I truly hope I've labeled this correctly but this is
Kennedy's spine and spinal cord. The dark area is the spinal cord and where it looks like it splits is where her
1st tether is (the lipomyelomeningocele) and then down below the where her spinal cord ends (L3 level) you can see a light gray which is the
other tether (fatty filum terminale). I hope I have this right but this is how it was explained to me. They are going to cut the 2 tethers away from the cord while monitoring all of her muscles to as not to aggravate any area. Sigh...
how is the spinal cord re-tethered? Is it fused?
ReplyDeleteGood question. Actually, it is tethered now and that is bad. It is attached to a bunch of soft tissue and that tissue is stretching Kennedy's spinal cord which is dangerous. The surgery is actually to de-tether her spinal cord, so to cut the tissue away from her spinal cord so it will no longer be tethered.
ReplyDeleteThe risk in the future is that 40% of patients experience a retether so the tissue attatches to the spinal cord AGAIN which would then require another detether surgery. I hope this helps!
It is amazing how they are able to monitor the spinal cord while in surgery. When I had my spinal fusion they put pins into my scalp. It was explained to me that they were there so that when they got close to or touched my spinal cord the nerves would send a signal to my brain and they would see it on the monitor. It was another way to help guide them through the area. One doctor was dedicated to staring at that screen the entire time I was in surgery. It was a nice surprise to hear of this when I was about to be rolled into the OR. I'm sure there are many ways the docs will be monitoring her spinal cord.
ReplyDeleteIt brings tears to my eyes to think they are going in and touching her spinal cord. It's a very scary thought no matter what, but it sounds to me like you've got the best docs.
My thoughts will be with you guys all day tomorrow. In can't wait to hear some news tomorrow night. Please keep me posted and tell Miss Kennedy it's good luck to wiggle her toes as soon as she wakes up. ;-) It was for me.
Love you guys