We got a call from A's doctor today, and her surgery is scheduled for November 20th. (That gives me 6 months to plan and save for my getaway. Just kidding. Kinda.)
What we have now decided to do is to put in a titanium rib. There was a story in Reader's Digest a couple of months ago about it. It is fairly new, but appears to be our best option at this point.
There is a website, www.veptr.com, which gives info on it. There are pluses and minuses with it. The main plus is that the surgery will not go near her spinal cord, nor her spine. The device attaches to her ribs/hip. It is also not permanent, which the fusion would have been.
The biggest minus is that the device has to be adjusted every SIX months. That means surgery every six months until she is done growing, which will be when she's 14 or 15. And it's not out-patient. It is put-to-sleep surgery. So we're looking at 20 surgeries over the course of her childhood. At that point, then we will look at fusion.
It really is a whole lot more in depth than what I've described. (I still don't understand it all, but I feel good about the decision. Still don't want to do anything but run away, but that's not the greatest option either.) I'm just trying to give you the highlights. It really is the best option that we have for treatment right now. My hope is that something new will come along that is even better while we are buying her some time. Obviously my #1 choice would be that God would just heal her. It definitely would not be a miracle wasted.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
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