Re: Cole's 4th Cast

[Guest guest]

Wow! 10 degrees is great news!! You must be so happy. Fantastic!! I think if they can get the RVAD under 20 that you should be okay...it's not totally predictive anyway. Ian's RVAD was 2 and he got slightly worse.

Question for you....

When you talked with Kishan and Khoury, what were the other variables that they think may have made Ian get a little worse? Dr. K didn't mention anything to me and now I am very curious!! Did they give you specific reasons why they thought Ian got worse? If not, I am going to email Dr. K to try to get the skinny on what role he thinks the fiberglass played in Ian's worsening if any.

What are your next Shriner dates?

Noelle (12-2-01)Ian (8-15-04)

Cole's 4th Cast

Well, we returned from Erie last night. Cole is now in his 4th cast. Ican't believe he is in #4! Anyways, when we took off his cast, hisskin looked great. No breakdown this time. If you can remember, I wasnervous with this last cast because it was so loose, but the docreassured us that it was not loose in the neccessary pressure points.He was right, the cast held well, and we were able to get a littlemore correction with this cast as well. He is at 10 degrees with RVADat 20. Dr. Kishan says this in not even considered scoliosis anymore.I, of course, like the sound of that. Yes, we did go with the waterproof cast. I did discuss the problemswith Ian with them with the waterproof cast, but they (both Kishan andKoury) agreed that it was still worth trying. That perhaps it wasn'tthe waterproof cast that wasn't great, that all sorts of othervariable could have played into why Ian progressed 3 degrees. Anyways,I guess it's worth a try once. Dr. Kishan explained to me that theprevious two casts Cole ha had were both fiberglass only. I thoughtthe last cast had some plaster in it, but I was wrong. And we havestill gotten (is that a word?) great correction thus far. He felt like Cole would have two more casts after this one, and thenwe would be done with the casting process. If that is true, Dr. Mehtawas right on. She told us 11-12 months and that is right there in theball park. What an amazing woman!But, I have one question. The RVAD is the area where we are havingtrouble getting small numbers. Dr. Kishan said if the curve is lessthan 10 and and the RVAD is less than 20, then the casting part isover. Would you all feel comfortable stopping the casting if the RVADwas between 10-20 and the curve was less than 10? Does that makesense!? I don't know if two more casts will get us below 20 degreesRVAD and I might be nervous that the curve will progress if the RVADisn't smaller. What do you all think or know?Well, we are happy with the cast, and we'll go with the waterproofunless we also get negative results. They scheduled him for 11 1/2weeks for the next cast. That is because we have a vacation that hegets the cast off and they didn't want to try to squeeze an extra oneinbetween. But, this cast is much tighter and I don't know if he'llmake it that long.Hope all is well and everones kids are doing great.Thanks for all the support. This is an awesome group. and Cole (14 1/2 months)

[Guest guest]

,They didn't mention Ian's cast inparticular. They just said in general that casting is kind of like an art. Some are better than others or maybe a major growth spurt happened that increases a curve, or maybe the waterproof was the factor. They just said that they weren't convinced from one kid that it was the cast and not another issue. The other little boy that got it the same time Ian did is still in his. He is older, and goes longer, so they didn't have a lot of kids to compare. Dr. Khoury just said, "yes, Ian progressed 3 degrees, so we decided to go back to plaster for now," but told me that it was worth a try for Cole. If we have the same results, then we will probably stck with fiberglass, but not waterproof next time. Sorry to get you nervous. It was very general. I could tell they didn't want to say a lot secondary to pt. confidetiality, but wanted to address my concerns with waterproof/fiberglass casting. They are just still trying to experiment

