Infantile Scoliosis-Check-Up Time August 2013

Wednesday we leave for a short road trip.  It is time for Ryan's next check-up for Infantile Scoliosis.  His appointment is on Thursday in Dallas at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.  I have a love-hate relationship with this place.  We first stepped foot in this hospital back in January of 2006.  It was a cold-scary place back then.  We would go every 2 months during his casting days.  We were not friends early on.  Then our visits went from every 6-9 months later on during his bracing days.  At this point we developed a different kind of relationship.  We became friends.

Check-ups will continue until Ryan is 18 years of age.  More or less depending on his spine.  I now feel a bond with this place because as painful as it is at times, the hospital and Ryan's doctor have helped my son.  You could say we are old friends now. 

In Feb-waiting on his doctor.  Makes you wonder what he was thinking.

This visit will be pretty important as the last xray (February 2013) showed some progression.  Ryan has been brace free since May 2011 and had great check-ups until the last.

Xray from Feb-a very slight change, but that is all it takes.

The xray this week will show what his little spine has been doing over the last few months.  There is a chance he will have to return to a brace to help with supporting his spine as he grows.  That is where the problem continues.  It's very simple for the majority of babies/children.  But for a child with Infantile Scoliosis as they grow without any support their spine will either grow straight or in a curve.  He does still have rotation which is clearly seen.  So if there is rotation his spine (without any support) is likely to grow with the curve.

Just last night he asked me to get a box down that holds his braces.  He was amazed at how small they are and tried the bigger one on.  Although this super lean eight year old has not gained much weight (not much at all!) the bigger brace was too little.  We talked about the good chance of him going back into a brace.  I feel like he is old enough to realize it and start thinking about it.  He was a little sad, but quickly started to perk up.  He thinks he would rather wear a brace during the day than one at night.  I would prefer the other, but that is me.  He may change his mind later.  And he may not perk up that quickly later either.

If bracing is in order we'll deal with it.  He has done it before and can do it again.  It may be a different beast this time because of his age, but he will beat this thing again.  We will support him at every turn.  And you can bet he will have a super cool brace!!  I am not so sure they can make what he wants, but I sure will try to talk them into it!

I'll probably do a short post on Thursday just to update those curious. 

We are staying with family so we hope to do some fun stuff while on this short road trip.  You know like eating at a good Mexican restaurant, school shopping maybe a visit to a museum, the FW Zoo, downtown, etc.  Who knows?!

If you follow me on Instagram pictures will tell our story this week.  Hope you all have a great one!