Re: Sage's 1st Cast Today

[Guest guest]

In case your interested in seeing a little photo blog of Sage I've

posted some pics to tumblr.com here http://sagesfirstcast.tumblr.com/

>

> Sage had her first scoli cast put on today in Rochester, NY. The

> doctor, technicians, nurses, and staff were great. Being Sage's first

> cast we didn't know what to expect and really appreciated the care

> that was provided today.

>

> Sage's curve measured 41 degrees while seated in 'the throne'. She's

> got a fair amount of rotation which was much more concerning to the

> doctor than the curve. The xray showed that Sage's curve has been

> worsening so we are happy that we are intervening early. While

> meeting with the doctor yesterday for the eval we enrolled in a study

> that will track Sage's progress until she is 10 or 11. Hopefully the

> data that is gleaned from Sage's experience can help other kids with

> infantile scoliosis. (I think another parent mentioned the same study

> in a recent post to this group)

>

> We saw some plotting of data that the doctor is going to publish

> regarding the effectiveness of the casting. What was really

> noteworthy is the difference that is made by casting early (less than

> 2 years old) versus starting later (4 years or older). I may have the

> ages wrong, but the data spoke volumes about early intervention.

>

> At the hospital this morning Sage was not happy by all the unfamiliar

> faces and equipment around her. But the nurses and staff were

> experienced and were very playful with Sage to calm her down. What

> really helped was the medicine she took orally that calmed her down.

> After a few minutes Sage was clearly relaxed and started smiling at

> everyone. Too bad they don't give parents some of that!

>

> I agreed to take her back to the OR where Sage did pretty good,

> despite all the people and equipment. I saw the Maltese (sp?) table

> which looks medieval, but appears to work and be the best option to

> date for allowing the cast to the applied. It took about 10 - 15

> seconds of crying and deep breaths of the gas for her to dose off.

> It's so scary to see your child go under so fast.

>

> After about an hour the doctor came out and met with and I to

> tell us that everything went well. He showed us an xray of Sage's

> spine which supine and in the cast was around 10 degrees. It was

> *amazing* to see her back straight. It made us hopeful that over

> time, without surgery, the curve and rotation could be corrected.

>

> We are back at the hotel now and Sage has been sleeping and tired most

> of the afternoon. She's not happy about the cast and often fusses and

> pulls on the stop of it. When we stand her up to try and walk she

> takes a few steps then plops down on all fours and cries. Mostly she

> just wants to be held by her mama. Some other parents warned us that

> it would take a few days for her to come around. We hope Sage is just

> getting used to the cast. I can see why she's frustrated by it

> because it's relatively bulky and makes it really, really difficult to

> sit up.

>

> I'll miss picking up her soft little body, but we know this is for the

> best.

>