Cute and cuddly girl creates "Bob" the ball next to her with hair made of moss who then gets kak'd and transforms to "Steve" who then ... well, not sure what the rest of the story is exactly. She has these fascinating little stories. Then there's the constant name changes on her FB profile. I think she's currently Annika Frito Lay Tolman. Last week, she was Doritos, Amethyst Sunstone prior to that I think, and AJ before that among others. Can't wait to see who she'll be next week. Maybe She'll be Choco Anni.
The other "twist" in Anni is on her body–specifically, her spine. A few weeks ago, we noticed something that we had never seen before. I suppose I could say that it just "grew" overnight but you'll probably laugh at me. I did go back to old pics I took and noticed that her posture was starting to tweak to the right by summer of last year (shown in a July '09 vacation shown with her bro in 100º+ heat on the Las Vegas Strip–don't they look like they're enjoying the baking sun?) but not enough that I would have given it a second thought. She certainly didn't have the noticeable rib hump that is so prominent now on the right posterior side of her spine.
On August 20th, we met with Dr. Joshua Beck at Teton Orthopaedics in Jackson. We were previously told by a RN-P that Anni had scoliosis but to what degree, we didn't know. Anni's x-rays showed an s-curve scolio deformity with a 21º curvature on the bottom and a 50º curvature along the upper thoracic vertebrae. A second consult at PCMC with another surgeon confirms a slightly larger curvature above 50º based on his own measurement. So here's the skinny: I'd give you all the medical lingo but it comes down to a diagnosis called Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS)...a rather pompous name of a condition for which they know the who but they haven't a clue about the why.
These past several weeks have been a mad rush of research, phone calls, consultations, doctors visits, tests and the necessary second opinion. But the long and the short of it is–and I quote the second surgeon–you don't get to choose your parents (it's genetic) and you don't get to choose when and to what degree it's going to happen to you (she's only 11). Both surgeons agree that her only course of treatment is corrective spinal fusion surgery. We've chosen to stay with Dr. Beck for the procedure. We have a good feeling about him and we find comfort in our ability to quickly communicate with him and his staff. Her surgery is scheduled for this coming Tuesday, September 14th at 7:30 a.m. We would WELCOME AND APPRECIATE your prayers and thoughts for her.
On a side note, this wonder girl turned 11 yesterday. I rather thought she had great Karma on her birthday. She brought cookies to her class, got some really cool earrings from us, won a very pretty purple leather purse at my fitness club's raffle prize drawing, bought pretty nail polish and got lots of love of from her mommy and daddy. You'd never know it but Colter's just waiting to get a slice out of that birthday cake. Silly boy! We love you both!!!!
Wow that's quite an xray!
Yeah, I didn't post the bending xray. That one looks worse!