The Most Beautiful X-Ray

As you might be able to tell from the name of this post, I have even more good news to share!  I will get to that in a moment, but first let's do a quick recap of some of Savanna's recent adventures.  I have only included a sampling of them here.

Once the coronavirus made its way to the United States, and schools were closed mid-March, we had to get creative about our "at home learning."  It has been a challenge for sure, with 2 adults and 2 kids at home ALL day nearly EVERY day, but we have been doing okay.  Some days are beautiful, and some days are train wrecks.  There's too much screen time, but there's also ample time for getting enough sleep (adults too!) and playing outside.  The days feel really long sometimes, but then I turn around and it's dinner time already, as the time ended up passing quickly.  It's a mixed bag, but the kids have been doing amazing.  At the end of the day, we are all worn out; but we are also healthy, well fed, warm, and loved.

We hope that you and your family are also staying healthy, well fed, warm, and loved!

Recent Adventures (Quarantine Edition):

Blowing Sock Bubbles

Sidewalk Chalk Stencils

Mother's Day Bike Ride on the Closed (to cars) Blue Ridge Parkway

We went through five tunnels!

Our Backyard Resort

Splashing in Puddles

Also, Savanna taught herself how to play "Baby Shark"!  (Warning: this song is an earworm!)

Trip to Shriners on May 21, 2020:

This was a quick trip to Shriners.  Usually we try to meet up with Savanna's scoli buddy Lyla and spend the day hanging out.  (We missed you, Lyla!!)  However, because pretty much no businesses or parks were open, we just did her appointment and headed home.  When we arrived at the hospital, they took our temperatures in the parking garage and asked us several screening questions.  We had made sure to bring our masks to wear too.

Next we went to x-ray.  (Savanna had been brace-free for 48 hours before this appointment, which allowed her spine to "relax" into its natural position.)

I knew it was a beautiful x-ray the minute I saw it (there's always a nagging worry in the back of my mind!), but I was blown away by the measurement they got on her:

8 Degrees!!

This is her most beautiful x-ray EVER!!!!!  Savanna was so excited too that her spine is "almost straight!"

Here's where we started in January 2014 at 52 degrees:

This is really wonderful news, especially in a time of not always good news in the world.  Simply AMAZING!  Also, she grew 1 inch in the last 6 months and gained about 3 pounds!  This is also amazing considering how slow growing she generally is.  

So, where do we go from here?  I suppose I could have pushed for moving her out of the brace, and I suppose I could have done that last time too.  (Remember, her doctor told us a while ago that we were now in "uncharted territory" with how to move forward.)  However, similar to last time, her Providence brace still fits (2 years in the same one!), she feels comfortable wearing it, and she continues to get correction in it.  Therefore, we will stay the course and keep bracing at night.  We will reassess at her next appointment in 6 months.  I have read too many stories lately of scoli kids whose curves have come back after they were "cured," and I just don't want to chance it.  

Slow and steady are still winning the race!

By the way, Savanna will be turning 8 in about 3 weeks, so I guess she gets an 8 degree x-ray for her 8th birthday!  Pretty cool.  Happy early birthday to her!!

Thanks for reading!  Stay well!