Emerson's Scoliosis Journey

Emerson has been in her cast for 2 weeks now and is doing great.  Dr. Luhmann got her in case curve down to 60 from 80 in her brace. He said it was a great start! We are so thankful for all the prayers and kind words.  We are also thankful for my parents who took care of Addison and Jenson and brought us dinner after a very long day. Our dogs were well cared for by Amanda and Em received some great comforting gifts from the hospital.  She was also spoiled at school with gifts and daycare as all her friends wore bibs to make her more comfortable. We are so thankful for our doctors, family, friends, coworkers, church family, teachers and daycare providers.  There truly are amazing people supporting us through this journey!

This week has been so stressful!  We are scheduled for casting surgery on Monday, however, Em is not 100%.  She has a runny nose that has led to a cough and is aggravating her asthma.  She is dependent on her breathing treatments every 3 hours at this point and could use them more often.  I am contemplating trying to get into the doctor but if she gets any steroids, cold medicine, or even Tylenol they won't do the casting because going under anesthesia is too risky. Specific Prayer List: Em gets to feeling better without meds Safe travels on Monday Dr. Luhmann can move her spine and get beneficial correction Our family can easily adjust to the changes for the casting lifestyle Thank you so much!

more casting. I know, I was shocked too. Our trip started with the fear of icy roads, however the roads were clear thanks to the road crews. Our first destination is always radiology.  Last time, 6 months ago, her in cast xray was 74. Today it was 80. They had a large number of complex cases today and our doctor was running 2 hours behind.  There was also a fire alarm which was cleared but Em was excited to see the truck and firefighters.  Dr. Luhmann didn't like that her curve had increased. It's at the point where something has to be done. He made the comment that she is just too petite for Magec rods right now. He feels like he can improve the curve with casting.  There will be 3 casts and each will be on for 8 weeks with 1 off week in between each cast.  So, another summer of casting.  Bummer. We will get more info about dates soon but we know it will be as soon as they can get it scheduled.  We definitely feel all the prayers and are certain we are with the doc

As we end this week I can't help but think about next week.  Tuesday we find out what the next plan is.  The way I understand it, there are 3 options that we could hear.  Surgery:   Dr. L has mentioned 2 types of surgeries to us:  Shilla and Magec.  Magec is the one he mentioned at our last appointment and sent information home with us about it, so I feel like that is the one he was leaning towards.   Keep Bracing:   I feel like there is a small possibility that he will say her spine is not pushing on her lungs and we can wait longer.  I only think this because she has grown taller and we have not had any lung/pneumonia problems for over a year (yes I just knocked on wood because the flu going around has me terrified).   Casting:   We didn't feel like he was pleased with the progress from the last casting series.  The number of times she has had anesthesia (7 so far) can also be a concern because the more there is the more issues with it they see.  So I feel like we have d