So...a little background.
Travis complains that his back hurts him. Not "in agony" kind of hurt, but enough hurt to stop what he is doing at the time. He has done this for quite some time (years), but its not ALL the time, and was very rarely to begin with. It has become more frequent, and we mentioned it at his 8 year old well check up. The pediatrician didn't notice anything overly concerning, but ordered a spinal xray just to be safe. It showed nothing. Since then, he has complained several time of it bothering him, and so we decided, that with our current health insurance situation, it would be best to push for further testing.
He was sent to an orthopedic doctor, who ordered an MRI for him. The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we took him to the hospital, where he was sedated and had a roughly 2 hour MRI on his spine. Today, we went back to the orthopedic doctor to find out the results.
The MRI shows that Travis has what is called a syrinx in his spinal cord. The syrinx is caused by a condition known as Syringomyelia. The short version of what all that means is: Syringomyelia (sear-IN-go-my-EEL-ya) is a disorder in which a cyst forms within the spinal cord. This cyst, called a syrinx, expands and elongates over time, destroying the center of the spinal cord.
The orthopedic doctor will be sending him to a Neurosurgeon at Duke or Chapel Hill for further testing and treatment. There is no evidence of injury to his spine, or spinal cord, so this is something it seems he was born with, that has worsened.
Here is a link to information about syringomyelia: http://childrensneurosurgery.org/Syringomyelia
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/syringomyelia/syringomyelia.htm
I do not know at this time if he will need surgery. All the information I have read say in the ABSENCE of symptoms, surgery is usually not performed, but he definitely has symptoms I would say. So we will just have to wait until he goes to the specialist to find out any more information.
5 comments:
Sending our best thoughts to your family.
Praying there will be a treatment to relieve the pain Travis is feeling. Love you all, Pauline
Hoping everything will go well with Travis, and that they can avoid surgery. If not, praying whatever they do will relieve him of pain. He is growing like a weed, and so very Handsome! Being so involved in sports, he really needs to be in his best form. Keeping him in my prayers.
Sending Hugs!
Hi Lindsey,
I saw your blog posted on Facebook and came for a visit. Beautiful blog!
I don't know if you remember me or not, but I used to scrapbook with you, Tara,and Allison. You have a beautiful family and blog.
We will keep Travis and your family in our thoughts and prayers and hoping they can do something quickly so he is not hurting anymore.
God bless,
Tracy Bua Smith
http://www.asliceofsmithlife.blogspot.com
I'm so sad. I have tears in my eyes. You guys don't deserve this. Travis shouldn't have to go through this. Ugh! I know that you will get through it because it's who you are. Please remember that we will be thinking of you, praying for you, and doing anything we can to help.
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