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Sumana saw Dr. Sanders Tuesday and the x-ray showed something earlier ones (apparently) did not. The lamina on the vertebra that the VEPTR is attached to is eroding or damaged. And, the lower right rib appears to have cracked where the other rod attaches. Both these things sound worse than they are. Both are risks of using growing rods. The good news is both areas appear to be healing well and Sumana has been doing better pain-wise.

The other good news is that her upper spine is in good position. Dr. Sanders is VERY pleased with that. My concern about her still 'slumping' to the right is not the big concern I thought it was. The doctor's main goal is to help her straighter her scoliosis curve and that's happening. Since things look good, we're looking at surgery in May. If she has any complications before then, Dr. Sanders will move the date up. However, he feels confident in waiting til May at this point because his objectives are being met.

Overall, good news. Sumana starts PT at my PT office tomorrow. She'll get some special attention for her back and hopefully continue to help her work through her remaining back pain.

We owe you pictures!!!

Well, I think we're still lacking December pictures, but at least we're starting to get you caught up!

By the way, Sumana still is having quite a bit of pain, but she is going to start some intensive PT to address the issues with her back. She'll still get PT on Mondays at the Happiness House, but she'll go an additional day or two to a different PT to get treatment on her back. She sees Dr. Sanders again this week, so we'll see what his next plan is for her. We'll update again next week, with more pictures (I hope!!)

Sincere Apologies . . .

I'm so, SOOOO sorry it's been soooo long. Unfortunately, this time 'no news is NOT good news.' Sumana started out great after surgery, but we've had a rough couple of weeks. First of all, I took her back in on her birthday (November 22), to check on the way her back was 'bulging' or 'sagging' as bad or worse than before surgery. Usually, she comes out straighter and taller, but this time we saw little, if any, improvement. At that visit Dr. Sander's nurse practitioner said things looked good on the x-ray, so the obvious answer was that we didn't get as much benefit from the expansion as usual. This was the last expansion on these rods, but I can't help but wish the doctor had put in new rods THIS time. I'm afraid she'll be having surgery much sooner this time.

Well, pain-wise Sumana did very well: that is until Thursday when she started up with a sharp, stabbing pain on the right lower side of her back. It seems to be at the place where the rods connect on the lower side. So, we were off to see Dr. Sanders on Friday, Dec. 3. Once again, the x-rays showed nothing. The rods look like they are properly secured and there was no sign of infection. However, she's back on the narcotics and she wakes me up EVERY night for meds. If she's not better by Thursday, the doctor wants to see her again.

So, it's been a rough time this time around. Add to that, the fact that Daddy has been in New York City, Philadelphia and Albany for work . . . Sumana really misses her dad (ditto for the rest of us, too!)

We're off to celebrating the Christmas season. Gretchen has a choral concert Thursday, our Williams family get-together is Sunday, the Foster Family party is next Tuesday, and the list goes on. I still have pictures to load, but it takes awhile, so that will have to wait for another time.