Brady's First Appointment with Dr. Rubery

We had a really good appointment with Dr. Rubery (the spine surgeon) today. We went over Brady's medical history, including his surgery with Dr. LaQuaglia and Dr. Bilsky at Sloan. Right away Dr. Rubery said he knew both doctors and had actually done his residency with Dr. Bilsky 20 years ago. He knew Dr. LaQuaglia because his niece was operated on by him 15 years ago. He shared with us that she had Neuroblastoma too, and although the surgery went well, she didn't survive the cancer. That truly hit home...

He sent Brady down the hall for a few X-rays. He needed to have them because the MRIs Brady has had done are with him laying down. He needed to see his spine in a standing position because it affects his alignment. I went with Brady, and Matt stayed and discussed Brady's history a little bit more. Brady had to stand completely still for the XRAY. He did really well, and was totally adorable in a little gown with clowns all over it. He even said, "Cheese!" when the tech took his "picture."

Then we went back to the room to discuss the results. Dr. Rubery noted some slight scoliosis at the surgical site. I'm sure most of you are aware of scoliosis, but if not, you can think of it as a left or right curvature of the spine. He also noted slight kyphosis at the surgical site (curving of the spine outward). He explained that there is not research-proven way to prevent scoliosis and kyphosis at this point. Bracing might help, but it also might restrict growth in his chest. So, we are going to do X-rays every 6 months to watch how his spine grows and changes. More than likely, if deformity happens, it will occur when a growth spurt happens (adolescence). A good friend of mine reminded me today that we have a lot of praying time between now and then. Can't help but think of the lyrics, "Jesus, He can move the mountains. Our God is mighty to save!"

I will be going out of town this weekend from Friday night to Monday night. I'm flying to Albuquerque to visit my friend Julie and her family! I'm really excited to see them and the southwest!! I'm also going to miss my family like crazy and am trying not to think about that part:( A change of pace can be so refreshing and I am so grateful that my wonderful husband is SO capable and willing to hold down the fort while I'm gone! I'm even thinking about passing along the blogging duties to him for the weekend...I would love to be a reader for a few days:)

I wanted to share this great resource for facts about pediatric cancer. If you CLICK HERE you can get to the Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation website. This particular page has a wealth of information regarding statistics and funding. Very interesting stuff!

I Have Monkeys for Kids

When did they turn into monkeys? I've always been able to brag that my kids didn't get into much trouble. They have always had free reign of most of the house and I haven't had to watch them every second. In the last week they have decided to climb everything all day long! The climb up on furniture, onto the backs of the furniture, onto tables, on top of their big toys, onto the stools in the kitchen, up their changing table, and now are attempting to get out of their cribs! I can hear the laughs from my fellow-triplet moms already! They told me these horror stories and I always said that my kids just don't do these things and I wasn't sure why! Well ladies, laugh all you want, then please tell me how to keep them from breaking their limbs!!!

Allie continues to be sick, poor sweetie. Her spirits were pretty good all day despite the runniest nose ever! She is also a monkey by the way. She "gets" everything that the big kids do and follows along as best she can. She is standing on her own now, not taking steps yet, but can stand indefinitely! She enjoys crawling around the house with my kitchen towels over her head, knocking down stacks of diapers in the nursery, and eating scraps of food left behind on the floor after meals. I joke that with the 4th baby you don't technically have to feed them, they find a way to survive eating whats on the floor...ha!

Tomorrow is our appointment with Dr. Rubery the spinal surgeon. Matt, Brady, and I will be leaving at 8am for the 9am appointment. We are praying the prognosis for Brady's spine is better than we expect. Either way, we are praying that God will work miracles in this area and allow Brady to grow big and strong without any restrictions on what he can do! Isn't it cool that God can overcome any prognosis?

So after 12 hours with my 4 little zoo creatures, I am tired, but certainly just being home all day helped to restore my spirit:) My kids are amazing, totally wacky, but amazing!!!

Pictures:
All dressed up for Grandparent's Day


Helping mommy make mini pizzas for lunch


It's all about firefighters around here!





Today's cancer fact: Only about 20% of adults with cancer show evidence that the disease has spread to distant sites on the body at diagnosis yet 80% of children are diagnosed with advanced disease.

That statistic causes me to just stop, and thank God for Brady's "early" diagnosis. This is just not the case in SO many instances of childhood cancer. Thank God that Brady was showing a symptom (not walking) so that we knew something was wrong.

Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday...