Elaine,
    Welcome to the list! You are quite right, major medical decisions IMHO
should not be left to 7 year olds. Nevertheless, I would urge caution. First
of all any surgeon
who issues ironclad guarantees regarding results, strikes me as  terribly
overconfident, perhaps even arrogant.  Every surgery  involves some risks,
and the more complex the operation, the greater those risks become.
Secondly, there is the issue of your expectations.  You want her to swim and
play hopscotch. Granted, these are enjoyable activities, however the first
should be achievable even in her current condition and the second may not
be, even with surgery.  Learning to walk independently (even with a walker
or crutches) will  probably take quite a while and require a great deal of
effort, and also many of us have significant balance difficulties which make
activities such as hopscotch, gymnastics and skating virtually impossible.
I am NOT saying that the surgery should not be done,  just encouraging you
to focus on the potential improvement in Briana's daily living skills when
making this decision rather than the development of athletic skills. Please
regard these as unexpected presents rather than final goals.

                                           Susan
----- Original Message -----
From: Elaine Taylor <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, September 13, 1999 7:19 PM
Subject: Re: New Member


> Hi, yes, I could wait, however, I feel that she has missed out enough of
her
> childhood.  I want to see her play hopscotch (out of her wheelchair), swim
> independently and than be able to stand in the pool when she's tired of
> swimming.  I think about when she's a teen and someone asks her to a
> sleepover and she wouldn't be able to go because she can't stand on her
own
> to be able to go to the bathroom independently.  BTW, the doctor has told
me
> that this will work 100%, no ifs and's or but's.
>
> We were discussing it tonight at dinner, and it kills me that I have to
make
> this decision without her support, but I feel that as a parent, I must
make
> decisions that will impact her future.  She's allowed to make decisions as
to
> if she wants to wear her TES at night or not, and if she wants to do
therapy
> at home or not, but this is to important of a decision to leave up to a 7
> year old.
>
> Elaine
>