and find out what works best for these kiddo's. Probably plaster is best, but maybe waterproof makes for an easier summer on the kids. Who knows?I like the idea of RVAD 2 like Ian's, but I don't know if that will happen. At least the curve is down. Our next date is cast off on Aug. 11, and a new cast on Aug. 23/24. I don't think he'll make it that long. They said if it gets too tight to call, and they'll fit him in earlier in July, and we'll just have to have it on for a few weeks before they take it off again for the trip.Take care./Cole Claflin <noellesmommy@...> wrote: Wow! 10 degrees is great news!! You must be so happy. Fantastic!! I think if they can get the RVAD under 20 that you should be okay...it's not totally predictive anyway. Ian's RVAD was 2 and he got slightly worse. Question for you.... When you talked with Kishan and Khoury, what were the other variables that they think may have made Ian get a little worse? Dr. K didn't mention anything to me and now I am very curious!! Did they give you specific reasons why they thought Ian got worse? If not, I am going to email Dr. K to try to get the skinny on what role he thinks the fiberglass played in Ian's worsening if any. What are your next Shriner dates?

Noelle (12-2-01)Ian (8-15-04) Cole's 4th Cast Well, we returned from Erie last night. Cole is now in his 4th cast. Ican't believe he is in #4! Anyways, when we took off his cast, hisskin looked great. No breakdown this time. If you can remember, I wasnervous with this last cast because it was so loose, but the docreassured us that it was not loose in the neccessary pressure points.He was right, the cast held well, and we were able to get a littlemore correction with this cast as well. He is at 10 degrees with RVADat 20. Dr. Kishan says this in not even considered scoliosis anymore.I, of course, like the sound of that. Yes, we did go with the waterproof cast. I did discuss the problemswith Ian with them with the waterproof cast, but they (both Kishan andKoury) agreed that it was still worth trying. That perhaps it wasn'tthe waterproof cast that wasn't great, that all sorts of othervariable could have played into why Ian progressed 3 degrees. Anyways,I guess it's worth a try once. Dr. Kishan explained to me that theprevious two casts Cole ha had were both fiberglass only. I thoughtthe last cast had some plaster in it, but I was

wrong. And we havestill gotten (is that a word?) great correction thus far. He felt like Cole would have two more casts after this one, and thenwe would be done with the casting process. If that is true, Dr. Mehtawas right on. She told us 11-12 months and that is right there in theball park. What an amazing woman!But, I have one question. The RVAD is the area where we are havingtrouble getting small numbers. Dr. Kishan said if the curve is lessthan 10 and and the RVAD is less than 20, then the casting part isover. Would you all feel comfortable stopping the casting if the RVADwas between 10-20 and the curve was less than 10? Does that makesense!? I don't know if two more casts will get us below 20 degreesRVAD and I might be nervous that the curve will progress if the RVADisn't smaller. What do you all think or know?Well, we are happy with the cast, and we'll go with the

waterproofunless we also get negative results. They scheduled him for 11 1/2weeks for the next cast. That is because we have a vacation that hegets the cast off and they didn't want to try to squeeze an extra oneinbetween. But, this cast is much tighter and I don't know if he'llmake it that long.Hope all is well and everones kids are doing great.Thanks for all the support. This is an awesome group. and Cole (14 1/2 months)

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[Guest guest]

and Cole, I am so glad he is getting great results in the cast!! #4!! Hard to believe :-) Tracey and Lexi Baird <michelle_r_baird@...> wrote: ,They didn't mention Ian's cast inparticular. They just said in general that casting is kind of like an art. Some are better than others or maybe a major growth spurt happened that increases a curve, or maybe the waterproof was the factor. They just said that they weren't convinced from one kid that it was the cast and not another issue. The other little boy that got it the same time Ian did is still in his. He is older, and goes longer, so they didn't have a lot of kids to compare. Dr. Khoury just said, "yes, Ian progressed 3 degrees, so we decided to go back to plaster for now," but told

me that it was worth a try for Cole. If we have the same results, then we will probably stck with fiberglass, but not waterproof next time. Sorry to get you nervous. It was very general. I could tell they didn't want to say a lot secondary to pt. confidetiality, but wanted to address my concerns with waterproof/fiberglass casting. They are just still trying to experiment and find out what works best for these kiddo's. Probably plaster is best, but maybe waterproof makes for an easier summer on the kids. Who knows?I like the idea of RVAD 2 like Ian's, but I don't know if that will happen. At least the curve is down. Our next date is cast off on Aug. 11, and a new cast on Aug. 23/24. I don't think he'll make it that long. They said if it gets too tight to call, and they'll fit him in earlier in July, and we'll just have to have it on for a few weeks before they take it off again for the trip.Take care./Cole Claflin

