Blakely's Check-up in Denver

For those who didn't get the update, Blakely had an orthopedic check-up in Denver this last week. They wanted to check on her vertebrae and scoliosis and see if there had been a drastic change since her last x-rays 6 months ago. Despite sending them x-rays that we were told to take ahead of time, they re-x-rayed (can that be a word?) when we got there. Blakely was not cooperating once we left the waiting room, so the x-ray was not the easiest procedure either. She had to stand up for this one, with the tech holding her feet in place so she didn't run away or kick, and I had to stand behind her and hold her arms over her head like she was just learning how to walk. She was screaming her head off, which was evident when we saw the x-ray and it showed a very large, open mouth full of teeth. I'm hoping to get it on a canvas wrap to hang in the house. A neat little way to remember the screams of Blakely :o)

Anyhow, the check-up went well. The doctor said he liked what he saw in her, that she wasn't having any trouble walking, etc. He pointed out that she does have 6 malformed vertebrae (two are fused together at one end, and the others never fully formed and are just half.) He said sometimes it's better to have more than just one malformed vertebrae because they can actually 'balance themselves out' better that way and she may not have as much trouble with her curve. This x-ray also revealed two sets of fused ribs as well. They are fused together at the ends at her spine. This will also need monitoring to make sure her chest cavity is able to grow so her lungs can do so, etc. All in all, he said nothing was bad enough for surgery yet, and we should come back in 6 months.

Blakely will be 18 months old on the 27th and a few days later we go for her 18th month check-up with her new pediatrician. I am fairly emotional about this as I really liked our previous one and she was so good for us during all of Blakely's ordeals, and we miss her already. But I guess a part of life is adapting to change.....so I guess I will try. I'll keep you posted ;o)