Overland with Kids

We have just returned from London in the last couple of days where, we discovered our eldest daughter has a severe form of Scoliosis (curvature of the spine), requiring a serious operation to correct. 

SInce Kayleigh (daughter no.1) had her two children, (our grandchildren Aathiya and Aaziya) over the last two years, huge pressure has occurred to her spine which has been progressively worsening - causing breathing difficulties, pain and physical body change to occur for her.

Scoliosis exists in one other member  of our family (a first cousin) and we have known Kayleigh has had a very mild form since she was aged 11 years old.  But, since having children, the curvature in Kayleigh’s spine has taken on a whole new meaning, now affecting her health and posture -  Kayleigh’s left shoulder now has a hump which constantly aches and also droops/drops in comparison to the other - she is unable to sit back in a chair and make both her shoulders align - and her back when she bends forward (usually to tend the children)  is distorted (she looks like a curved bracket) and when dancing or jiggling about she feels like her rib cage is crunching and grinding together. Her breathing is affected and she cannot lie side to side without discomfort when sleeping.

At 23 years young, married, working and fit with two young children and her life in front of her, this is not a good condition for her.

Following months (almost a year) of waiting for an appointment to obtain specialist help, Kayleigh was finally referred to a spine specialist at The London Hospital in Whitechapel 2 days ago. We were shocked to see the results of the x-rays taken. Her condition has advanced hugely, reaching a rate of 50% distortion which is much worse than we thought - we were very shocked to see how bad it is and her spine is now what looks like a perfect ‘S’ shape.  The specialist advised us that Kayleigh’s pregnancies have caused pressure but that some pre-advancement will most likely have occurred to assist this. Any further pregnancy at this stage is out of the question - and for us, our priority is that, Kayleigh’s back issue is resolved before we can continue any major expedition plans - not cancel but just defer if necessary to suit timeframes of operation. 

We were advised that operations to correct normally occur once the severity has reached 55% but given how long we are likely to wait until an actual operation date surfaces, we are sure her condition will have reached this rate by then (based on our own gestimate average rate increase of about 2% per year). 

We are now just waiting for a further appointment (should be due 4-6 weeks) for a bone scan and to see a spinal surgeon to discuss the matter in more detail. This should not impact our immediate plans for our shake down trip to Morocco, though Anne has decided to fly back mid-trip to attend any appointment with Kayleigh arising in this time.

Although we still need to understand results and facts about the situation in more detail, the probablility of an operation is high as without it, there will be further risk and pressure to her lungs and other organs in the long term. Undergoing such an operation to correct is a very serious procedure - there are high success rates but recovery takes approximately 6 months and there is risk of paralysis if things do go wrong.

So, given this news, there is no question for us supporting whatever Kayleigh will need in the operation and recovery phase. We can then look to finally going on our travels with peaceful, happy minds.

Will advise more news once Kayleigh has had her bone scan. For now, our Morocco shake-down trip remains on target - we leave the UK in approx. 10 days time. If Anne needs to return to the UK in between - no issues for us to organise a flight from wherever we are at this point and we are likely to receive advance warning regarding the date.   Hopefully, once we have the date for the operation we will be able to work arrangements out to suit both Kayleigh and ourselves.

Diary (Blog)