#12

Surgery was fast today only lasting about 45 minutes. Lengthened rod about a half inch. Looking to lengthen again in 6-9 months. Looking to be released later today

#11

I can't believe I missed posting the surgery a year ago. As I'm ready to post results of this year, I thought I should report #11, of which made me realize we were wrong on our calculations of total number, thinking we were at 9.

Oh well, I recall us having to stay the night due to the doctor being called to an emergency delaying Emily's to the afternoon making it miserable since she couldn't eat.

Regardless, the surgery was on a Thursday and she was able to start first day of school the following Monday.

Post Surgery #10

Well, amazingly, Emily is already home and still not in pain. In fact she's walking around like she has never walked before so soon after an operation. There's still a chance that the pain can kick in, but we're stunned at her response and quick recovery. She did really well today and we're very proud of her. You can tell that these surgeries are becoming routine for her.

Thank you everyone for praying for Emily. School starts on Monday and we're not seeing anything right now that would prevent her from going.

Surgery #10 - Thursday, August 13, 2015

I'm sitting in a coffee shop waiting to be paged for the completion of Emily's, hopefully routine and uneventful surgery. What was unusual today was being told that the surgery would take 3 hours. I wasn't told why because it wasn't known by the assistants, but I suspect that they may be replacing the rod with a longer one.

One bit of good news was that when we checked in this morning at 5 a.m., Emily informed me that the nerve burn she's been experiencing since the last surgery has been gone for about a month or two.

Although this is surgery #10, it is only #8 for the actual corrective straightening surgeries. The other two were for the neurological detethering of the cord.

I will keep everyone posted. We're hoping she will be released today, same as it was last year.

Tragically, it's being reported that large explosions have occurred in Emily's hometown, Tianjin, China.
 
http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/13/asia/china-tianjin-explosions/index.html

Surgery #9 - September 23, 2014

If my calculations are correct, today's surgery marks #9 for Emily including the two initial spinal cord surgeries. This surgery was initially scheduled for August, however, we were checked in with all pre ops being completed only to have the surgeon have an emergency come up for another patient. We were most agreeable in deferring.

Today was a bit unique in the sense that the surgery has typically been on a Thursday with check in the prior day. In this case, since we had just done pre ops (blood and xrays) the month prior, we didn't have to go through that again and were able to drive in this morning around 6 a.m.

We are most appreciated that a friend, Mark Welch, came and joined me before Emily went in and spent the entire time waiting until she was out of surgery before having to leave. We tried our best to wake her before he left, but to no avail.

She's in quite a bit of pain, but just was administered some medicine and is now sleeping after chugging a cup of cranberry juice. The surgeon removed the right veptr and lengthened the spine veptr by about a half inch. We're wondering how she will respond to not having that right veptr in for over 5 years.

Will keep you posted.

Thank you for the prayers everyone!

Thank you so much for everyone's inquiries and prayers. Emily is out of surgery and in recovery. They were successful in once again lengthening the rods. Anxious to get home and measure to see how much she's grown in a day. :)

The surgeon expressed that everything went great and he will probably schedule the next one in 6-8 months, but after that, there's the possibility of removing the outer rod on the rib cage since that all is forming nicely. The rod on the spine will remain to ensure her growing straight.

Everything is looking like we'll be going home tomorrow...thankfully.

Next Surgery Coming Up...

Just to keep everyone posted, Emily's next surgery is coming up two weeks from today. It turns out that this will probably be record time for timeliness between surgeries. It's been the original intent to have them every 8 months, but because of scheduling, it turns out to be 10-12 months.

She certainly is growing, which is necessitating the greater frequency of ensuring the rods are making her as straight as possible.

Looks like I will be staying with her again this time since we just got a new addition to the family yesterday...Uriah Hope, 7 months old. We'll have more information on her in days to follow.