Sage's 1st Cast Today

[Guest guest]

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.