Spinal Fusion has Begun

Annie arrived at the hospital today at 5:30am for her spinal fusion.  She was happy and healthy and we breathed a huge sigh of relief just knowing that her level of health was acceptable for surgery today!!  Her white blood cell count this morning was still elevated at 16,000 like it was last week, but since nothing developed this past week, they figure it's safe to proceed.

Annie weighed in at a hefty 66 lbs!  That's 12 lbs more than at the beginning of the year when we first started preparing her for this surgery.  However, her height is down to 49 inches.  Last January she was 56".  All we can think is that with her curve becoming even more bent, her trunk is getting compressed and making her height appear much shorter.  They anticipate her height to increase by 4-6" just from getting her spine a little straighter.

After further studying Annie's x-rays, the orthopedist, Dr. Hasley, has decided it would be best to fuse Annie all the way to her pelvis.  The fusion will begin at T2 (the top of her shoulders) and run all the way to her pelvis.  The incision will run from her neck to her bottom.  Another of Annie's orthopedists, Dr. Jenson, is helping out in the OR today, along with several other people that will be in there monitoring her neurological activity and everything else.  They plan to put in a central line and give her at least one blood transfusion today, possibly more throughout recovery.

Annie headed back to the OR at 7:30am.  It takes a little over an hour to get her prepared since they insert sensors under her skin over her entire body to monitor her neurological activity and there's a lot of other monitoring devices they get her hooked up to.  They anticipate to finish up in the OR between 3:00pm and 5:00pm, and then she'll spend 1-2 hours in recovery, so we hope to see her by 6:00pm or so.  The nurse liaison will be updating us every 1-2 hours as things progress.

I just thought I'd clarify, since some people have asked... The purpose of this surgery is to straighten out her spine as much as possible and fuse the bones of her spine together so that they can no longer move or bend.  They insert cadaver bone segments into the spine and "scratch up" her own spine to stimulate bone growth so that all the bones in her spine will fuse together into one solid mass.  In order to do all of that, they have to insert two screws into each vertebrae and two rods are attached to those screws--one rod down each side of her spine.  They use this hardware to straighten the spine and to brace it, but ultimately, after she is healed, it is not the rods that will continue to hold her straight, but the fact that the bones in her spine itself have fused together to become solid and rigid.

We now are settled in the lobby with computers and books that will hopefully help us stay distracted.  Our medical supplier will be coming to meet with us soon this morning to make adjustments to Annie's chair so it's ready for her newly-shaped back after surgery.

We were reminded again this morning by different people of all the complications and risks that are involved.  It seems like each time the risks are told to us, they add a couple more new ones that we weren't aware of before.  It's incredibly nerve-wracking and this was definitely the hardest parting that we've had as we watch her be wheeled into the OR.  But we have faith in Heavenly Father's plan for her and feel at as much peace as I think can be expected given the situation.  Thank you so much for all your prayers and expressions of love and support.