Emerson's Scoliosis Journey

Emerson is doing well! She started the day pretty frustrated and confused but she is slowly figuring out new ways to do things.  Sitting is hard but she is starting to figure out her balance to walk. Thank you for all the phone calls,  messages and prayers.  We are very blessed to have such caring friends and family!

Emmi is a champ!  Her heart results were good.  No murmurs. Her lungs were fine.  Her cough is from junk stuck in her throat, so we proceeded with the casting. The casting was pretty quick.  The doctor was very happy that they had a 25 degree improvement in the curve's rotation. The xray below shows her original xray on the right and her xray in the cast on the left.  She was mad after the surgery, but they said she wasn't as mad as most kids are. Thank you for all the prayers and encouragement!

Here we are,  the night before the big day. The past week and a half has been simply crazy. We moved (thanks to some amazing help), our heater won't work,  hot water heater went out, our house contract fell apart,  Craig turned 33, Emmi developed a cough,  I have had the head cold junk,  Craig started a new route at work, we attended a beautiful wedding, celebrated a nephew's birthday,  and now we are here.  Things at the house aren't anywhere near where I wanted them to be,  but I just have to be realistic.  They will get there. I took Emmi to the doctor Friday for her cough.  Shriner's had said if they prescribed an antibiotic then the casting would be postponed.  Her cough wasn't bad enough to require an antibiotic but they would have given her one if we wanted.  Instead we spent the weekend pushing fluids and keeping her at home to rest.  She still has somewhat of a cough, but Shriner's says it should be okay. So we ...

Moving day is approaching!  We really wanted to be in the new house before M's first cast, and plan to move this weekend.  That didn't leave us much time to get settled and I think Craig and I were both stressing.  So I am looking at the past phone call from the Shriner's hospital as a blessing.  They have moved her first casting date to the following Tuesday because of some scheduling problems.  This means we will also wait until the 17th for her heart test and the first cast will only be on for 3 weeks.  This gives us some more time to get moved in, get some larger clothes ready, and use the bathtub as much as possible.  Also, three weeks for our first try at this new lifestyle might be helpful. Shriner's also helped me get in contact with another family that has gone through this process many times.  Congenital Scoliosis in infants is SO rare and each case is SO different.  It was really nice to ta...