She's at 21 degrees, y'all!

May 21, 2015

Our little princess has just gotten her ninth cast!  Crazy stuff for sure.  She also had another x-ray where we got some great news... Her curve is at 21 degrees!  Before I get into that though, let's review some of Savanna's recent adventures...

Adventures

She has become a great big sister!

She has been helping to take good care of her baby brother (now 3 months old!).

She's been taking good care of her puppy too by making sure she nurses him regularly.

She started sleeping in a big girl bed!

She's had fun playing at the park and at one of our local watering holes.

Plus, she's been enjoying singing her favorite songs and going on walks.

Pre-Op Day

Savanna had her pre-op appointment yesterday, May 20, 2015, where we found out she is 36 inches tall and 27 pounds.  She is still a little lady, but the good news is that she is growing!  She is at least one or two inches taller than her last visit and at least one pound heavier.  Her growth is helping to decrease her curve.  When we started casting, she was at 52 degrees.  Yesterday, after 8 casts and 16 months of casting, she is at 21 degrees!!  Casting is working!  This is the greatest news ever.  Her doctor did not indicate any change in plans for her treatment at this point, but we have been given even more incentive to stay the course.  Yes, it means that this summer she will be very hot and sweaty, and not get to swim very often, if at all (and no real baths), but if it means that she may be cured within the next year or so, we are all for it!

Here she is "posing" for her x-ray with her bff Spunka Wunka (aka Spunky).

Here's the BEAUTIFUL 21 degree x-ray!

Here's where she started at 52 degrees.

Last bath before cast #9.

Casting Day

Casting day started early as usual with Daddy, Papa Billy, and Savanna getting on the road to Greenville at 5:30am.  Here they are in the pre-op room.

Getting ready to go back to the OR.

Cast drying after surgery.

Getting all trimmed up and petalled.

Strawberry monster!

Savanna's scoli warrior buddy Lyla got a pretty new cast too!

Happy Yellow Smiley Faces!

Next cast

We don't have her next casting date yet, but it will likely be around the end of July.

Thanks for reading and for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers!

A new cast, new smiley faces, and a new brother... oh my!

March 5, 2015

Cast #8 is on now!

Before we get into casting day, here are a couple of videos for you to check out... One stars Savanna at about the 1 minute mark, and the other stars her doctor at Shriners.  Check them out!

Video with Savanna:
Thank you for the bears! Watch around the 1 minute mark... Savanna has the most screen time! http://youtu.be/_6rj_N7mopc

Video/Article with Savanna's awesome doctor, Dr. Pete:
Greenville Online Article and Video about Infantile Scoliosis and Casting.

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/2015/02/04/special-cast-gives-kids-scoliosis-chance-normal-life/22848957/

Savanna Adventures:
Okay, now for some Savanna adventures... I would say that her biggest adventure during this cast was that she became a big sister!  Her brother Emerson Reilly was born on February 18, 2015, at 10:04am.  He was a big boy at 9 lb, 13 oz!!  We are all doing great, and Savanna is already being such a big helper.  She always wants to give "baby Emerson" a kiss, a hug, and a bottle.  What a good big sister!  When she met Emerson in the hospital, the first thing she said was, "He came out of mama's belly!"  What a smart cookie she is.  :-)

Dressing up in her Minnie dress, fairy wings, and flower hat.  How pretty!

Hanging out with Emerson 

Baby Emerson! 

When she crashes, she crashes hard!

Cast Removal:

Grandpa Tom and Grandma Kathy helped remove Cast #7 and gave Savanna a much needed and much loved bath.

Casting Day:

I could not go to this casting day because of our new little baby, but Savanna's daddy and granddaddy "Papa Billy" took her.  Grandma Lou Lou hung out with me and Emerson for the day.  It hurt my heart to not be with her that day, but I knew she was in good hands.  Apparently Savanna has grown by one inch and one pound since her last check 2 months ago!  This is awesome news!  Growing while in the cast is the only way the casting will help to cure her.  We are planning to do an xray next time, so we will have another snapshot of her progress.