<noellesmommy@...> wrote: Wow! 10 degrees is great news!! You must be so happy. Fantastic!! I think if they can get the RVAD under 20 that you should be okay...it's not totally predictive anyway. Ian's RVAD was 2 and he got slightly worse. Question for you.... When you talked with Kishan and Khoury, what were the other variables that they think may have made Ian get a little worse? Dr. K didn't mention anything to me and now I am very curious!! Did they give you specific reasons why they thought Ian got worse?

If not, I am going to email Dr. K to try to get the skinny on what role he thinks the fiberglass played in Ian's worsening if any. What are your next Shriner dates? Noelle (12-2-01)Ian (8-15-04) Cole's 4th Cast Well, we returned from Erie last night. Cole is now in his 4th cast. Ican't believe he is in #4! Anyways, when we took off his cast, hisskin looked great. No breakdown this time. If you can remember, I wasnervous with this last cast because it was so loose, but the docreassured us that it was not loose in the neccessary pressure points.He was right, the cast held well, and we were able to get a littlemore correction with this cast as well. He is at 10 degrees with RVADat 20.

Dr. Kishan says this in not even considered scoliosis anymore.I, of course, like the sound of that. Yes, we did go with the waterproof cast. I did discuss the problemswith Ian with them with the waterproof cast, but they (both Kishan andKoury) agreed that it was still worth trying. That perhaps it wasn'tthe waterproof cast that wasn't great, that all sorts of othervariable could have played into why Ian progressed 3 degrees. Anyways,I guess it's worth a try once. Dr. Kishan explained to me that theprevious two casts Cole ha had were both fiberglass only. I thoughtthe last cast had some plaster in it, but I was wrong. And we havestill gotten (is that a word?) great correction thus far. He felt like Cole would have two more casts after this one, and thenwe would be done with the casting process. If that is true, Dr. Mehtawas right on. She told us 11-12 months and that is right there in theball park. What an amazing

woman!But, I have one question. The RVAD is the area where we are havingtrouble getting small numbers. Dr. Kishan said if the curve is lessthan 10 and and the RVAD is less than 20, then the casting part isover. Would you all feel comfortable stopping the casting if the RVADwas between 10-20 and the curve was less than 10? Does that makesense!? I don't know if two more casts will get us below 20 degreesRVAD and I might be nervous that the curve will progress if the RVADisn't smaller. What do you all think or know?Well, we are happy with the cast, and we'll go with the waterproofunless we also get negative results. They scheduled him for 11 1/2weeks for the next cast. That is because we have a vacation that hegets the cast off and they didn't want to try to squeeze an extra oneinbetween. But, this cast is much tighter and I don't know if he'llmake it that long.Hope all is well and everones kids are doing

great.Thanks for all the support. This is an awesome group. and Cole (14 1/2 months) Messenger with Voice. PC-to-Phone calls for ridiculously low rates.

