Infantile Scoliosis-BRACE FREE!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow! 

Here is the long awaited update on Ryan's appointment on Wednesday.  It usually takes me a day or two to process all the info.  Even if it is good news! And boy howdy was it GOOD news!! 

After a series of 6 casts starting at 15 months old over a 14 month period and then bracing since September 11, 2007, Ryan is BRACE FREE per his doctor's orders!!!

We(the parents)wanted to take Ryan out of his brace in May of this year. His doctor was not totally on board with it, but we felt it was time to see what his little spine would do on it's own.  His doctor did however finally come to our side of the fence.

So how did his spine do from May to the end of August?  It did just beautifully!!!!!! 

It was free to grow without anything hindering it. 
And it grew in the right direction!!!!!!

I do believe the doctor and staff were amazed because he had some improvement while out of the brace. 

There is a variance of 5 to 7 degrees when measuring a curve, but according to the doctor's measurement of the xray taken on Wednesday, Ryan's curve had gone from 15 degrees in March to 11 degrees on Wednesday!!!!  Way to grow Ryan!!!!!

I try not to focus too much on the numbers after all these years.  I prefer to look at the xray and my child's overall body image.  I saw the two xrays side by side.......there was improvement alright! And I had been looking at his spine every night as well as his shoulders.  He looks great!!!

His doctor feels fine with Ryan being out of the brace because right now he is not in a critical growing phase.  We will go back in 9 months. If he still is doing well, he will continue without the brace.  If Ryan can make it through his next major growth stage with no change to his spine, then his doctor said it would not change.  That is a few years down the road, but a Momma can never start praying soon enough.

I'll be honest, it feels weird. To think that he will be brace free for 9 months before we have to go back just feels strange.  We have gone to an appt every 6 months since 2007 and before that every 3 months starting at 15 months of age.  What on earth will we do with all this time?!

Play, grow strong, enjoy life being BRACE free and thank God!!!

Sure we will miss our friends at Scottish Rite.  Oh and the popcorn!! They had closed shop on Wednesday, but had a few bags left for anyone to take.  We took a few bags so we got our Scottish Rite popcorn fix!

Thanks Scottish Rite and Dr. R....we'll see you in 9 months!


I want to thank the many friends and family members that contacted us regarding Ryan's appointment.  It means so much for you to reach out to us.  By you reaching out it lets us know you care about what is going on in his life....our lives.  This is something we have all gone through since that first cast. 
So for you to take the time to let us know you are thinking about us...praying for us, means the world to me. I was overwhelmed by the love that was shown on Facebook Wednesday after I posted the good news.  You know who you are!  I love you and cherish your kind words and friendship.


***If you are just now finding my blog from doing a search on Infantile Scoliosis I encourage you to read Ryan's story and many others in the "Infantile Scoliosis" tab.
Also please check out The Infantile Scoliosis Outreach Program for more info about Infantile Scoliosis.***

Feel free to leave me a comment if you have any questions.