Hold the phone...

Update on Neurosurgery

We went to Dr. Haridas in Tampa, he also has many accolades and was interviewed the morning we were there by the local news due to his great practice and successes. I feel like everyone we have spoken with has a lot of knowledge (I feel very thankful for that!) and is great at what they do and believe in, they all just believe different things.

His nurse let me know he is a straight shooter and he was, he walked in and immediately said no, do not do the surgery. He says Everett is a healthy vibrant young boy doing very well and doing surgery in fear of something happening is not something he believes in. He thinks Everett's likelihood of a terrible injury, paralysis, or my worst fear...death, is unlikely. He thinks if something like that happened it would be bad luck, like a plane crash or getting struck by lightning. The other two neurosurgeons that said to do the surgery did express their concern for injury to his spinal cord and knowing his breathing and so much major function relies on a healthy spinal cord. So, I clearly have no idea what to do. Haridas said to use common sense and watch him. No gymnastics, contact sports, jumping on trampolines/bounce houses, etc. I would like to give Everett more of an opportunity to show us if there are going to be signs/symptoms which would be changes in walking, snoring, or swallowing. The original surgeon Rodriguez and Haridas have very similar views and are younger. The other two are older and have more traditional views. Andre and I see both sides and aren't sure at all what to do, surgery makes us both nervous, especially if it is something that may not be necessary. Haridas said he doesn't know if Everett's make up is perfect for him, we have no reason to believe it's not at this point. I have no clue, I bounce back and fourth from wanting to protect my son and doing the surgery knowing his neck will be stable to letting him be and hoping nothing bad happens to him. Damage to the spinal cord often is irreversible. So, we are only more confused. We have all the details possible to make a decision and at this point we are going to give it some time, watch him, be as careful as we can yet not worry ourselves to death and if there are no symptoms, in a year he'll need another MRI to ensure his spinal cord is fine. That would be the routine.

I almost canceled the appointment with Haridas. But I always have more questions about the surgery process and each surgeon would complete the surgery a different way and brace him or not brace him is 50/50 too. I'm glad I kept the appointment and heard his views. Doing the surgery could impact his eating which is really frustrating already. He would lose movement which could impact his swallowing. It's all just scary and I'm hoping avoiding to see how he does and what life is like trying not to worry about his safety 24/7 will be like.