The E-man went to the Spinal doctor yesterday. Dr. H finally gave him something to call his back pain. And the winning term(s) is spondylolysis with spondylolisthesis. Or it might be the other way around, or even different words. Spondy-something with another spondy-something! I wrote it down and then left my paper at the receptionists desk when I scheduled his next appointment.
Basically, it bowls down to…one of his disks is shifting. This happens in about 5% of kids. Usually it is asystematic and nothing needs to be done. However, Elijah’s is getting worse. It was seen on the hip X-ray in Nov. 2007 and again on the x-ray just done in mid September.
Dr. H definitely wants to keep an eye on it. We go back in six months for another x-ray to evaluate the disc. If it has shifted more, the E-man will probably need a fusion surgery. They take bone graft and fuse the disc in place. Dr. H stated that a brace will not work for him. There is no other treatment except surgery if his disk continues to slip.
If Elijah were to have very bad pain again, of course we have to go in sooner. Right now his pain seems to be light again. Elijah stated that he usually feels it daily, but doesn’t necessarily hurt. When it hurts though, this guy is in pain. We’ve had a few mornings he could barely get out of bed.
Dr. H took Elijah out of football. He pretty upset about that The season is done this weekend, so at least he’s not missing much. He can stay active, but needs to be careful and pick his sports wisely. If his back starts hurting, he needs to stop and rest.
My fear now, is that Elijah will hide his pain because he doesn’t want surgery. We had a talk and he agrees to keep me and Dr. H informed. Let’s hope he does.
