Results from CDC Testing

We just got word back from the CDC clinic about all of Annie's tests she had done last week.  Her blood levels were all good and normal.  Her Vitamin D level was up from last year to 38, so that's good.  We'll continue to give her the Vitamin D supplement to maintain this level.  Her blood gases were also good, which means she's not developing too high a level of carbon dioxide from her sleep apnea.

The not-so-good news that nearly made my chin hit the floor, is that Annie's scoliosis curve has increased from 18 degrees to 37 degrees in just the past year!  We're still just going to continue monitoring it, but now she'll have spine x-rays every 6 months instead of every year.  So we're not doing anything now, but in 6 months when she has her next x-rays, we'll figure out what we need to do, if anything. 

We have been so blessed, and have counted ourselves lucky to not have to worry about major scoliosis issues with Annie.  When she was smaller, she even had kyphosis in addition to the scoliosis, but the kyphosis resolved itself.  I guess we won't be quite so lucky with the scoliosis.  For several years Annie's curve has remained fairly steady around 11-18 degrees, so a jump this large this quickly is rather surprising, although we have noticed Annie's posturing getting worse lately.  We realized she might have worsening scoliosis, but we kept justifying her tipping to the fact that her wheelchair is getting too small for her.  But now we have this knowledge and as we design her new wheelchair in the next couple weeks, they can accommodate her increasing curve and give her more support in her new chair. 

This news is so discouraging and overwhelming, especially since scoliosis usually continues to worsen as children go through their growth spurts.  We know that bracing is an option, but has lots of negative aspects to it also.  We know too many girls that have endured spinal fusions, and have felt blessed to not have those same issues with Annie, but this news makes us realize that we're not immune to those trials and our challenges aren't over, and I know many new challenges haven't even begun yet.  But I'm trying not to worry about it at least for now... at least for 6 more months when we get her next spinal x-ray.  We're just praying that her curve won't continue to increase at this rate.