Should I Do an SDR

Posted under Parenting by admin on Saturday 19 June 2010 at 7:27 pm

I was recently asked by a parent if they should do an SDR. We’ve been playing phone tag ever since. I just decided that I would write a post explaining my thoughts on SDR and how I would talk to another parent about it

I have to start by saying that the operation was a huge success for us an I can say that confidently, eventhough we are still in the recovery stages of the operation. As I mentioned in my last post Haley recognizes how much easier things are and is excited about the possibilities. As a parent I can see how much easier moving is and I’m Amazed at how quickly her strength seems to be returning. this week she started walking independantly within the house. As she gains confidence I think we will begin to leave the walker at home. So I can safely say that if your child is moderatly imparied then this treatment is awesome. That said, we chose to have the best most experienced dr in the country do the surgery. He makes a smaller incision than any other doctor and takes less bone. he has performed close to 2000 of these surgeries successfully and while I know there are other dr thY perform this surgery I wouldn’t recommend anyone other than Dr. Park.

Now that you know I think the sdr is great, I have to say that I’m positive the results of the surgery are different for every child. I spent a lot of time on the Internet looking for pictures and video of other children that had the surgery. I tried to look at how they moved befor and after and I looked at how they moved compared to my daughter. I pretty much came up with a mental composit of how Haley would fair after the operation. it turns out that I wasn’t far off. I believe this is a great exercise if your considering the operation. It helps you to see the “why” in the decision. Oh yeah we also got the opinion of every theripst, and multiple doctors. Not everyone agreed that we were making the right decision. Some of those people we have a ton of respect for and know personally much better than the Dr who performed the surgery. In the end it comes down to 1) it’s your decision as the parent and 2) how agressive do you want to be as a parent.

finally I will say that after I spent all that time doing my part and made the decision I did pray that it would be the right one.
IT WAS
IT IS
THANK G-D

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  • Adithrid
    Hello, I am a parent of a 3 year old child with a rare genetic syndrome which results in mixed muscle tone. He is able to walk with a walker. Every day I wonder if we should have a rhizotomy. My question is was Haley able to walk independently without a walker prior to the surgery? Did you have videos of her movement before and after? Thank you!
  • Adithrid,

    Yes we have video of before and after the surgery. There is a wealth of video on the site of her from before the surger, just check out a few posts and you'll find it. As for after the surger I have to upload video. She is only four weeks post surgery and still gaining her strength. She did not use a walker prior to the surgery but she did use one when she was three years old. She is seven now. I will be posting video of her progress but I have to find the time. I would highly recommend that you talk wtih Dr. Park if you are thinking about the surgery and as I mentioned above look on YouTube to see if you can find videos of children who have a similar walk and see what you think about the results of the surgery on those children. I'm pretty glad that we waited until Haley was seven to do the surgery eventhough we probably could have done it a few year ago. Haley's age allows her to set some of her own goals and go for them. That is really important for the recovery. I don't know that a three year old would be as focused as a seven year old especially a boy.
  • Adithrid
    Believe it or not Haley is the first person that I have found that used a walker when she was three and does not need one anymore. That gives me such great hope. Do you know many others that outgrew their walkers? I'm having trouble finding kids that have a similar walk as my son, with the same amount of balance issues. Thank you for posting this blog it has been a huge help.
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