Kadence’s Story

First, a brief medical history:

On March 13, 2012 Kadence Reagan Burner was born. She was 6 lbs 13 oz and 18 inches long. Though her birth was difficult we were happy to have a healthy baby.  At about 1 month old we noticed that her back looked different, not much but enough that we took notice. We mentioned it to her doctors on several visits but our concerns were dismissed. They all said, ” that it was normal as baby bones still needed to form.”

Kadence continued to have medical issues as an infant, primarily low weight gain. It was not until she was labeled as “failure to thrive” that we were taken seriously. When her weight loss became more apparent we took her to the emergency room and explained she was having difficulty eating. They took an x-ray of her abdomen and the significant curvature was unmistakable.  At that point we changed pediatricians and were referred to a pediatric orthopedist.  From there we saw him every 6 months for x-rays and evaluation. Because of the complexity of her skeletal issues, we also saw specialists to check every other system – as there are often complications associated with her type of deformity.  Happily, her heart, lungs, kidneys and all other vital organs were developing normally.

On May 8, 2014 , after consulting with a neurosurgeon,  Kadence had spinal de-tethering surgery. When the neurosurgeon returned after the procedure, she was surprised at how tightly her spinal cord was tethered and assured us that we had made the right choice. Kadence recovered quickly and was back to her normal self in no time.

Doctors, specialists, x-rays and tests began to be a normal part of Kadence’s life. Eventually, we were referred to another orthopedic surgeon who specializes in her specific spinal deformity. After meeting with our new orthopedic surgeon, she was diagnosed with Congenital Kyphoscoliosis and rib anomalies. She has 11 ribs on one side and 8 on the other as well as fused, missing, and malformed vertebrae. We had been seeing this surgeon for 2 years and last fall he referred us to the Shriner Organization and a pediatric orthopedist who specializes in these types of anomalies.

Now let us tell you about our little girl:

Kadence is an amazing little girl. She has been blessed with a tenacious  and often quite stubborn spirit. She is fiercely loyal and cares deeply for her family and her friends. She enjoys drawing pictures of her family and her favorite animals and is actually very artistic. Kadence’s first love is dance and music; she loves creating her own interpretive dances. Her very best friend is her brother Jayden and they are very close.

Though Kadence is nervous about the upcoming surgical procedure, she is always reassuring all of us about how this too will pass and she will dance again. We are grateful that God blessed us with such an incredible little lady. She is strong-willed, hilarious, compassionate and most of all a fighter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please check our “News” blog as we will be posting updates as we have them.  As always we welcome your comments and especially your prayers.