6 Week Follow-Up

We saw Annie's orthopedic surgeon last week to check on how her back is healing from surgery.  It's been 6 weeks, but it feels SO much longer ago than that!

Annie is doing well, and he was rather surprised to hear that we've been trying to send Annie back to school already.  She isn't tolerating school very well though, and she's only managing to stay for half a day most days.  But the orthopedist said it's still very normal at this point to have discomfort from sitting for long periods of time.  So we need to just give Annie some more time to heal and recover and hopefully she will gradually start to tolerate longer times in her chair.

Because Annie's spine has been so curved and her shoulders haven't been straight, she's had to tilt her head to see the world straight, but now that her curve is corrected, her head is tipped because the muscles are used to her holding it a certain way to accommodate for her crooked spine.  With lots of stretching, the orthopedist is optimistic that we'll be able to help Annie re-learn how to hold her head up in a new straightened position.

A week ago or so, we also had our consultation with our medical supplier and Annie's PT in order to evaluate her post-surgical back and determine what kind of permanent seat back would be best for her.  She's in a temporary one now that is not too comfy, so hopefully soon we'll get the new one which will be custom-shaped to fit her.  That might also help improve her posture and head positioning too.

We'll return for a 3 month follow-up in 6 more weeks and hopefully by then Annie will be more back to her usual self.  But she's doing well, slowly making progress, and moving in the right direction.