**Please do not feel obligated to donate to CaringBridge. Gabby will appreciate visitors (in the hospital after Day 3, or at home), caring words, probably goodies, and/or if you want to bring food or a meal. I am simply using this site as a easy way to communicate with close friends and family.
Also, it is very likely that there will be graphic images posted so proceed with caution. :) Her surgery is scheduled for Friday, June 23rd and we will likely be coming home on Wednesday, June 28th.
Gabriella was diagnosed with scoliosis in the late summer of 2013. Her pediatric doctor recommend we start seeing an orthopedic doctor to monitor the curve more closely. We first went to see Dr. White in the Fall of 2013. Her curve was concerning but at the time it was not enough for surgery, yet, her growth plate was nearly developed so a back brace was not worth the bother. She literally had about 6 months left to be fully grown. A back brace would be more trouble than it would help. If her curve were to get any worse, it would be determined that surgery is the only option. We started going to Dr. White every 6 months and even with her growth plate fully developed, her spine was continuing to curve a little more each visit. In the summer of 2016, we decided to schedule her surgery for the summer of 2017. Believe it or not, these surgeries are very common, especially with this doctor and for it being at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. Even though we weren’t 100% decided on the surgery yet, we needed to get her on the schedule for the summertime to avoid school interruptions and their schedule fills up fast. We had an appointment in November of 2016. If her back had curved from the last 6-month visit, then this would confirm to us that the surgery would for sure happen. Sure enough, her spine had curved a bit more so it was decided. From there, we started telling family, reaching out to other patients (provided by the doctor’s office), we then toured the hospital, and began to emotionally accept everything. Here we are!
My awesome friend set up a meal train if you would like to support:
https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/ol98glStacy, 480-677-9185