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, First of all, congrats on such great success on your casting journey thus far! I cannot believe what a trooper Cole was right after he came back upstairs; he seems like a very calm baby. As far as RVAD and cobb angles -- Dr. Khoury says the same thing as Kisham. Curves under or at 10 they do not like to cast further. I, too, worry about RVAD but Dr. Khoury isn't. As I stated before, they aren't sure how much importance to place on that value. It did startle me, but they are the docs. Sorry I was of no help. & Jakemichelle_r_baird <michelle_r_baird@...> wrote: Well, we returned from Erie last night. Cole is now in his 4th cast. Ican't believe he is in #4! Anyways, when we took off his

cast, hisskin looked great. No breakdown this time. If you can remember, I wasnervous with this last cast because it was so loose, but the docreassured us that it was not loose in the neccessary pressure points.He was right, the cast held well, and we were able to get a littlemore correction with this cast as well. He is at 10 degrees with RVADat 20. Dr. Kishan says this in not even considered scoliosis anymore.I, of course, like the sound of that. Yes, we did go with the waterproof cast. I did discuss the problemswith Ian with them with the waterproof cast, but they (both Kishan andKoury) agreed that it was still worth trying. That perhaps it wasn'tthe waterproof cast that wasn't great, that all sorts of othervariable could have played into why Ian progressed 3 degrees. Anyways,I guess it's worth a try once. Dr. Kishan explained to me that theprevious two casts Cole ha had were both fiberglass only. I thoughtthe last cast

had some plaster in it, but I was wrong. And we havestill gotten (is that a word?) great correction thus far. He felt like Cole would have two more casts after this one, and thenwe would be done with the casting process. If that is true, Dr. Mehtawas right on. She told us 11-12 months and that is right there in theball park. What an amazing woman!But, I have one question. The RVAD is the area where we are havingtrouble getting small numbers. Dr. Kishan said if the curve is lessthan 10 and and the RVAD is less than 20, then the casting part isover. Would you all feel comfortable stopping the casting if the RVADwas between 10-20 and the curve was less than 10? Does that makesense!? I don't know if two more casts will get us below 20 degreesRVAD and I might be nervous that the curve will progress if the RVADisn't smaller. What do you all think or know?Well, we are happy with the cast, and we'll go with the waterproofunless we

also get negative results. They scheduled him for 11 1/2weeks for the next cast. That is because we have a vacation that hegets the cast off and they didn't want to try to squeeze an extra oneinbetween. But, this cast is much tighter and I don't know if he'llmake it that long.Hope all is well and everones kids are doing great.Thanks for all the support. This is an awesome group. and Cole (14 1/2 months)

[Guest guest]

This is awesome news. Congrats to you and Cole. Full speed ahead. Marissa gets her cast cut off today for her new one on Tuesday. This will be number 3. I like you can't believe how time flies, but it's all good when there is continuous improvement.

Have a great holiday weekend.

Jerry

Marissa's Dad

Cole's 4th Cast

Well, we returned from Erie last night. Cole is now in his 4th cast. Ican't believe he is in #4! Anyways, when we took off his cast, hisskin looked great. No breakdown this time. If you can remember, I wasnervous with this last cast because it was so loose, but the docreassured us that it was not loose in the neccessary pressure points.He was right, the cast held well, and we were able to get a littlemore correction with this cast as well. He is at 10 degrees with RVADat 20. Dr. Kishan says this in not even considered scoliosis anymore.I, of course, like the sound of that. Yes, we did go with the waterproof cast. I did discuss the problemswith Ian with them with the waterproof cast, but they (both Kishan andKoury) agreed that it was still worth trying. That perhaps it wasn'tthe waterproof cast that wasn't great, that all sorts of othervariable could have played into why Ian progressed 3 degrees. Anyways,I guess it's worth a try once. Dr. Kishan explained to me that theprevious two casts Cole ha had were both fiberglass only. I thoughtthe last cast had some plaster in it, but I was wrong. And we havestill gotten (is that a word?) great correction thus far. He felt like Cole would have two more casts after this one, and thenwe would be done with the casting process. If that is true, Dr. Mehtawas right on. She told us 11-12 months and that is right there in theball park. What an amazing woman!But, I have one question. The RVAD is the area where we are havingtrouble getting small numbers. Dr. Kishan said if the curve is lessthan 10 and and the RVAD is less than 20, then the casting part isover. Would you all feel comfortable stopping the casting if the RVADwas between 10-20 and the curve was less than 10? Does that makesense!? I don't know if two more casts will get us below 20 degreesRVAD and I might be nervous that the curve will progress if the RVADisn't smaller. What do you all think or know?Well, we are happy with the cast, and we'll go with the waterproofunless we also get negative results. They scheduled him for 11 1/2weeks for the next cast. That is because we have a vacation that hegets the cast off and they didn't want to try to squeeze an extra oneinbetween. But, this cast is much tighter and I don't know if he'llmake it that long.Hope all is well and everones kids are doing great.Thanks for all the support. This is an awesome group. and Cole (14 1/2 months)

