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Hi! My name is Nikki and I have a 19 mth old son who is in his first cast - he

was casted last Wed. (Feb. 10) at the Shriners Hospital in Spokane. The day of

casting Brett's right thoracic curve measured 63 degrees and his lumbar curve

measured 74. According to the doctor's notes and discussions I had with him,

Brett has Congenital Scoliosis however, I just looked at the surgery notes and

it states PIS? I have a call into the doctor. I don't know if they just made a

mistake on the surgery papers or what? That doesn't give a mom much comfort. =)

Brett has had a rough start from the get go. He was born 9 wks early, " floppy " .

After extensive tests and several muscle biopsies, it was found he has a rare

muscle disease call Central Core Myopathy - very basically put, he has low

muscle tone. He's a tough and determined little guy! He has both OT and PT every

week - along with daily home exercises. He's behind developmentally by about 6

mths and now with the cast even more. =(

I have to say, Brett is adapting to the cast remarkably well! Much, much better

than I am! I was anxious to find a group of parents whose kids had been casted

and am thrilled I finally did. At first I was extremely apprehensive about

casting b/c this is 2010, isn't there something less " archaic " than casting a

tiny child? Did anyone else have that thought/feeling? But I have researched

extensively for any alternative options and I haven't come up with any!!

Sorry to go on so long, I just wanted to get my story out there. If anyone has

any advice on how to get through this, I would really appreciate it! Brett has

just had one issue after another and I'm exhausted! I'm an only parent, my

partner - Brett's father passed away when I was 9 weeks pregnant.

Thanks for reading! And I appreciate any advice you have to offer.

PS - has anyone had a problem with their child's undershirt getting wet? If so,

what did you do? Grandma watched Brett today and she didn't know how to

" properly " diaper him so I had a mess tonight to deal with!