Shelby Update 01/18/2010

One of our daughters, Shelby, had scoliosis surgery in early November. The intent of the surgery was to install metal rods and screws to straighten her spine and prevent further deformation. Because our daughter has congenital scoliosis, the risks were high and spinal cord monitoring was performed during the surgery. During and immediately after the surgery, all of us, including her surgeon (one of the top surgeons in Texas), believed everything went fantastic. The initial report was that her scoliosis was 90% corrected, which was far better than any of us could have hoped for; then things went terribly wrong. When she awoke in the recovery room she could not move her legs. She was rushed back into surgery, the rods and screws were removed, and she was in intensive care for two weeks in treatment for a severe spinal cord injury. She was completely paralyzed from the waist down for several weeks.

In December, about two weeks before Christmas, Shelby was moved to Our Children’s House at Baylor, a pediatric rehabilitation center, in Dallas, TX. She has since recovered motor control in both legs, but cannot yet walk independently, and is confined to a wheelchair most of the time.

Shelby is scheduled to be released from the rehabilitation center this coming weekend and will continue outpatient rehabilitation locally. She is excited to return home and to return back to school but will require accommodations due to her handicap. In spite of everything, the prognosis is good, and it is generally believed that she will be walking again sometime within the next year. She still faces a long and painful recovery and she still requires further surgery to re-install the rods to correct her scoliosis and stabilize her spine.

Shelby’s grandparents had been providing a great deal of help to our family during this difficult time and then two weeks ago; her grandmother had a heart attack. She recently underwent open heart surgery and is now herself in rehabilitation. We ask that you please pray not only for Shelby but also for the extended family during this extremely difficult time. We have had more than our share of tragedy in the past three months, but it is because of the support of family and friends that we have gotten through this. A website has been set up by Shelby’s teachers and schoolmates, located on Facebook, here. We welcome your well wishes and continued support and thank everybody for all of your kind words, your cards and gifts, and most importantly, your prayers. We ask that you please add Shelby's grandmother to your prayer lists.