[Guest guest]

Jerry,

Good luck in Erie next week. I can't wait to hear how great Marissa is doing!

Noelle (12-2-01)Ian (8-15-04)

Cole's 4th Cast

Well, we returned from Erie last night. Cole is now in his 4th cast. Ican't believe he is in #4! Anyways, when we took off his cast, hisskin looked great. No breakdown this time. If you can remember, I wasnervous with this last cast because it was so loose, but the docreassured us that it was not loose in the neccessary pressure points.He was right, the cast held well, and we were able to get a littlemore correction with this cast as well. He is at 10 degrees with RVADat 20. Dr. Kishan says this in not even considered scoliosis anymore.I, of course, like the sound of that. Yes, we did go with the waterproof cast. I did discuss the problemswith Ian with them with the waterproof cast, but they (both Kishan andKoury) agreed that it was still worth trying. That perhaps it wasn'tthe waterproof cast that wasn't great, that all sorts of othervariable could have played into why Ian progressed 3 degrees. Anyways,I guess it's worth a try once. Dr. Kishan explained to me that theprevious two casts Cole ha had were both fiberglass only. I thoughtthe last cast had some plaster in it, but I was wrong. And we havestill gotten (is that a word?) great correction thus far. He felt like Cole would have two more casts after this one, and thenwe would be done with the casting process. If that is true, Dr. Mehtawas right on. She told us 11-12 months and that is right there in theball park. What an amazing woman!But, I have one question. The RVAD is the area where we are havingtrouble getting small numbers. Dr. Kishan said if the curve is lessthan 10 and and the RVAD is less than 20, then the casting part isover. Would you all feel comfortable stopping the casting if the RVADwas between 10-20 and the curve was less than 10? Does that makesense!? I don't know if two more casts will get us below 20 degreesRVAD and I might be nervous that the curve will progress if the RVADisn't smaller. What do you all think or know?Well, we are happy with the cast, and we'll go with the waterproofunless we also get negative results. They scheduled him for 11 1/2weeks for the next cast. That is because we have a vacation that hegets the cast off and they didn't want to try to squeeze an extra oneinbetween. But, this cast is much tighter and I don't know if he'llmake it that long.Hope all is well and everones kids are doing great.Thanks for all the support. This is an awesome group. and Cole (14 1/2 months)

[Guest guest]

Jerry, How is Marissa enjoying cast free days? Has she been swimming? Lots of bathes, I'm sure! Good luck with Tues. I guess you'll be traveling on the holiday. Oh well, it is for a good cause. Travel safe, and up date us upon your return. /ColeJerry Lamarre <gerard_lamarre@...> wrote: This is awesome news. Congrats to you and Cole. Full speed ahead. Marissa gets her cast cut off today for her new one on Tuesday. This will be number 3. I like you can't believe how time flies, but it's all good when there is continuous improvement. Have a great holiday weekend. Jerry Marissa's Dad Cole's 4th Cast Well, we returned from Erie last night. Cole is now in his 4th cast. Ican't believe he is in #4! Anyways, when we took off his cast,

