I have a spinal lipoma. This is a rare condition (roughly 1 in 17,000 babies) in which a lump of fatty tissue develops inside the spinal column, usually (as in my case) down at the base, and sticks to the spinal cord. Left untreated, this causes big problems as the child grows and the nerves are damaged from the unnatural stretching.
So in a few months, I'll be having surgery. They'll open up my spine, scrape away the lipoma, and tuck everything back into a new tube with more room. With luck, that'll fix everything for good.
Meanwhile, I'll keep hiccuping, blowing spit bubbles, and learning to smile.
Incidentally, while I was there they measured me at 8 lb 10 oz and 22" long. At first they thought I was only 21.25", but Mom bought me another 3/4 of an inch by pointing out that I'd been measured at 21.75" two weeks ago. I can understand variation from one scale to another, but rulers?
Wow, that IS exciting!
ReplyDeleteOn the plus side, catching it when you're a few weeks old and have decades of healthy-spine-growth ahead of you is probably better than if, say, they had to cut open MY (or mom's or dad's) spine and hope we'd grow it back properly.
Thank goodness you kids are made of rubber! :)
It's definitely better to catch it early. Spinal lipomas cause the most trouble when they aren't detected until the kid is 3 or 4 years old and starts losing control of her feet. (Girls get them roughly twice as often as boys.) The surgery generally prevents further damage, but can't restore what's already lost.
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