Orthopedic Update

We saw the Orthopedic folks on Monday after our visit with the Neurologist.

One of my main concerns has been the stability / fragility of Annabelle’s spine and I have consequently been asking every doctor from every discipline for their opinion on the matter. All of them have been very reassuring but of course, it is the Ortho folks who specialize in this sort of thing.

I spoke with the surgeons who worked on Annabelle on 8/8 and they assured me that her spine is structurally fine and that there is not any fragility to be concerned with.

One of the interesting things the surgeon pointed out was concerning the lump of deformed spine on Annabelle’s back. He explained that he was hoping that the area of the spine that is sticking out in a lump (the area he worked on) would fuse into one piece of bone which would hopefully arrest it’s growth.

The idea is similar to what I pointed out yesterday concerning the shunt-lump on Annabelle’s head. The bump on Annabelle’s back is about 2 ½ inches long – which seems enormous on a body her size. But if that bump does not expand further due to the surgery, it will become less and less of a factor as the rest of Annabelle’s body grows.

After our appointment, he sent us to Radiology so that they could get a baseline image of the bump on the spine which they will use to track any growth or lack thereof.

Of course the other big question for the Orthopedic folks is Annabelle’s feet and legs. The Ortho doc said she wants to put therapeutic casts on Bella’s legs to straighten out her feet but that she can’t do that until Annabelle can lay comfortably on her back indefinitely. The plan is to get the casts on as early as a month from now but no later that February of next year.

The doc also said that we should expect to see more and more movement in Annie Lu’s legs and feet as time goes by – which of course we are continuing to hope and pray for.

While we are excited about getting Annie’s feet and legs straightened out (literally), the image of my baby girl laying in her bassinet with casts on both legs is not something I am particularly looking forward to (not to mention the empathetic stares of strangers when we are out and about). There seems to be no avoiding it though so we better just figure out how to slap a smile on our faces and deal with it.

One thing that was new information was a concern regarding her hips. The Ortho was not sure whether or not Annabelle’s hips are dislocated.

I know what you are thinking, “What now?!”

The doc assured us that if her hips are dislocated, it would not be causing her any discomfort and that now was not the time to correct them if they are, in fact, dislocated. The doc ordered an ultrasound to check out Annabelle’s hips as well.

So that is the Ortho update:

- Spine is strong and stable
- Hopefully the bump on her spine will become less and less of a factor
- We need to cast Annabelle’s legs as soon as she can lay on her back
- We may have to correct her hips as well.

Our next Ortho appointment is Monday, September 22nd.

Next up? Back to plastic Surgery tomorrow to have her back checked on.