Saturday, January 27, 2018

Neurosurgery



This is a hard post for me to write, so its going to be short and to the point.  We took Kinley to Seattle this past week to meet with the neurosurgeon.  He was amazing, and so incredibly kind not only to us, but to Kinley as well.  He said she has the real deal here, and needs surgery.  Tim and I had already done our research on this doctor, so we knew we trusted him to do the surgery.  So while we were there, we got Kinley scheduled for surgery on February 20th.  She had to get a CT done so he knows how thick her skull is for when he places the screws in her skull for positioning during the surgery.  She also had to get lab work done and had her anesthesia consult.


It was a long day at the children's hospital.  We had both girls with us, and they did amazing.  The name of the surgery is Posterior Fossa Decompression with Duraplasty.  Lots of big, scary words.  I'm still in denial that my baby is having brain surgery. I know Kinley is going to be my strength through all this.  She is so strong and such a light.  My tough little trooper!   

MRI #2


Because Chiari 1 was found on the first MRI, the neurosurgeon wanted to make sure a full brain MRI was done before we met with him.  Unfortunately on the first MRI we only got the spine, so back to the hospital for another one we went. 
In true Kinley fashion, she rocked this one yet again.  After she was given some Versed, she kept saying "I just feel so lazy".  Ahhhhh, love that girl!  Thankfully we got all the pictures we needed for now, so no more MRIs for a few months!



Brace It




Kinley got her brace for the scoliosis right before Christmas.  She did amazingly well that day with people fussing all over her.  Shriners was making a new commercial, so they took some pictures of Kinley wearing her brace for the first time.  And how cute is the brace they made for her doll???
Since then, Kinley has been able to get the brace as tight as it needs to be and is wearing it about 20 hours a day.  She is a rock star and I am so proud of her.  Very few tears have been shed over this.  She has had to learn how to dress herself with it on and go to the bathroom.  I couldn't imagine wearing this brace, yet Kinley just takes it in stride. She is my inspiration!