medical update on child #2

Last Monday we had another MRI on Tretter on the lumbar spine, without and with contrast. He did great before, during, and after the MRI, which is awesome. We are so continuously thankful that the boys have been so cooperative and positive throughout all of our testing processes. They just seem to roll with it, and I am constantly amazed at the resilience of children!

Rewind: In case you are new to the story, Tretter's symptoms are migraine headaches, poor bladder and bowel control (although please don't mention that, if you are around him for obvious reasons), not being able to balance on a bike, and skin hypersensitivity (aka low pain threshhold, only wanting to wear sweatpants because jeans are "hard", no socks with seams, etc.) The lumbar MRI was ordered to check for a suspected tethered cord, which is a spinal problem that sometimes co-exists with Chiari or can occur in relatives of Chiari patients.

The results we recieved could not have been better.  His bloodwork from the endocrinologist visit came back normal and his MRI came back normal. This means that even if there is some unifying medical reason for his symptoms, there is not anything serious enough to warrant surgery or even further monitoring at this point. (YAY!)

Tretter will see the actual endo in July when we take Whitaker back. At that time, we will get a growth velocity on him from March to July and if he is not growing at a rate that seems appropriate then the endocrinologist may consider having him put through the stim testing for growth hormone deficiency.

If he does have to go that route, we remain thankful that this is a fixable and temporary problem. So many people have far more difficult and chronic medical challenges. We continue to thank God every day for the health, security, insurance, and family we have around us. God is so good. :-)