So glad I found you guys!

[jrnyc]

hi Elisa
scoliosis can be very sneaky...looking back, i realize i had scoli in my teens, but it wasn't diagnosed til i was 31 yeas old, so please don't beat yourself up...and thank goodness you found it now! you are your son's advocate, and a good one...you will become a better one the more you learn...
i agree with those saying that no good surgeon will operate for cosmetic reasons...i just think girls are more obsessive about their looks than boys are, so they discuss that aspect of the surgery much more...but really, prevention of curve progression is so important when kids are young!

my sister has lived in Montreal for decades...she says she has no problem with the medical system there, as emergencies are seen immediately...but i dont buy it...i prefer paying our doctors here in the States the way we do, expensive as it is, compared to waiting for "non emergency visits"...i hope the new system the U.S. is adopting wont lead us down the path of wait and wait and wait, and you have my sympathy on your struggles to get your son in to see a good surgeon!!

sorry, but i just cant call you "spiny mouse"...i am a huge animal lover...but i am unable to love rodents...perhaps it is from growing up & living in NYC most of my life...because in NYC, they are seen as a major threat to the health of children and adults.....perhaps i just feel creeped out when i look at pix...i belong to several animal help organizations, love my puppy beyond reason, etc..but rodents are for others (sorry if i offend any of you guys)
so i will refer to you as Elisa for now...and wish you all the luck in finding the best care for your boy...i hope you can get him a specialist in the States, if that is what is needed...

best regards
jess

[Pooka1]

sorry, but i just cant call you "spiny mouse"...i am a huge animal lover...but i am unable to love rodents...perhaps it is from growing up & living in NYC most of my life...because in NYC, they are seen as a major threat to the health of children and adults.....perhaps i just feel creeped out when i look at pix...i belong to several animal help organizations, love my puppy beyond reason, etc..but rodents are for others (sorry if i offend any of you guys)
so i will refer to you as Elisa for now...and wish you all the luck in finding the best care for your boy...i hope you can get him a specialist in the States, if that is what is needed...

That's okay Jess. Not everyone sees the magic of rodents.

By the way, speaking of rats, they are thought to be conscious. Certain experimental results are consistent with the claim that they know when they know something and know when they don't know something. Metathinking (thinking about thinking) is considered a sign of consciousness.

http://www.cell.com/current-biology/...2807%2900931-1

Plus rats are cute as buttons!!!!!!!!!!

[Elisa]

Hahaha, that's funny about the rodent aversion. I feel the same way with reptiles, especially snakes. I'm practically phobic when it comes to snakes.

Now that I have an actual email address I'll have no trouble attaching the x-ray pics otherwise if I had to send them I'd attempt to scan them for now but would be looking into having them put on a disk and sending that instead. I'd still like to do that b/c the pics I posted were just a copy of a photocopy. I did take them with my brand new little camera though and I'm surprised they actually came out as clear as they did. You guys seem to have no trouble getting a good idea about how crooked his spine is so I'm assuming those who do have a trained eye will have no problem?

Jess, you can't possibly lump chinchillas into the same category as mice and rats can you? I have a hard time even thinking of them as rodents b/c they're just do beautiful and oh so soft.

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...nne_01/Pip.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...nne_01/004.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...1/100_4971.jpg

[Elisa]

YAY!

I have spoken with Shriners Montreal who put me in touch with the BC Shriners who put me in touch with someone in my own town and he is coming by tomorrow to help me fill out the papers. I also emailed him the letter I had written along with those three pics I posted here.

Looks like me and my boy will be heading down to Portland in that big cushy Shriners' bus soon. I am crying but they are tears of joy.

Today will be such a good day at work.

[jrnyc]

hey Elisa
what great news!!
hope Portland proves to be the answer for the help your son needs...

sorry...i know you love your pets...but chinchillas look pretty much the same to me...i'll just stick with my sweet puppy, and the cat (from up the street) who comes to visit me every few days...

Sharon...metacognition...seriously?! then i cant believe doggies dont have the same....knowingness!
Sparky said to tell you i am not prejudiced, either...

woof

[Elisa]

It's wonderful news! At least he'll finally get a professional to actually look at his back b/c so far only our family doc and this recent chiro has looked at it and they are by no means scoliosis specialists but even they believe he needs to be seen by a specialist ASAP.

I really hope we'll get some straight (no pun intended) answers as to what the heck is going on with his spine and what to do from there. I have been so disappointment by the waiting game from BC Children's as well as I fear they are just too swamped to handle all their caseloads b/c there's only two pediatric ortho specialists in the entire province. What if one gets sick or the other takes a holiday, then what? This is really worrisome for us and I'm not sure in the end we trust these guys to perform back surgery on our child b/c they're coming across as overworked and somewhat disorganized. They couldn't even find his x-rays for six months!

[Pooka1]

It's wonderful news! At least he'll finally get a professional to actually look at his back b/c so far only our family doc and this recent chiro has looked at it and they are by no means scoliosis specialists but even they believe he needs to be seen by a specialist ASAP.

I really hope we'll get some straight (no pun intended) answers as to what the heck is going on with his spine and what to do from there. I have been so disappointment by the waiting game from BC Children's as well as I fear they are just too swamped to handle all their caseloads b/c there's only two pediatric ortho specialists in the entire province. What if one gets sick or the other takes a holiday, then what? This is really worrisome for us and I'm not sure in the end we trust these guys to perform back surgery on our child b/c they're coming across as overworked and somewhat disorganized. They couldn't even find his x-rays for six months!

