Saturday, May 31, 2014

Maddy's CT scan

Last week, Maddy had a CT scan of her spine. The purpose was to get a very clear picture of the structure of her scoliosis in order to plan towards possible surgery. As I mentioned way back in October in this post, our doctors here in Hong Kong thought that she may have a hemivertebra and if so, it could potentially be removed buying some time before we need to put in growing rods. Dr Mackenzie disagreed but ultimately, our doctors here "needed" to see for themselves. 

Today, I picked up the CD with the CT scan and here are the images of Maddy's spine:

Front view:

Side view:

The verdict is, there is no hemivertebra. Several of the vertebrae are "wedge shaped" but there is nothing that we can do surgically to prevent or delay the need for growing rods. Apparently this kind of scoliosis is one of the hardest to correct, and it's further complicated since Maddy is so tiny. The doctors here need to take some time to discuss an approach to the surgery, but we may be looking at needing growing rods put in within 6-12 months. That is one surgery I am NOT looking forward to! Once the rods are in, it means surgery every few months to lengthen the rods until Maddy stops growing. We have our next appointment in August (since we will be in Australia for a month, leaving in 3 weeks time) so we will find out more then.

Maddy has been complaining of back pain more frequently and seeing these images worries me! Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers, as well as the rest of our family. Going into this is quite stressful and worrying. I know ultimately she is a tough cookie and we have to do what we have to do - but I wish we didn't have to deal with this with our three year old :(

3 comments:

  1. I don't know what to say. I can't imagine what this must be like, as a mother, or as a three year old. You are in my thoughts and prayers. I hope everything to go well, and I hope you, your family, and especially Maddy can feel peace during this.

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  2. Hi Nicole - praying for you and Maddy!

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  3. You all are in my thoughts!

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