spinecor

[gerbo]

it helps when they care and give the impresion they are actually bothered......

[MATJESNIC]

Cheryl,

I believe that Spinecor has done wonders for Rachel. No matter what the end result is, you certainly made a great decision. I wish for you that Rachel (and all the others on here) will avoid surgery.

Gerbo,

I am thinking about you and your beautiful dancer daughter and wish you all the best? How is the ballet going? Did she start with that company?

Celia,

I can't remember the name of the technique that Dr. Dormans is using (I should have written it down). But he will be de-rotating Nicole's curve very significantly. He said she will definitely require some blood because of this. He expects her curves to be down to a 15 or less. He said some surgeons are too greedy and actually make problems by going to0 straight. In his 20 years of spinal fusions (about 2,000), he has had only one patient who required a second surgery. He is always looking to the future to try to avoid as many complications for his patients as possible. He is tops in his field and I have complete faith in him. Turning over a child to someone is very difficult. But I believe I am at peace with this because of him. It also helps that Nicole likes him very much. .

[Celia]

Melissa,

I don't doubt for one minute that dr. Dormans is an excellent doctor! If he has performed 2000 surgeries, he obviously knows what he's doing. However despite expertise and experience, doctors are limited by techniques which at times may be less than perfect. I'm sure what they can accomplish nowadays with significant curves is nothing short of miraculous. We all hope and pray Nicole suffers no complications from this surgery either short or long term. Only *positive* get well soon thoughts are going your way. You know me.... I'm a worry wart and when I read that her curve is sky rocketing I started to worry. I have a hunch anything I say at this point will just make you and Ed more nervous so I'll just keep my fingers away from the keyboard from here on end. Mums the word!

Cheryl,

Dr. Coillard is an amazing, brilliant doctor!

Gerbo,

I hope the appointment goes well!

[MATJESNIC]

Celia,

You didn't say anything to make me more worried. I appreciate everyone's concern and good thoughts. I believe we are all here trying to help each other as best as we can. I know that all of us parents have each other's kids' best interests at heart. I am thankful for this forum every day.

[gerbo]

melissa, l had a great week, dancing 8 hours a day during her "summerschool". From now there is a few sundays with final rehearsels with the big performance in London's west end planned for the 14th of oktober, followed by some more performances in a smaller venue during the "fall" (autumn we call it) holiday towards the end of october. She thoroughly enjoyed herself and we just pray we are not giving her too much freedom......

this dr dormans sounds very sensible and with 2000 surgeries behind him, he surely has the experience. It sounds that you are in good hands

best, best wishes to you all

when is she due to be operated on?

[cherylplinder]

Gerbo,
I must have been typing while you were posting and didn't see your post until today. I'll be thinking of you. Best of luck.
Cheryl

[MATJESNIC]

Gerbo,

Lisanna's dance experience sounds wonderful. I am so happy for her. Our surgery date is Sept. 12. It was so strange not to sign her up for her usual 7 classes. I will be saving lots of money on classes, competition fees, costumes, etc. My goal for her is to take one tap class in January and just not do any twisting or bending. We shall see. One step at a time. Anyway, thanks for the well wishes. I will keep you all posted. Meanwhile, my 17-year old is driving to work for the first time alone. Now that's what I call stress.

[Celia]

... fries with peanutbuttersauce (or satesauce) were delicious as ever. (celia; if you like fries and you like satesauce, you will love fries with satesauce, if you never have had it, very easy to make, i can give you recipe)

Well then you must give me the recipe!

[cherylplinder]

I want the recipe too!

[gerbo]

me and my promises; on reflection realised that , like any good cooke, i do not work to recipes and "make it up as i go along", adding ingredients as I go along. however, the basic idea is this

heat half a cup of milk in a saucepan (make sure not to burn it), when hot start adding peanutbutter (have they got that in USA/Canada??), this will soften in the hot liquid, keep on adding till you got a sauce of a nice firm consistency (not too soft, should not drip of a spoon)

this is your basic sauce, which needs a bit of spicing up, for which you use some tomatoketchup, 1-2 teaspoons of sojasauce ("ketjap") sambal (very hot paste, based on chili-peppers, surely there is a usa equivalent)

some added fried unions (finely cut) or fresh fried garlic will add to the taste sensation.

eat it with rice dishes, pasta, meat and ofcourse with fries

bon apetite!

[gerbo]

melissa; we try to let her enjoy the dancing whilst she can as we realise that at some stage "events might overtake" and put an end to it.

what have you been told about nicole's bility to move/ bend and even dance after surgery? I have this image in my head of "irish dancing", with the very straight back, being the only option, but assume that is too pessimistic....

what hospital is she going to be in, how long will she be in for??

[MATJESNIC]

Gerbo,Nicole and I always joke that it is too bad she doesn't do Riverdance with the straight back. We are fortunate that Nicole's passion is tap. But of course there is still bending and twisting. We were told that after a year she can do everything. But it is difficult for people to describe what the spine feels like after fusion. One doctor said it will be stiff. Obviously there will be moves that require more flexibility than she will be able to do. Yet, her dance teacher knows of two women with Harrington Rods who went on to become professional dancers. I am sure the length of fusion plays into it. Some may only be fused on top which is not as flexible of an area to begin with. I have met girls who say that still do flips into the pool after a fusion. I think the body adjusts somewhat.

Thankfully Nicole is not one of the best at her studio. This is only for fun. These girls are her friends and dance is her social scene. But she will be going to high school soon and perhaps this would have changed anyway. Her goal was always to dance here until she goes to college. I am hopeful that in some capacity she will be able to do that.

She is having surgery at Children's Hospital of Phila. If all goes well, she will be there for 5 days. The first day will be spent in ICU. It takes us about an hour to get there. But is only about 30 miles away. Are you familiar with Phila? The city has a lot of rich history there. Not to mention the famous cheesesteaks.

[cherylplinder]

Gerbo,
That sounds delicious! I have never had that!
And, yes, we have peanut butter in the USA.( lol )I think peanut butter was first made by George Washington Carver in the 1800s.
I'll have to look for the equivalent of the soja sauce and sambal.
Thanks

[Celia]

We also have peanut butter here in Canada. However....as a substitution for the samba ingredient would walrus fat do?

[gerbo]

no, things are not going well at all, i am sorry to say

back at mr mills today, who spend an enormous long time with us, and very patiently tried to make a difference.

following instructions from dr coillard he tried a different configuration of the straps, which on the scolimeter gave a much reduced rotation of 5 degrees, however our raised hopes were squashed very quickly following the x ray which showed a 33 (lower, original) and 26 degree upper curve.

back to the old set up, which resulted in a 28/28 curve, well balanced maybe, but worse than 9 months ago, when the prim curve was below 20 degrees.

i feel that the next few months i need to work on L and see whether she would accept a german hard brace as our last non surgical option. I am not hopeful, it would be such a blow to her and one wonders whether to accept eventual surgery as the best and least stressful option