hisskin looked great. No breakdown this time. If you can remember, I wasnervous with this last cast because it was so loose, but the docreassured us that it was not loose in the neccessary pressure points.He was right, the cast held well, and we were able to get a littlemore correction with this cast as well. He is at 10 degrees with RVADat 20. Dr. Kishan says this in not even considered scoliosis anymore.I, of course, like the sound of that. Yes, we did go with the waterproof cast. I did discuss the problemswith Ian with them with the waterproof cast, but they (both Kishan andKoury) agreed that it was still worth trying. That perhaps it wasn'tthe waterproof cast that wasn't great, that all sorts of othervariable could have played into why Ian progressed 3 degrees. Anyways,I guess it's worth a try once. Dr. Kishan explained to me that theprevious two casts Cole ha had were both fiberglass only. I thoughtthe last

cast had some plaster in it, but I was wrong. And we havestill gotten (is that a word?) great correction thus far. He felt like Cole would have two more casts after this one, and thenwe would be done with the casting process. If that is true, Dr. Mehtawas right on. She told us 11-12 months and that is right there in theball park. What an amazing woman!But, I have one question. The RVAD is the area where we are havingtrouble getting small numbers. Dr. Kishan said if the curve is lessthan 10 and and the RVAD is less than 20, then the casting part isover. Would you all feel comfortable stopping the casting if the RVADwas between 10-20 and the curve was less than 10? Does that makesense!? I don't know if two more casts will get us below 20 degreesRVAD and I might be nervous that the curve will progress if the RVADisn't smaller. What do you all think or know?Well, we are happy with the cast, and we'll go with the

waterproofunless we also get negative results. They scheduled him for 11 1/2weeks for the next cast. That is because we have a vacation that hegets the cast off and they didn't want to try to squeeze an extra oneinbetween. But, this cast is much tighter and I don't know if he'llmake it that long.Hope all is well and everones kids are doing great.Thanks for all the support. This is an awesome group. and Cole (14 1/2 months)

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[Guest guest]

M,

Marissa is enjoying her cast free weekend. Tubs galore. She is splashing away with her brother. Her back looked better than after the first cast came off. The little hump in the lower part of the back was noticably smaller. Also, her ribs seem to be more asymetric around her trunk, which I hope is a good sign. Skin was much better this time, as of right now, no more redness. Thanks for the well wishes, traveling on the holiday is a drag, but it was the only way to fit Dr. in this week. They had called me a few weeks ago to either have Dr. K perform it on Wed or push it out a week when Dr. was available. The only option I had to keep it this week was to fly out Monday. Didn't want to change docs, I'm a little superstitious haha.

Have a great weekend.

Jerry/Marissa

Cole's 4th Cast

Well, we returned from Erie last night. Cole is now in his 4th cast. Ican't believe he is in #4! Anyways, when we took off his cast, hisskin looked great. No breakdown this time. If you can remember, I wasnervous with this last cast because it was so loose, but the docreassured us that it was not loose in the neccessary pressure points.He was right, the cast held well, and we were able to get a littlemore correction with this cast as well. He is at 10 degrees with RVADat 20. Dr. Kishan says this in not even considered scoliosis anymore.I, of course, like the sound of that. Yes, we did go with the waterproof cast. I did discuss the problemswith Ian with them with the waterproof cast, but they (both Kishan andKoury) agreed that it was still worth trying. That perhaps it wasn'tthe waterproof cast that wasn't great, that all sorts of othervariable could have played into why Ian progressed 3 degrees. Anyways,I guess it's worth a try once. Dr. Kishan explained to me that theprevious two casts Cole ha had were both fiberglass only. I thoughtthe last cast had some plaster in it, but I was wrong. And we havestill gotten (is that a word?) great correction thus far. He felt like Cole would have two more casts after this one, and thenwe would be done with the casting process. If that is true, Dr. Mehtawas right on. She told us 11-12 months and that is right there in theball park. What an amazing woman!But, I have one question. The RVAD is the area where we are havingtrouble getting small numbers. Dr. Kishan said if the curve is lessthan 10 and and the RVAD is less than 20, then the casting part isover. Would you all feel comfortable stopping the casting if the RVADwas between 10-20 and the curve was less than 10? Does that makesense!? I don't know if two more casts will get us below 20 degreesRVAD and I might be nervous that the curve will progress if the RVADisn't smaller. What do you all think or know?Well, we are happy with the cast, and we'll go with the waterproofunless we also get negative results. They scheduled him for 11 1/2weeks for the next cast. That is because we have a vacation that hegets the cast off and they didn't want to try to squeeze an extra oneinbetween. But, this cast is much tighter and I don't know if he'llmake it that long.Hope all is well and everones kids are doing great.Thanks for all the support. This is an awesome group. and Cole (14 1/2 months)

Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2¢/min or less.

