Good News for the Little Warrior

We have great news to share with everyone. We took Wyatt to Phoenix Children's Hospital on Friday for his follow up x-ray. I got to peek at the x-ray before they printed a CD for us to send back to Denver Children's Hospital to be measured. It looks AMAZING!!! I could not detect a curve whatsoever. His last x-ray in November was measured at 10 degrees (there is a 5 degree margin of error), I could detect a slight curve in that x-ray. This one looks as good if not better! We are so grateful and feel so blessed. Prayers have done wonderful things for our family and for Wyatt. I cannot say enough about the wonderful people who I have had the pleasure of getting to know through CAST, the support group for parents of children with Infantile Scoliosis. I received the gift of having someone pick up her phone on one of my darkest days as a mother and reassure me, and give me hope and guidance. You know who you are! With her guidance and reassurance we were set on a path that was agressive and educated, and Wyatt has surely benefitted from her wisdom and experience. I am so lucky to have come across these wonderful mothers!

This is my take on Wyatt's scoliosis. Wyatt was breech and in an odd position for much of the third trimester of my pregnancy. I am convinced that this caused his curve. He grew in that position, and once he was born did not have the strength or the muscle elasticity to grow straight. Once we started agressive physical therapy Wyatt's muscles could release so that his spine could start to grow straight again. Perhaps Wyatt had the Scoliosis that goes away on its own for unknown reasons, but I think mostly it was intrauterine positioning. Wyatt's muscle tone was so low as a young infant that the physical therapy was essential to his development and straightening out! It was hard work, mostly for him, hard for me to watch when he cried. It was odd I am sure, to have his entire proprioception altered and broadened. He didn't know his body could move that way! Without this early and agressive intervention I am positive Wyatt would have grown into his curve further. He would probably have been casted at least once. While his was not as severe as those babies who have more congenital or progressive Scoliosis, his would have been progressive simply because his muscles didn't know better. I am forever grateful to the wonderful doctors, specialists and especially the physical therapists at NCMC in Greeley. They are the best! I am happy to report Wyatt has taken his first solo steps! Not bad for a baby that wasn't able to hold his chest up until 6 months! He has come so far. His name means Little Warrior, and there isn't much else I could say to sum up his first year of life. This little warrior has battled and won, with the prayers and amazing guidance of our friends and family. Thank you to all of you who lifted us up in those early days, they were frightening and challenging and I couldn't have gotten through them without you. Thank you to those of you who have asked about his progress, it means the world to me to know those of you who really care about my children. Thank you to the moms of CAST who have given me reassurance that even the best doctors, friends and family could not. I hope I can answer the call someday from a scared mother who needs help, guidance, and mostly to know she isn't alone. Wyatt's journey has been one that has taught me more than I could ever begin to explain, and I am so grateful that he is growing straight. I will post the actual results of his RVAD and COBB angles once Dr. Erikson in Denver looks at the x-ray. I am hoping he won't have to have another x-ray for at least 6 months!!! XOXO