Yesterday afternoon I was waffling over what to have for lunch at the deli when my phone registered an incoming call from a number with a 603 area code....I knew this was "the call". I recognized the voice on the other end as that of Jennifer's. Jennifer's voice was the same one who told me on Wednesday that Dr. Cook's final schedule was booked, and she wasn't sure that he would be able to perform Brooke's procedure before he leaves Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, but that she was working on doing all she could to manipulate a spot in his busy schedule for Brooke. She was calling, as I debated over chili or stir fry, to let me know that they were successful in squeezing her in......but that it was the following Monday!
We are all more than a little nervous, and feeling overwhelmed with the very short notice, but Brooke will come out stronger than ever! Please say a prayer for her.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Thursday, February 2, 2012
The Beginning
Brooke's adventure began, if I recall correctly, in June of 2010 when we were referred to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire after Dr. Slowinski detected scoliosis during a routine physical exam. Scoliosis? Curvature of the spine? Surely they will take a peek at her back and send us on our way, I thought. And that they did....they being Dr. P. Christopher Cook, Pediatric Orthopaedics. Yes, she has scoliosis, he said, and let's see her again in a few months to see if it progresses while she grows...it's hard to tell right now what it will do, he said. A few months later Dr. Cook said we still didn't have definitive evidence of how the curve is progressing, though it was clear it had progressed to some degree, so we took more x-ray photographs to begin building a pictorial foundation by which to gauge the progression. By St. Patrick's Day of 2011 Brooke was being fitted for a Boston brace designed to slow the progression of scoliosis. We went to Keene to get her fitted for the custom made brace, and she got to choose the design of the rigid outer surface of this new contraption that she would be expected to wear, strapped snugly around her torso, for an indefinite period of time.
Scoliosis affects 2-3% of the population, or an estimated 6 million people in
the United States, and there is no cure. --www.scoliosis.org
Fast forward to now, present day.
On January the 11th we once again traveled to DHMC to meet with Dr. Cook and take another glimpse at the magic that the Boston brace was working on the curve in Brooke's spine. Before our appointment with the doctor, however, Tony and I both agreed that based on sight alone we believed that things had gotten worse rather than better. But how could that be? We had been so diligent with her wearing of this brace each and every day. It had become routine for her to lie on her back....engage a pelvic tilt....Mom or Dad stretch the brace wide enough to hug her torso....roll to her right side......pull, tighten, fasten one...two...three velcro straps. However, our suspicions were confirmed on this date; things had gotten substantially worse since the last time Brooke had an exam. The S shaped curve in her spine had reached a level of an astonishing fifty degrees (the option to operate kicks into play around 40-45 degrees)! Tony, Brooke and myself were agreeable, though reluctant, to affirm that surgery (spinal fusion, to be exact) was inevitable. The brace had neglected to correct the curve, and had in fact allowed the dreaded S shaped meddler to slither it's way into a deeper resting spot in the confines of Brooke's back. And while we knew from the start that surgery was a viable outcome if the brace didn't have an influence on the curve, I don't think any of us ever believed we would become personally acquainted with the term "spinal fusion".
Yesterday, February the 1st, Brooke had an MRI so that Dr. Cook could rule out any other condition that might possibly be aggravating her worsening scoliosis, and also to make sure that the spine was otherwise healthy and ready to receive the corrective instruments that will be used during the fusion of her spine. She was in the MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) machine for just over an hour and when she came out she said she felt dizzy and had a headache. BUT, they let her wear her sweatpants instead of changing into the dreaded johnny! I hope she's appreciative of my suggestion to dress comfortably...."just in case". She said it was not very comfortable, was boring and was loud as well.
Scoliosis impacts infants, adolescents, and adults worldwide with little regard to race or socio-economic status. The primary age of onset for scoliosis is 10-15 years old, occurring equally among both genders. However, females are eight times more likely to progress to a curve magnitude that requires treatment. --www.scoliosis.org
Scoliosis affects 2-3% of the population, or an estimated 6 million people in
the United States, and there is no cure. --www.scoliosis.org
Fast forward to now, present day.
On January the 11th we once again traveled to DHMC to meet with Dr. Cook and take another glimpse at the magic that the Boston brace was working on the curve in Brooke's spine. Before our appointment with the doctor, however, Tony and I both agreed that based on sight alone we believed that things had gotten worse rather than better. But how could that be? We had been so diligent with her wearing of this brace each and every day. It had become routine for her to lie on her back....engage a pelvic tilt....Mom or Dad stretch the brace wide enough to hug her torso....roll to her right side......pull, tighten, fasten one...two...three velcro straps. However, our suspicions were confirmed on this date; things had gotten substantially worse since the last time Brooke had an exam. The S shaped curve in her spine had reached a level of an astonishing fifty degrees (the option to operate kicks into play around 40-45 degrees)! Tony, Brooke and myself were agreeable, though reluctant, to affirm that surgery (spinal fusion, to be exact) was inevitable. The brace had neglected to correct the curve, and had in fact allowed the dreaded S shaped meddler to slither it's way into a deeper resting spot in the confines of Brooke's back. And while we knew from the start that surgery was a viable outcome if the brace didn't have an influence on the curve, I don't think any of us ever believed we would become personally acquainted with the term "spinal fusion".
Yesterday, February the 1st, Brooke had an MRI so that Dr. Cook could rule out any other condition that might possibly be aggravating her worsening scoliosis, and also to make sure that the spine was otherwise healthy and ready to receive the corrective instruments that will be used during the fusion of her spine. She was in the MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) machine for just over an hour and when she came out she said she felt dizzy and had a headache. BUT, they let her wear her sweatpants instead of changing into the dreaded johnny! I hope she's appreciative of my suggestion to dress comfortably...."just in case". She said it was not very comfortable, was boring and was loud as well.
Scoliosis impacts infants, adolescents, and adults worldwide with little regard to race or socio-economic status. The primary age of onset for scoliosis is 10-15 years old, occurring equally among both genders. However, females are eight times more likely to progress to a curve magnitude that requires treatment. --www.scoliosis.org
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| On the hunt for stickers! |
After the MRI, we made our way back up to Dr. Cook's office...I can find his office with my eyes clothed in a blindfold by now. Dr. Cook, Brooke, Tony and myself decided it is time to proceed. Her pictures from the MRI looked good. Brooke is clearly on board for enduring the procedure to fix her deformity. Dr. Cook, as my luck would have it, is scheduled to transfer to another hospital in New York state in roughly four weeks. So that means that there is no time left to buy, no time to hem and haw, we are racing against the clock to ensure that the doctor who has walked us through this puzzle will see us through to the final step. We are moving forward, and the pace is set to full tilt. Today is February 2nd and the only thing standing between us and the surgery date is a phone call from the scheduler.
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