Emerson's Scoliosis Journey

We left at 4 a.m. and arrived at 7a.m. to check in.  We were supposed to have a surgery time of 9, but it didn't happen until 10:30.  We played a lot of hide and seek with her 5 toys to distract her from wanting her apple juice and fish crackers.  She is a pretty good finder! The procedure went well.  Her curve is really "tough" because of the congenital deformities.  The before x-ray with no cast or brace was measuring at 95 and in the cast it is upper 60s, which is what the last cast was.  So she is definitely better off in the cast! While talking to the doctor he said that the real goal of the cast for congenital patients is to stop it from getting worse and if it improves it some before surgery that is a bonus.  They also won't tell us a specific number that would mean surgery had to be done right away.  This doctor mentioned the age 4 as the age they really prefer them to reach prior to surgery. After the long ride home (in a cast :() we decor

We have really been looking forward to today, the day we can let Emerson play in the bath, hug her tight and feel her little body against ours, and let her eat and drink without the constant worry of something spilling on her cast.  And we have enjoyed all of those things this evening, but I forgot how emotional taking the cast off can be.  She wore it for 7 weeks and during those seven weeks we felt confident that it was on correctly and helping her, so when we take it off and see her back it's a little discouraging. Here are some pictures of us removing the cast. Our friends in our support group all said doing it yourself was the best advice they ever received, so we tried it.  They were right. It was so easy! Cast #5 will be applied Tuesday the 25th. We  were originally told we may not do the 6th cast but after seeing the results from cast #4 our doctor said we have to, which means a cast until August 7th. It's going to be a hot summer for our little Em.

"I have M&Ms on my cast!"  "I get a break.  Then, I get new cast.  Minnie!"