COLD!

It's cold here today. . .19 degrees. . .Kylie and I are staying in. I'm cleaning, she's playing and catching up on some lazy time.

It's been another crazy week medical wise. We had a doctor read the wrong MRI for Melanie and assured us that all she has is mild scoliosis, not tethered cord before I set him straight, but in the meantime there was a lot of crazy phone calls and emails (Who knew there would be another Melanie Davis born in the year 2000, and given an MRI of the back the same week as my Melanie????). Once he read the right MRI and saw that it was suspicious for tethered cord, we got back on track with things.

The school nurse has been after me for awhile to know what Melanie can and can't do in gym. I found out that gymnastics and cheerleading are out of the question for her. (Hmmm. . .she's been in gymnastics every year since she was 3 until this year). I didn't ask about horseback riding. She hasn't been all winter, but I just can't fathom telling her she can't ever go back. We'll wait till ALL the testing is done before we broach that subject.

I got some MRI results of my own and found out I have a bulging disc of L5-S1 that is probably the cause of some of my back pain symptoms. So now I have been told no heavy lifting and use proper body mechanics to assure the disc doesn't rupture. (Can I have a doctor's note to give to Kylie when she wants to be picked up? And Tom, can you buy the 35 pound bag of dog food every month from now on??).

So at least we know I don't have a tethered cord and my symptoms are related to the disc.

Kylie is having a spinal MRI on Monday, but since her symptoms are much different than Melanie's I am doubtful it will show anything, but nothing will surprise me at this point.

Melanie is going to have urodynamic testing done (google it if you want to know about it). I am waiting for that to be scheduled. It seems to be taking forever to get that in motion. Supposedly that will be the definitive answer to whether the cord is tethered or not.

My dad seems to be doing great with the chemo. So far the biggest side effect is fatigue. So that's a relief.

Hope everyone is doing well and staying warm!