. This is a little frustrating because I like to know what is ahead for her future, but it all comes back down to trusting God.
So, that's where were at now. Ill keep you all informed on the dates in July when we'll be recasting her!
Good to hear everything went well and it's holding it at a 25 degree angle. I guess the big moment will be in July. And how awesome that she'll be without a cast for a week!!!! She'll have the best time.
ReplyDeleteoh wow! that's so cool and good that you know what to expect - well for the most part/near future, anyway... :)
ReplyDeleteand that is a funny story about the hair clip! :)
ttyl,
anna
Aw. That is good news. Thank you for the updates. We will continue to pray for her and your family.
ReplyDelete