Celebrating a Stable Spine

In a stunning and miraculous turn of events, Gracie's scoliosis has remained stable (her kyphosis deteriorated slightly) over the last four months.  This was so unexpected - - so unexpected, in fact, that I literally almost feel hung over from the (wonderful) letdown of anxiety and emotions. 
These findings, coupled with her linear growth and weight gain has resulted in her surgeon saying, "She bought herself some time."  Today started with us thinking we were setting a date for a complete spine fusion and ends with at least six more months surgery free.  We will take it!

This is not something we take lightly... we know that this surgery will happen, it's just a matter of when.  We chose, despite popular medical opinion (well, her current team's opinion... our SoCal team had varied opinions), to postpone last year when her surgeon recommended we move forward at that time.  Gracie needed time to just "be" and not deal with another complex invasion of her body.  We were afraid, that at her weight, it wouldn't be as safe and healthy to go through that kind of trauma.   The urgency, in our opinion, was to do everything within our power to increase her caloric intake, manage her nutrition better and get some weight on her... something that had been impossible her entire life.  I made it my mission (not that I hadn't before), but there was even more at stake... buying time for her growth before stopping all growth through her spine.  It was the right decision for her on every level.