Saunders Excellent Adventures: Not Quite Where We Started

New adventures come along in all of our lives -- and some are eerily like past adventures that were not exactly of our choosing and not exactly what we'd like to repeat!

Tuesday, Feruary 9th, 2010 -- Today Derek left for Utah where he will be helping Barry with his new restaurant. We are very thankful for the opportunity for a new adventure for Derek. We hope that he will enjoy his time. After a delay, which included emptying all passengers off the plane and waiting while the plane was searched, he re-boarded and had a good flight to Utah, where Papa and Ashlyn picked him up at the airport and took him to Logan. Where they enjoyed a visit and luch and then Derek stayed and will be getting settled.

Today Kyle was scheduled for a full-spine MRI. Since October he's been complaining about pain in his feet, his gait has changed -- he's had a little "hitch" and he's started to be unsteady and to stumble more as he walks. He has started holding on to someone's arm when he walks, and leaning against the wall and using the handrail to come down the stairs. He had x-rays of his feet in October....no fractures found. So when we went for his check-up in December, I asked Dr. Song about his feet, described his symptoms and the thought was that he may have a stress fracture, so we were to go back in January.

January came, we went back to see the doctor and re-iterated the changes that have been increasing -- if you didn't know Kyle and weren't around him for much time, you wouldn't notice the changes. So I asked if orthotics were an answer. Dr. Song watched Kyle walk and then deciede that a full-spine MRI might be in order. I was so thankful that he would listen to me, when many people told me there really was no change.

Today dawned cold and foggy -- Derek left for the airport (thanks Susan) at the same time we left for the hospital.

Kyle played the video game in the Radiology waiting room....and then he played some games on Jon's phone while we waited for the anesthesiologist.

Kyle was NOT thrilled to put on a "gown" or to take off his shoes. We walked with him to where they would put him to sleep. Jon lifted him on to the gurney, I sat on his right and Vanessa, the anesthesiologist, sat on his left. Two nurses stood behind us, and Jon and two nurses stood in front. It took all of us to get the cone over his nose and mouth. Vanessa waited until he was asleep before she put in the IV. Good call!

Jon and I waited in the "holding" room while he went for the MRI. We thought it would be about 45 minutes, but he was back with us and blissfully unaware in about 30 minutes.

This is when he first came back to us. They asked that we leave him to wake up on his own.

When he started to stir, the nurse raised the head of the bed, but he kept nodding off. We thought at one point that he'd fall with his head between the bars.....it was pretty funny.

After he was awake and dressed, he was pretty loopy -- they brought us a wheelchair to use until it was time to go. He was so "happy" that he was waving to everyone we passed.

We had an hour until our appointment with Dr. Song, the orthopedist, so we went up to the cafeteria and had a snack.

Kyle was not happy with his "owie" (where they had the IV), but he did leave the bandage on and then babied the hand for the rest of the day. He felt much better when we got home and he took the bandage off.

Our appointment with Dr. Song was at 11 a.m. (it so happens that Kyle took this photo with his camera) we got into the exam room in great time. We didn't end up seeing Dr. Song until 12:15 p.m. We were content to wait since they "double booked" us so that we could be seen the same day as the MRI.

Dr. Song with a shot of the MRI on the computer.

The MRI shows some compression of the spinal cord at the sight of the fusion from two years ago. Scar tissue or new bone growth is compressing the spinal cord. The screws are stable and have not shifted, the fusion is solid, but the scar tissue is there and that is what's causing the changes in gait, pain in the feet, and unsteadiness. Dr. Song and Dr. Avellino, the neurologist, are consulting and will determine a plan of action to relieve the pressure on the spinal cord.

Mixed feelings about these findings. On the one had, we are so glad it's not a new problem such as a cyst or other problem of the spine. On the other hand, we were hoping that it wouldn't be anything even this serious. We are thankful that it was caught early enough that his neurological function won't be impaired and his condition won't deteriorate like before. Now we just wait for the "plan" to be decided and move forward. We should know what "the plan" is by Friday.