[Guest guest]

That's such fantastic news to hear for you & Cole ,

congratulations!! I can imagine how elated you're feeling right now

seeing the light so close @ the end of the tunnel, I'm happy for you

guys.

Will look forward to hearing the results of the fiberglass, but

w/hearing that the last ones were too it sound like that's been

working great.

RE: Feeling comfortable on the measurements, I think if that's the

method that is followed with ending the casting process I would

trust it because chances are they get to those results and are

successful in the next steps too which is why they do it. To me it

seems like they're kind of using growth to turn it into

a 'spontaneously resolving' kind of curve so to speak you know..

from what I understand getting that measurement low enough

w/remaining growth time it'll only continue to straighten once the

spine has been " trained " , so I would feel confortable in proceeding

w/what they recommend, as long as there were CLOSE enough f/u's

scheduled to keep good monitoring on the curve!

Congrats again on the great results, an anmost success story coming

from the hospital we're going to as well is very encouraging, good

luck w/the next few mos. in FG, hope it continues to go so well!

Take care,

Joy (MO Sol- 20 mos.)

>

> Well, we returned from Erie last night. Cole is now in his 4th

cast. I

> can't believe he is in #4! Anyways, when we took off his cast, his

> skin looked great. No breakdown this time. If you can remember, I

was

> nervous with this last cast because it was so loose, but the doc

> reassured us that it was not loose in the neccessary pressure

points.

> He was right, the cast held well, and we were able to get a little

> more correction with this cast as well. He is at 10 degrees with

RVAD

> at 20. Dr. Kishan says this in not even considered scoliosis

anymore.

> I, of course, like the sound of that.

> Yes, we did go with the waterproof cast. I did discuss the problems

> with Ian with them with the waterproof cast, but they (both Kishan

and

> Koury) agreed that it was still worth trying. That perhaps it

wasn't

> the waterproof cast that wasn't great, that all sorts of other

> variable could have played into why Ian progressed 3 degrees.

Anyways,

> I guess it's worth a try once. Dr. Kishan explained to me that the

> previous two casts Cole ha had were both fiberglass only. I thought

> the last cast had some plaster in it, but I was wrong. And we have

> still gotten (is that a word?) great correction thus far.

> He felt like Cole would have two more casts after this one, and

then

> we would be done with the casting process. If that is true, Dr.

Mehta

> was right on. She told us 11-12 months and that is right there in

the

> ball park. What an amazing woman!

> But, I have one question. The RVAD is the area where we are having

> trouble getting small numbers. Dr. Kishan said if the curve is less

> than 10 and and the RVAD is less than 20, then the casting part is

> over. Would you all feel comfortable stopping the casting if the

RVAD

> was between 10-20 and the curve was less than 10? Does that make

> sense!? I don't know if two more casts will get us below 20 degrees

> RVAD and I might be nervous that the curve will progress if the

RVAD

> isn't smaller. What do you all think or know?

> Well, we are happy with the cast, and we'll go with the waterproof

> unless we also get negative results. They scheduled him for 11 1/2

> weeks for the next cast. That is because we have a vacation that he

> gets the cast off and they didn't want to try to squeeze an extra

one

> inbetween. But, this cast is much tighter and I don't know if he'll

> make it that long.

> Hope all is well and everones kids are doing great.

> Thanks for all the support. This is an awesome group.

> and Cole (14 1/2 months)

>