Spinal appointment

Today, Maddy had an appointment with the orthopedic spinal specialists. It is our first time meeting with them - in the past, we have only met with pediatric orthopedic doctors. Our visit was arranged in response to our hospital stay last week, checking over the x-rays on her neck to see if her neck is safe for anesthesia. 

I'm really glad that this appointment was scheduled because the whole suggestion of the MRI was bugging me, and I hadn't had a chance to talk with any of the orthopedic doctors yet. IF the doctors really did suspect that Maddy had a neck instability, then they would have been massively negligent in not providing her with a neck brace and instructing us to take extra care with her neck. The kinds of falls that she does on a weekly basis could have resulted in damage to her spinal cord. But IF they did NOT suspect that she had a neck instability, then the MRI would be an unnecessary waste of hospital resources and my time - plus Maddy would need a cannula, something which is very difficult and painful for her.

When we were at the hospital last week, we were not able to talk with the orthopedic doctor directly, but I did read his notes that said that her neck was stable and there was no orthopedic reason not to proceed with the surgery. It was frustrating then to hear that the doctors decided to request an MRI. 

At today's appointment, we saw two spinal orthopedic specialists who both agree that Maddy's cervical spine is very stable and there is not even the slightest hint of an instability on her x-rays. As such, they recommend against having an MRI and have "officially" said that orthopedically, surgery should be safe for Maddy.  

In addition, they confirmed that her neck is kyphosis-free (something which can be of major concern for diastrophic dwarfs). They also looked at the "kink" in Maddy's thoracic spine and have agreed that their team will follow that issue closely in case it develops into scoliosis and requires surgery. Scoliosis is a concern with DD and so we are praying that Maddy's does not progress. Fixing it would be a very major and risky surgery - one that we would like to avoid if possible. 

So where to from here? I suspect that I probably won't hear anything until our next cleft appointment on February 10. After that, the doctors may want to do some further testing on Maddy's airways before proceeding with the surgery. I guess like always, we will wait and see.