Scoliosis - the early days

Dear Friends,

Here is the latest update on A. We met with the specialist in Chapel Hill yesterday and he did confirm that she has congenital scoliosis (which means she was born with it.)

The next step is to have an MRI which will show much more detail than an x-ray, and also a renal ultrasound. (The ultrasound is to look at her kidneys, and see if there are any problems there.) Apparently when you have congenital scoliosis, there is a great chance of only having one kidney.

We will go back to Chapel Hill for these tests tomorrow, Wednesday, May 25th. Her MRI is scheduled for 9:30 and the ultrasound is scheduled for 2:30. She will have to be put to sleep for the MRI which could last for up to two hours. The ultrasound will be no different than what we have when we are pregnant.

Please pray that her body responds well to the anesthesia, and that the ultrasound will not be traumatic for her.

We will go back to the specialist on Thursday, June 2 to discuss the results of the MRI, and to hear his opinion on what should be done next.

After viewing the x-rays, he felt like the first step should be to fuse a few of her vertibrae at the "pivot" point, which is where the curve and twist begin. He said this would be more "mild" or "minor" compared to what we may still have to do in the future. After doing this step, we would wait and see how it progresses. I don't think this is the route we want to go because fusion stops growth in that area.

We do have an appt. with a specialist in Charlotte on July 6 to get another opinion, but we are beginning to seek out other options in other parts of the country. Please pray that God will show us who He would have do the surgery and will make it clear to us where to go next.