Isabel had an MRI on Thursday. It was at very interesting to see the progress she has made. She told me that she had already had an IV and so she was going to be very brave. She only fussed for a second when the needle was going in, other than that it was smooth sailing. I guess she is a pro now (sad to say). Well we had an appointment with the neurosurgeon immediately after the MRI. I love technology. He was able to pull up the images from her scan and give us her results. He said we could not have asked for better news. The syrinx (the large cyst in her neck that was compressing her spinal cord) is 95% gone. He said we could not have asked for better results. He said it will never completely go away.
We were thrilled. I had a feeling that we would get good news. It is amazing how quickly she has recovered. She complains a lot about tummy aches. Well I think a lot would actually be an understatement. We are going to see the pediatrician and I am going to go to the health food store and get some ginger. At times I think she is playing me, but other times I think they are real. It is probably a combination of both. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to deal with constant tummy aches? I would love any ideas.
We see the orthopedic doctor in a couple of weeks to see how her scoliosis is doing. I hope we have the same kind of results at that appointment. I took some pictures of her scar. I will post them soon. It is healing nicely.
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How it all began
Isabel is a typical healthy 6 year old. In July 2006 we went to our pediatrician for a routine 6 year old check up. I, and the doctor, were shocked to see that there appeared to be a curve in Isabel's spine. She sent us for an xray and the scoliosis was diagnosed as a 37% curvature of her t-spine. We were referred to a Pediatric Orthopedic doctor at Primay Chilren's Medical Center. He felt the sudden onset of her scoliosis warrented further investigation with an MRI of her entire spine. We were shocked to find out Isabel had a type 1 chiari malformation and an associated large syrinx. A chiari malformation is when the base of the brain, the cerebellum, protrudes down into the spinal canal. This disrupts the flow of spinal fluid causing an abnormal fluid collection in the spinal canal (syrinx). This resulted in the formation of the scoliosis. We were then referred to a Neurosurgeon. Isabel is scheduled to have surgery. The type of surgery is called a chiari decompression. This involves removing a piece of bone from the back of her skull and part of her first cervial vertabra; cutting the dura, or outer covering of the brain, and put a bovine patch in place; the projecting portion of the cerebellum will also be removed. All this is trying to create more space for the cerebellum.
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1 comment:
wow! i think the last time i heard about what was going on with isabell, she just had scoliosis. how scary, everything that you guys have had to go through. what a brave little soul she is. i am so glad that things are looking good. great idea to keep a blog to keep people updated.
are you still at central utah?
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