Halo Traction

[mariaf]

Oops - thank you Gayle as well! :-)

[Elisa]

Thanks for posting that most interesting and comprehensive article, Sharon.

Elisa - I have more contact info for you which I will e-mail. One mom who has experience with halo traction gave me her cell number as well as e-mail address and is happy to chat with you.

Sounds good Maria, thanks again. Heading off to work in a bit as I haven't been there in over a week and am looking forward to getting back into my routine somewhat at least for a while before I have to end it all again.

Gayle, Pooka, that was a very good article and so informative. Definitely worth a read for many people.

Also Pooka, I now know when those second set of x-rays were taken. I don't know why I didn't just look at the images I had saved on my desktop but my head is kinda overfilled with so much stuff right now that sometimes I forget the simplest and obvious things, doh.

First set taken: Oct/09 and was told by GP 47* (that by memory only)

Second set: Sept/10 and was told by chiro 75* (you guys say more like 85*+)

Third set: Jan/11 was told by Dr. K 110*

I didn't realize so much time had elapsed between the first and second set of x-rays and honestly, even at 75*+ his back was not looking nasty like it does now and that's only four months. Those red stretch marks that appeared on his right lower side where his rib hump is appeared about three months ago; just after his second set of x-rays. So, the math should add up more accurately now. He definitely has "relentless" progression happening though it seems.

I also feel as though no news is good news or perhaps the news is not so good and Dr. K is consulting with someone else and in that case I'd rather hear the whole story anyway all at once so I am okay with waiting a bit more until I hear from them.

[Elisa]

Called Kelly A on my break today and left a voice mail message. Hopefully she or someone will call soon! So far I think we're only dealing with scoliosis but it sure would be nice to know if something else is involved. Still can't believe how well my son is doing: carrying on business as usual, cheerful, looking forward to heading back to Portland and only a wee bit of back pain after a full day of walking to and fro to school and sitting on hard chairs.

[Elisa]

No one has called me back yet, grrrr, and Kelly isn't in the building on Fridays. >_<

[leahdragonfly]

Sorry Elisa, I can't imagine your anxiety. I am sure Kelly will call next week.

Take care,

Gayle

[Elisa]

Interestingly enough Gayle I'm not as anxious as I was at the beginning of the week for some reason. I guess I'm going with the theory 'no news is good news'. Talked to my sister on the phone yesterday and she said a normal x-ray would show a tumour. Is that true? I tend to believe her b/c she has been dealing with cancer/tumours for many years now and has had many x-rays. I have zero experience with these things at all.

I have found someone to take my place at work when I'm away. It's not my job to hire people but I know this girl and I know she has a good eye for detail and has a fine finishing touch. Something that is sorely lacking when I'm not there and it seems you can't actually teach someone these things, they either see or they don't. She sees!

[Elisa]

I'm trying to look up some info on those circular beds used in hospitals but am having a diffiscult time finding anything online about them, and I know there's info b/c I was looking at it last week. What am I doing wrong in my search? What's the proper name for these types of beds? Maybe I'll have better luck searching that. Elias is supposed to use one of these beds (they have two at Shriners) but I honestly don't know much if anything about them and what how it's supposed to help his spine.

He's been off school yesterday and today with a cold and since he's stuffed up it is hurting his chest more b/c he's coughing. I did give him a decongestant as well as some cough medicine but I still hear him hacking in his room.

Kelly A is supposed to call me sometime this week about the details of both surgeries. I am assuming he/we will be staying down there between the two surgeries b/c I believe the halo-traction will take place between them. March 22nd to April 19th... doesn't that seem like a long time in traction? I'm sure Dr. K said two weeks... four weeks total for everything. I hope I'm not mixing everything up here and am looking forward to her calling so I know what to expect. If they do the anterior surgery to "loosen up his spine" then surely he wouldn't be able to walk around much with a spine that's not supporting him? Or do they put instrumentation in as well during the first surgery? Bah, I wish I knew more about the actual procedure.

[hdugger]

Do you mean a round bed? Or a bed that rotates the patient from the top to the bottom and back again, in a circle? The second kind I'm seeing a bunch of links on as a rotating bed. The first kind, I keep coming up with Austin Powers' type beds

[Elisa]

It's a bed that rotates, not the Austin Power's kind, although they're pretty cool, hehe.

When I was talking to Kelly A on the phone last week she mentioned the circle bed and how they only had two and that when one came available then my son could use it. I don't know anything about them and what they're supposed to do so that's why I'm looking them up. I'll try rotating bed instead, thanks.

[tonibunny]

A Stryker Frame, Elisa? I was in halo-tibial traction on one of those back in the 1980s.

[Elisa]

Not sure Toni, she just mentioned it to last week for the first time and I heard her say something about a "circle bed" and that they only have two of them. Is halo-traction the same thing as halo-femoral traction? I know about the halo part being pinned to the skull but I'm not sure how that all fits in with the femoral part. My searches aren't getting me anywhere today it seems.

[Pooka1]

Maybe this?

http://www.crp-bangladesh.org/images...miRomjin_3.jpg

[tonibunny]

Halo traction can be done using gravity alone (which I believe is more usual these days) or it can be done whilst the patient is lying down, with pins inserted into the pelvis, femurs or tibias and with weights hanging off both ends.

In the UK, rotating beds like the Stryker Frame used to be used routinely for post-op spinal patients whether or not they had any sort of traction in place, simply because they make it easier to turn the patient without moving them much. I would imagine that this is the sort of bed your son's nurse means Basically, the bed comes with back sections and front sections, and rotates around its long axis - when you need to turn over, the nurses clip the other half of the bed into place, flip you over so you're lying on it and then remove the section you had previously been lying on.

[tonibunny]

That's the sort of thing Sharon Though they're often a bit more high-tech looking than that one!

[rohrer01]

There's a good schematic of what you might be talking about on this website. I hope this helps!

http://thejns.org/doi/full/10.3171/FOC/2008/24/1/E10

You have to scroll down a ways.