Stop Sign

The stop sign appeared on February 18, 2013. This was the date of the most recent follow-up visit with Dr. Beebe. Allie got her x-ray and then the resident came in to do his exam. He stated that her curves are pretty much the same as they were last summer. We were hopeful that this meant that surgery was still far off in the future. The resident left and soon returned with Dr. Beebe and a nurse. Dr. Beebe told us that this summer is when Allie should have surgery.

The thoracic curve is now measuring 50 degrees and the thoracolumbar is measuring 45 degrees (this xray is viewing the curve from the front). Dr. Beebe explained that if we were to let it go, over time the curves could increase drastically. Now is the time to operate before the curves worsen and while she is still resilient and fairly flexible. Although two years ago we were told that surgery would probably happen this year, we were still hanging on to that thread of hope that she would avoid surgery altogether.

After Dr. Beebe left the room, Allie and I shed tears together. The nurse, Nadia, came back in with a lot of information and answered our questions and gave us encouragement.

So, we have come to a stop in the journey--maybe you could say we have pulled off on the side of the road--while we wait for the surgery to be scheduled. We should know by the end of April the surgery date.