The day started early as usual, with the three of them leaving here at 5:30am.  They arrived at Shriners at 7:00am for Savanna's pre-op appointment.  Then they waited to be taken back for her surgery.  She was the third case of the day, so she did not go back to the OR until around 10:15am.  

Picking out a toy in pre-op

Daddy getting ready to take Savanna back to the OR

Post-casting goldfish eating

Savanna hanging with her sweet casting buddy Lyla!

Getting "petalled" in the casting-trimming room.  Notice her cool boots!  Also, Spunky (her dog) is there to provide comfort.

Blue smiley faces!  (I'm so glad they had the blue smiley faces available.  Savanna had requested them several times since her last visit to Shriners!)

Beautiful little lady with her wonderful daddy!

Thanks for checking out this blog post!  We are all doing really well!  Savanna's next cast is scheduled for May 21, 2015.  Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts!

Tiger Stripes for the New Year!

December 30, 2014

Cast #7 is in place now!  Today went well.  Yes, it has been a long day, but we are through it.  As I write this, Savanna is taking a much deserved nap.  Not only did she skip her nap yesterday and the day before, she was up late last night, and we got her up at 4:00am today.  What a little trooper we have!  Before I talk more about casting day, let's check out some photos from Savanna's adventures over the last couple of months...

Savanna's Adventures

Halloween 2014 - Little Ice Cream Cone

Thanksgiving 2014 - Visit to Ohio

School Photos are here!

Christmas Party - December 13.  Savanna was up LATE that night, and boy oh boy, did mom and dad pay for it!  She was tired for the next couple of days!

Opening some Christmas presents...

Trip to the beach for more Christmas celebrations and trip to the aquarium with family

Feeding the "bodie, bodie, bodies" (a.k.a. birdies) on the beach...

Cast break bath time fun!  Her skin looked really good with only some minor heat rash.

Casting Day #7

Today started off at 3:30am for us!  We arrived at Shriners before 6:00am.  It's nice when we are "first case" of the day because we generally get out earlier, however, those early wake up calls are not fun.  When the doctor/surgeon came in to see us, he looked at Savanna's back.  He said he still sees "deformation", as he suspected.  He wants us to do another xray before Cast #9 just to help track her progress.  It's a little disheartening to hear him say her back still isn't looking that great, but hey, at least we are not being given false hope.  He told us from the beginning that the casting process would likely take us at least two years, and we are only 11 months in at this point.  Therefore, we have no idea how many more casts she'll have.

We met a little boy today that has already had about 18 casts and is likely looking at surgery in the future.  I feel so awful for that little boy and his family (and for our other scoli friends that are facing surgery), and I also fear that might be in our future.  However, Savanna's curve was not as severe as the little boy's, so we are still hoping that casting can cure her.  She hasn't grown very much this year (only about 2 inches taller and 2 pounds heavier), and we need her to grow taller for the casting to help cure her.  Her doctor mentioned that about 3/4 of the "scoli kids" tend to grow more slowly than others.  There isn't a definite reason why, and the kids will catch up to others eventually, but it's maddening that this early growing is how she'll get cured, and it's not happening as quickly as we would like!  Patience, grasshopper, patience...

In the Pre-Op room...

After the casting...

Savanna getting all trimmed up and "petalled"...

Our super fierce little pink tiger!  You're gonna hear her ROAR!

We were able to leave the hospital by 12:00pm, so we made it home by 1:30.  What a long day, but thankfully all went well!

Thank you to my girlfriends that provided us with dinner tonight.  Your support and help makes days like today that much more bearable!  :-)  Also, I'm very thankful to my husband.  He and I make a very good team for Team Savanna.  I couldn't go through all of this without him!

In case you are interested, the Infantile Scoliosis Outreach Program has a new website.  It includes an excerpt from Savanna's Story, and a link to this blog!
http://www.infantilescoliosis.org/
http://www.infantilescoliosis.org/savannahs-story/ (blog excerpt)
http://www.infantilescoliosis.org/resources/ (blog roll)

Our next casting date is March 5.  I will probably not be in attendance next time, which will make me very sad.  However, our family is expecting a little extra adventure over these next 6 weeks during which time Savanna's little brother will be born!  Please continue to keep our family in your thoughts!  Thanks for reading and Happy New Year!  :-)