spinecor

[desheah]

lucas' appointment next week

coming on to ask for some well wishes for us next week when we go back to montreal for another check up. will anyone else be in montreal? lucas has been in the spinecor for 6 months now. i think his back looks really good. i'll attempt to attach a picture that i took a week or so ago. also our holiday card.

happy new year!

deshea

[christine2]

Deshea

GOOD LUCK!! I looked at the photo and his back does look great. We don't go back to Montreal until March. It is so had waiting.

Let us know asap we will be thinking of you.

Christine

[gerbo]

wow, that does look good, nice card as well.

Wish you all the best and a good trip!

Be confident

Gerbo

[christine2]

Mri

Hi all thought I would pick your brain. My daughter is 6yrs and wears a spinecor brace. I recently took her to see another ortho just for another opionion and he said to stick with spinecor but wanted her to have an MRI.

The procedure is 1 hour under sedation. I do not get a warm fuzzy feeling from the staff at the hospital (we felt like just a number) and am not getting call backs from the doc. Frankly sedation scares the you know what out of me.

Dr Rivard says he only does MRIs on left curves not right. The doc here says it is routine for scoliosis patients as young as my daughter.

has anyone had a MRI done without sedation? Does an open machine make a difference?

I have a call in to shiners in Springfield Mass. Hopefully I get a better feeling from them.

Christine

[mariaf]

Desheah,

Best of luck to you next week. I'm sure everything will go well - he does look very good. You will be in my thoughts and prayers.

Christine2,

From everything I have ever heard and read, at 6 years old most orthos would definitely order an MRI regardless of whether the curve is left or right. It is very standard procedure since scoli is not common in children that young. They need to check for things like chiari, etc. that can not be seen on an x-ray. Is it possible that your daughter could stay still for an open MRI without sedation? I'm sure you'd be more comfortable with that

good luck,

[desheah]

thanks everyone! i do feel pretty good, but i'm sure that you all can relate to that anxious feeling you get before an appointment. thankfully, we have family in vermont so we will make it into a mini-vacation since they have a 2 yrs old as well and ruby absolutely loves her cousin!

christine, as for the mri, yes it is standard routine for infantile and juvenile scoliosis patients to get one to rule out any neurological or even missed congenital (fused vertebrae for example) issues as maria mentioned. lucas did have an mri at 19 mos and that is how is tethered cord was found. he had no other symptoms besides scoliosis. i am very thankful that it was found out so soon. i know of other children who don't even have scoliosis and have had a tethered spinal cord and started developing neurological symptoms.

i know there are others (when celia comes on, she'll definitely chime in ) who would not have their child sedated for an mri, but i believe that it is better to rule out all the potential underlying causes of the scoliosis and only an mri will do that. also, since lucas had to be anaesthetized every time he had a cast change, i HAD to get used to the idea of intubating him and all the potential risks. in the long run, i do believe the benefits outweighed the risks. BUT lucas had not problems with anaesthesia and others do. just a clarification, sedation does not require intubation!

i hope that answers your question, and if you don't get a good feeling from your local place, then by all means go where you feel more comfortable. we definitely felt like a number at children's in boston, but we also knew that they did a lot of mri's and knew what they were doing.

good luck with your decision!
deshea

[christine2]

Maria

My daughter is VERY well behaved and she may stay still. Is there a signifigant difference between an open and a closed machine?

I know I need to have the MRI done. I just want to make sure I expore all possibilitys and make the best choice.
Christine

P S To all

I am very glad that the vestibular testing "discussion" moved. It made me feel rather uncomfortable. It is an important discussion however not appropriate for this thread.

[christine2]

Deshea

Thank you. I know I need to rule out causes with the MRI I quess I am just being overprotective.

I have had to make so many decisions lately and have no regrets so far.


Christine

[Celia]

...i know there are others (when celia comes on, she'll definitely chime in ) who would not have their child sedated for an mri, but i believe that it is better to rule out all the potential underlying causes of the scoliosis and only an mri will do that.

No way.... I'm not touching this baby with a ten foot pole! LOL!!! Do I really want to get into a heated discussion with a neurosurgeon???? I will give no advice and remain forever neutral on *all* matters pertaining to scoliosis - no yeah or nay.

[gallathea]

sedation

Hi Christine:

When we took our 6-year-old to Children's in Boston for the MRI we tried it without sedation, but it was too hard for her. It is a closed tube and very loud, and it lasted for 45 minutes. She made it through about five minutes, and was trying to be very brave, but she started to get upset. We ended up doing the sedation, and it all was fine (she'd been put under general anaesthesia before, though, for something else, so I had seen her go through something similar). The sedation is MUCH less intense than the general--it lasts about 45 minutes.

We had a really positive expereince at Children's--the nurses were really good with her and with me.

Hope that helps. Whatever decision you make will be the right one.

Caroline

[MATJESNIC]

Deshea,

Your son's back looks awesome.

Christine, the orthos in the U.S. order an MRI if the child is under 11 years of age. There is one girl on Spinekids who has been in a brace since age 8 (at least 7 years) and just found out she had chiari. If they would have done an MRI, they would have taken an entirely different path for her. Of course I don't know any of the details. But I do know that it is considered routine for a young child.

Melissa

[desheah]

celia, you are too funny!

just for kicks, i want to show lucas' back at 18mos at 68o/45o. it's amazing the difference. after 3 1/2 yrs, i think we are doing pretty well. although i don't want to jinx myself!

deshea

[MATJESNIC]

Deshea,

The change in your son's back is amazing. I forget what you did at first. Was it casting or hard bracing? When did you get Spinecor? Did they find out what caused the scoli at his age?

Christine,

I have only been in an open MRI myself. Hopefully you can find one near you. I think it is much easier to deal with because you don't have that closed-in feeling. Most likely they will tell you your daughter is fine. But you will be glad you followed your ortho's advice by getting the MRI. I would never not have a test done if an ortho advised to have it done.

When Nicole hurt her neck by turning it the wrong way, her doctor wanted her to have an x-ray done. She was 95% sure it was nothing, but felt better if we had it done. We did and it was nothing.

[Celia]

Christine,

I found this article on MRI's and hopefully it will make you feel more comfortable with whatever decision you choose to take:

RM Schwend, W Hennrikus, JE Hall, and JB Emans

Childhood scoliosis: Clinical Indications for Magnetic Resonance Imaging


http://www.scoliosis-support.org/upl...ns_for_mri.pdf



Deshea,

The difference between the first and second picture is REMARKABLE!!!

[christine2]

Celia

Thank you !! I read most of the article and will finish the rest tommarrow. I must say it sounds as though it is a crap shoot so I will have the MRI however I am not going to rush so I can find the best way to do it.

have a nice weekend
Christine