Thursday, November 9, 2017

Shriners

Today we had our first appointment with the Orthopedic surgeon.  We have only been waiting 2 months for this appointment, so Tim and I were both prepared with questions and ideas.  First they took x-rays of Kinley again.  Shriners has a low does x-ray machine that was so neat!  Thank you to those donors that made that machine happen!

 At the end of August, Kinley had a curve that was measuring 38 degrees.  Today it measured 44 degrees.  There is always a 5 degree difference taken into account based on position, the person reading the x-ray, and what not.  So, her curve has gotten worse over this little bit of time.


The thing we were not prepared for was the curve is atypical.  Being that Kinley is our child, we should have assumed this would not be a typical scoliosis case.  Her spine is just curved, not twisted.  There is usually some rotation of the whole spine, and Kinley is not showing that right now.  With those findings, we need to rule out other causes before we treat the scoliosis.  So, Kinley needs to have an MRI done to check for spinal cord tethering, Chiari II Malformation, etc.  Because of her age, we will need to sedate her.  And getting that appointment is going to take a few weeks. 
If everything checks out on the MRI and there is not an underlying cause, then we will discuss treating the scoliosis.  We are talking casting, bracing, or surgery.  And also how we are going to go about doing physical therapy. 



Not sure what we are hoping for here.  None of the outcomes seem better then another.  One thing I do know for sure is Kinley is one tough little girl.  She is ready to take on whatever is coming her way. 

 Love the name tag Addison was given.  And this appointment was obviously exhausting.