More to deal with

I have noticed for a while that Jethro had a curve in his lower spine. When I first noticed it, I thought it was odd, but we were dealing with so many other issues at that point that I didn't even mention it to anyone. As teh months have gone on, and I continue to notice it, I have become more concerned. His therapist had said that his lower back muscles were very weak (one of the reasons that he couldn't sit by himself), and so I was hopeful that the curve was just caused by weak back muscles and that as he got stronger, it would straighten out.

Last month I mentioned to Mike that I wanted to get Jethro into our chiropractor to see if she could help his spine. I knew that if it was something that couldn't be fixed with manipulation, she would be very upfront about it. And, if it was something more, I wanted to get on it so that it could hopefully be taken care of without any or very little invasive 'intervention'.

Thursday, Jethro had an appt with the chiropractor. I told her my concerns and she examined him. He has scoliosis. He does have an S shaped curved to his spine ~ I had missed the upper curve. So, she is referring us to the local Shriner's hospital. She had never seen scoliosis in a baby...not even in school. (This is Jethro we are dealing with!) She didn't even want to adjust him until a spinal specialist has looked at him.

I was disappointed that Jethro has one more thing to deal with, but I was encouraged that we left her office with a plan in place. Once we got home, I looked up infantile scoliosis. Only 1% of children under the age of 3 have scoliosis...Yep, that's my Jethro. :-) At least he's holding true to form...I'm wondering if I should have him play the Lotto.

I am now getting everything together to send to Dr. W, so that she can make a referral to Shriners. She said that it could take a month or more to hear from them, so we would appreciate prayers that everything goes through smoothly.

Jethro is doing well. He is now sitting by himself for long periods of time, happily playing with his toys or observing his brothers and sisters. He has 5 teeth in now, and judging by his crankiness, I think maybe 20 or more coming in. :-/ That's not totally fair. He is still very happy and content, but boy, when he decides that he is unhappy ~ look out! Bed time seems to be mostly when he decides that he doesn't feel too chipper. I'm getting in lots of singing. :-)

Happy boy!