When we lived in Alberta, I was told by a physician that the way they ration care is by limiting the number of doctors. Now Canada only has ~30 million people and I don't know how many people are in BC but two pediatric orthopedic surgeons who may or may not have expertise in scoliosis sounds really low. But what do I know?

[Pooka1]

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...nne_01/Pip.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...nne_01/004.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...1/100_4971.jpg

Cute as buttons! So nice.

[Elisa]

The whole entire population of Canada is about the same as that of California. The actual population of BC is about 4.5 million. Hard to believe there's so few people here in this massive country and hard to believe there's only TWO pedi/ortho specialists for 4.5 million people.

http://www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/data/pop/pop/BCQrtPop.asp

I might be getting ahead of myself but I'm already planning to do some shopping in Oregon b/c the selection is so awesome compared to what we have here AND there's no tax.

The Shriner fellow is coming over tomorrow so I will let you guys know what he says. I'm very excited and probably won't sleep well tonight but for different reasons than being frustrated and angry.

Pooka, glad you like my chinny pops. That is just three of them and I have four more to post pics of but of course I'll spare that b/c Jess doesn't like them, lol.

These guys all have huge cages (most my husband built) as well as wheels from the US and their very own room set up that they can come out each evening and run about. They are very spoiled lil puff butts.

[Pooka1]

The whole entire population of Canada is about the same as that of California. The actual population of BC is about 4.5 million. Hard to believe there's so few people here in this massive country and hard to believe there's only TWO pedi/ortho specialists for 4.5 million people.

http://www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/data/pop/pop/BCQrtPop.asp

I might be getting ahead of myself but I'm already planning to do some shopping in Oregon b/c the selection is so awesome compared to what we have here AND there's no tax.

Canada is the second largest country in the world but 90% live within 100 miles or 2 hours or something of the US border I think is the statistic.

The Shriner fellow is coming over tomorrow so I will let you guys know what he says. I'm very excited and probably won't sleep well tonight but for different reasons than being frustrated and angry.

Good. You need a break from your whirlwind.

Pooka, glad you like my chinny pops. That is just three of them and I have four more to post pics of but of course I'll spare that b/c Jess doesn't like them, lol.

These guys all have huge cages (most my husband built) as well as wheels from the US and their very own room set up that they can come out each evening and run about. They are very spoiled lil puff butts.

"Chinny pops" and "lil puff butts." Excellent descriptors!

My pigs are "fatty cakes" or "The Cherubims."

[Elisa]

Forgot to mention that my son had his chiro appointment today and I talked to him about my conversations with the Shriners and he seemed REALLY impressed. As far as the chiro visits go, my son has had about four I think and he has been feeling a lot better. Since he's been going to see this chiro he hasn't been complaining of back aches recently and hasn't been slathering on that stinky muscle rub which is encouraging.

[Pooka1]

Forgot to mention that my son had his chiro appointment today and I talked to him about my conversations with the Shriners and he seemed REALLY impressed. As far as the chiro visits go, my son has had about four I think and he has been feeling a lot better. Since he's been going to see this chiro he hasn't been complaining of back aches recently and hasn't been slathering on that stinky muscle rub which is encouraging.

Glad he is getting some relief.

PT has a better track record for many categories of pain than does even surgery.

[Elisa]

Not only did we find a chinchilla outside under our van, we found a guinea pig too a while later! I did post an ad in the paper as well as a memo on the bulletin board of our town home complex in Victoria but no one claimed him/her, didn't find out for sure but a neighbour assured us it was a female. We kept Miss Piggy for five years before she passed. Now we have three female cats that we've adopted. Animals just seem to find us for some reason. I guess I need to take in that 'welcome all stray creatures' off our front doorstep, lol.

[Pooka1]

Not only did we find a chinchilla outside under our van, we found a guinea pig too a while later! I did post an ad in the paper as well as a memo on the bulletin board of our town home complex in Victoria but no one claimed him/her, didn't find out for sure but a neighbour assured us it was a female. We kept Miss Piggy for five years before she passed. Now we have three female cats that we've adopted. Animals just seem to find us for some reason. I guess I need to take in that 'welcome all stray creatures' off our front doorstep, lol.

Well people are either part of the problem or part of the solution. You are clearly part of the solution, picking up the pieces.

The less wanted and the less cherished, the more important these stray animals are in a cosmic sense in my opinion. People who go to a shelter or rescue and adopt the oldest, least beautiful animal in the place recognize this. We can judge society by how we treat animals.

[Elisa]

I feel as though someone is going to pinch me and I'm going to wake up from this nightmare only to find that no one is coming to my house tomorrow and no one is going to be looking at my son's spine anytime soon. I was so distracted at work today that I totally forgot to put everything away and my boss called me at home and we laughed. I haven't laughed for a long time b/c I've been so stressed out over this whole thing and mostly I cry or get really angry. I keep telling my husband that it's probably a good thing I live on this island otherwise I'd be at BC's Children's and making a huge scene where they'd escort me away or I'd be standing outside with a picket or something and ending up on the news only to embarrass my son.

I also have not been eating as well as I should and taking way more Advil for my daily headaches than I should and have had to rely on deep breathing to calm me down as well as too much red wine probably. I do feel a somewhat at peace when I head downstairs to tend to my chinchillas b/c they are relaxing, entertaining and their softness makes me feel good.