Caleb Ous

Caleb will be having surgery on his spine this Thursday, December 1, 2016 at Gillette Children's in St. Paul.  He has a condition called kyphosis.  It is a rounding of the upper portion of his spine .  If we do not correct the rounding at this time it may begin to compromise his heart & lung function  and the amount of correction that can be achieved.   They will be using  two rods fixed to his vertebra to straighten the spine.    We have known about this condition for a couple of years and originally were hoping to get to age 13 or 14.    For the last 18 months he has been wearing a back brace, 12-14 hours per day, to hopefully slow  the rounding but it was never  intended to correct it.  The brace is like a turtle shell and covered  most of his upper body.  He's  an amazing little fella. He was able tolerate wearing it and did not complain.  Such a trooper!  In February 2016 the doctor started preparing us by telling us that his rounding was advancing quicker than anticipated.  At his pre-op last week he was 5' tall.  It will be interesting to see how many inches taller he is after the surgery. The doctor wanted to do the surgery this fall but we held off until now.  Jacob is a senior this year and played football for Mankato West High School.  We are pleased with our decision to wait awhile.  Caleb enjoyed watching his brother play and participating in the cheer " And that's another Mankato West FIRST DOWN!! " of which there were many!  Jacob's football team had a great season making it to the 5A state semi-finals and the opportunity to play at US Bank Stadium.  Go SCARTLETS!  We thank you all for the  support and friendship you have shown Caleb through the years and ask again for your prayers for a completely successful surgery and a speedy recovery.  Thank you all!  God Bless!