Reduce those hours!

This morning Dancer Girl had a check-up with her back doctor.  They took an x-ray out of the brace (after having not been in it for about a day) to compare it to the pre-brace curve.

The goal of the brace is to slow or stop progression. (Correction out of the brace is a bonus if it happens but it is not actually expected).

Basically, the curve is holding steady to pre-brace levels at around 27 degrees. Coupled with the fact that Dancer Girl has essentially stopped growing this was great news and has allowed her to reduce her hours in the brace. Yay!

She can now wear it "only at night" or for about 10-12 hours a day if she prefers the daytime. She does.  Sleeping in it has never become fully comfortable. She wasn't a great sleeper before the brace. Many girls get used to sleeping in it, some fairly quickly it seems, but Dancer Girl has never really managed it.

So there were tears of joy as she learned that the brace is doing its job, she can reduce her hours, and that she will go back in 6 months for another out of brace x-ray to see if she can be rid of it altogether at that point!