Yesterday Lyla had her 1 month orthopaedic follow up, at the Women's & Children's Hospital, for more x-rays and I guess a bit more of an idea / plan with the MRI and surgery on her spine.
We started off with having several x-rays done with the doctor as he wanted us to pull and stretch her out as much as possible so he could see the amount of flexibility she has in her spine; this turned out to be very unsuccessful, as he told me afterwards, but I knew that anyways as she was upset, therefore tensing and not relaxing. After this traumatic experience we headed back down to clinic where I was expecting to be told the big plan with the surgery, something I had prepared myself for over the last month. Well, things apparently changed... Dr. Selby (orthopaedic surgeon) came in and said 'I'm going to put her in a cast'. Huh? What? It seems Lyla is still too small for surgery and the nuts and bolts don't come in little baby Lyla size, and she may not have another year or two to leave things how they are until she is big enough.
As I mentioned in the last post about this degree of curvature causing lung and heart problems. Leaving her spine as it is until she is big enough could, and possibly will, kill her; her lungs will not grow and develop.
So she will be having a cast called a Risser Cast put on to control, not correct, her spine until she is big enough for surgery; he suggested this last year, but due to all the other health issues she was having it was not a good idea. At the same time, she may be having her hips cast as they have always been dislocated, but he will discuss this with her other orthopaedic doctor, Dr. Allcock. The casting is done under a general anaesthetic, so I filled in admission papers yesterday and it is scheduled for January 29th, 2014. He still wants the MRI, so that will be done under the same GA. The cast only comes off for re-sizing and will remain on for 4-6 months!
I've tried to research Risser Casting, but I can't find a whole lot of information on it, as it is an older style of casting. I've read it goes under the armpits down to the hips, but I've also read it goes over the shoulders to the neck and sometimes past the hips. I think the thought of her being in pretty much a full body cast (hips casted too if they decide to fix the hip dysplasia) is harder for me to accept than the surgery. I've had so many questions pop into my head since the appointment - the worst I keep thinking is what if something happens to her and she needs CPR?
Jess
