Best Laid Plans

Ever notice sometimes no matter how well you plan for something, a small thing can fully change your plans?

Okay, so in this case it wasn't something small it was something totally out of the blue.  We found out yesterday that Ethan will not be proceeding with spinal surgery next week as tentatively planned.

You might think it is because he is sick with a cold or something...but you'd be surprisingly wrong!  Ethan is in good health right now and doing well.  It is because plans have changed.  Ethan's images were shared with several orthopaedic surgeons over the past month and the one thing everyone can agree on (including us) is that he needs surgery.  It is just what type of surgery that is now in question.

Given the severity of Ethan's scoliosis, the surgeon would like to start by putting him in traction.  Not the type of traction you usually see in movies, but Halo traction...which the surgeon describes best as a crown of thorns.  This would be for about a month and then he would like to proceed with Shilla spine surgery.  It is considered experimental and new (has been around for about 10 years), but it borrows elements from the tried and true fusion or growing rods surgeries.  It would mean that a small part of his spine (where the scoliosis is the worst) would be fused and then rods would be placed along the spine with special screws that allow the spine to grow as it normally would and the rods would expand (or grow) with the spine.  It would significantly reduce the amount of surgeries he requires which would reduce the numerous risks for infection related to multiple surgeries.

We do not have any details yet on when and how we will proceed but hope to learn more later in the week after the surgeon consults with Ethan's neurosurgeon.  It sounds very promising though...