Breakthroughs

Today I accomplished something that up until this morning seemed near to impossible: changing Russell's Knit-rite shirt under his cast!!! We changed it about a week after he got his cast on, and at that point the cast was so tight, that it felt like we were taking skin off as we shimmied the shirt up and down in his cast.  And it took us about 45 min to get one shirt off and put on the other.  So I decided we just would never try again.  However, it just kept getting dirtier and dirtier...imagine all the diaper leaks, food dribbles, dirt, etc.  Needless to say, it was getting pretty gross and smelly.  And then this morning, was one of the bad leaky mornings, where the whole diaper, the maxi pad, and the knit rite shirt were soaked.  I started washing it by hand, and then I realized how much give there was when I pulled the shirt out of the cast so I could clean it.  Of course!!! I thought, of course, he hasn't eaten yet, so the cast is not as tight right now!  So I took the shirt off (only took me about 5 min), gave him a good sponge bath, used the blow dryer to dry the inside of the cast (again, seriously he leaks about every 3rd morning, more or less), and then I put a clean shirt on him, by MYSELF, and it only took about 5-10 min!  Yay!  So exciting!

Also, there was a conference last September at OXFORD University (Oxford caught my eye because I have a brother who is going to be teaching there this summer) for Early-Onset Scoliosis (Progressive Infantile Scoliosis is in this group) and Miss Min Mehta presented there.   I have never met her, but I have so much gratitude and respect for her.  She is who came up with the Mehta cast technique (what Russell is currently in).  I also have great gratitude for Heather Hyatt, as she is who started ISOP and C.A.S.T. support group, where I have gained valuable advice, insight, knowledge as we go through this experience.  So I thought I'd share the following:  http://www.bsrf.co.uk/news/27/57/Oxford-EOS-Meeting.html

"The beautiful Christ Church College, Oxford, was the venue for the first Oxford Early-Onset Scoliosis Meeting in September, 2011, convened by Mr Colin Nnadi, FRCS. The faculty was a truly international one, and the subjects discussed the latest thinking in scoliosis in infants.

Undoubtedly one of the highlights of the meeting was the talk by Miss Min Mehta, FRCS, who presented on growth as a corrective force and discussed in detail the casting technique that was developed by Miss Mehta at Stanmore. She stressed the importance of paying attention to small curves in infants, and to the handling of a child by the parent, allowing the specialist to fully view the child and the parent to provide the observation so critical to monitoring the progression of the curve. Miss Mehta observed in her practice an asymmetry of the head and sometimes face which often accompanied scoliosis in infants and it is her opinion that idiopathic scoliosis in infants is rarely truly idiopathic. It is Miss Mehta’s opinion that once rotation has affected the spine, that this was near impossible to correct, and emphasised the importance of monitoring all curves in children. The Mehta casting technique uses a plaster of Paris jacket which allows room for the ribs, and is a technique currently enjoying resurgence in the US, due in no small part to the work of the Infantile Scoliosis Outreach Program, established by Heather Hyatt. Miss Mehta’s talk was met with a very moving standing ovation."

They just posted minutes from the meeting yesterday. Just so no one gets worried- Russell's scoliosis was caught before it affected his spinal cord, so he has great chances of complete correction.

I'm so grateful for people who have gone before us, and made our road with PIS somewhat easier.  Their acts have paved the way for Russell to have a much better life than he would have otherwise.