Surgeon. Poop.

We took Edda to the see her surgeon today – Dr. Oetgen. He took a look at her back and described what he’ll do to Edda during the surgery. Gentle traction will be applied on her head and her legs to lengthen her back and he’ll make an incision down her back and use screws (titanium) and rods (cobalt chrome) to straighten her spine and lengthen her body as he goes with the traction machine. Some cadaver bone grafts will be inserted too to help the bones grow and fuse together. The critical decision to be made in Edda’s surgery (based on the way her back is curving) is whether to fuse all the way to her pelvis or to leave a little bit of space between her pelvis and the end of the rod. If he leaves a little space, there is more mobility in the spine for Edda which will allow her to more easily move, but there is a risk that that part will curve and will require a 2nd surgery in a few years. The 2nd surgery would be simpler and shorter, they would just extend the rods. We agreed to leave the little bit of space to give Edda more mobility and risk the 2nd surgery later on.