The rotuine

Dancer Girl has now been in the brace for 10 months of the "about a year" time frame. We have a routine fairly set now and most days she gets her hours in.

She wears it to bed most nights, takes it off first thing in the morning for a bit of a break for a shower, & during breakfast. Then it goes back on.

We homeschool, so most of her brace hours end up being at home which is nice for her.  But, we do still have many days where she needs to wear it out to classes & groups, on errands, shopping, to church, etc.

On days that are heavy with after-school activities we need to be sure to get those hours in during the day.

There are days now & then when 18 hours doesn't happen - extra dance rehearsals for example, or a special outing or event, being sick & curled up in bed, or an 8-hour visit to the ER for possible appendicitis (it wasn't the appendix but was still very painful)...

In a few weeks she will go to her back doctor for a series of x-rays to see how she does without the brace on compared to when she is in the brace.

She is hoping to be able to reduce her hours in the brace at that point.  A lot.  The doctor told her last time he was hopeful she could reduce it enough to wear it "just at night". For her that was not good news - she would rather wear it during the day and not at night! I don't blame her actually...

Just Keep Dancing...

Dance has taken over our lives.  But it's all good.

Dancer Girl has picked up additional ballet and modern classes at a second dance studio, both of which are taught in different styles than she is used to. This has proven to be a bit of a challenge and it is exciting to see her be pushed to take her strong foundational skills and use it in different ways.

The director has been wonderfully accommodating of the scoliosis and has been checking in regularly to make sure that she is not pushing Dancer Girl beyond her limits physically, while still pushing her as a dancer.

I think it has been good for Dancer Girl to see that other teachers will accommodate her back pains and limitations - that it's not just those who know her well that are willing to work with her through this.

We are seeing that many of the stretches for dance have been good for her back and the routine core work will only help to strengthen her overall.  And so, while it is not without it's pains, it seems as if dance has been good for her so she will keep it up.  And we are thrilled that she can keep going because it brings her such joy.  It brings us joy as well as we see her grow and develop from the little girl who likes to dance, into a true "dancer" who shares her passion with others.