The Brace

after I researched and spoke to several people about who we should go to, to receive treatment for Rebecca's scoliosis, we ended up with Dr. Neustadt. He explained that she has an "S" curve and that we will attempt to brace Rebecca to keep the curves from worsening. So he prescribed a Boston brace to be worn 22 hours a day.

FYI - scoliosis brace is like a torture device, created to help your child but it really just makes them miserable and it only works 50% of the time.

So remember how I told you Rebecca had projectile vomiting as a baby. Well guess who's back! You guessed it, our arch enemy reflux has returned due to the brace. I explained to the doctor that Rebecca can not wear the brace for 22 hours because she's throwing up everything she eats. He chuckled and said, "most moms have a hard time listening to their children complain about the discomfort of the brace." (I hate when doctors say the words discomfort. No it's actual pain). I explained to him Rebecca's entire history of her CDH and reflux and everything. He didn't believe me and told me to continue. (To this day I don't blame him for not understanding her circumstances, after all she is a miracle. Most CDH babies at this time died at birth so doctors do not understand how to treat these patients.)

Well I have never liked the word no, so I took Rebecca to her GI doctor. She verified that Rebecca could definitely be experiencing reflux because of her brace due to her history and anatomy. She ordered an endoscopy to look and make sure it wasn't anything more serious than reflux. It ended up being a serious case of reflux. Rebecca's esophagus was so raw and torn up from the acid she'd been throwing up. So I went back to Dr. N with this info and said "told you so!" Just kidding I'm not that mom. But I informed him of the GI doctor's new discovery. So he ordered her a different brace that she was to sleep in.

So we used the new one as much as we could until she grew out of it.

When it was time to get a new brace Rebecca asked to go back to the Boston brace but to be worn less than the 22 hours. So we had that brace through last year.