Alison had her appointment at the Spina Bifida Clinic on Monday. We've got some good news, some not so good news, and some fun news.

First the good news. During the course of the exam, Dr. Barr did a lot of work with Alison's legs, feeling the various muscles and how they were working, and he said we're looking at function being farther down then originally thought, probably S1 possibly S2, and she will definitely be a walker. He also now thinks that she probably won't need physical therapy or need to have any leg braces, or might just need to have something to stabilize her right foot.

Now the not so good news. Alison definitely needs a shunt. The surgery is scheduled for March 18. It's a very short procedure (should only take 15-20 minutes) and she should only be in the hospital for 2-3 days. Hopefully she will be one of the lucky ones who never has a problem with her shunt.

And finally, the fun news. Alison is now part of a study on how leg control develops in babies born with Spina Bifida. Basically, she gets reflectors put on her hips, knees, ankles, and feet and she gets held up and "walked" across a tabletop and then held over a baby sized, waterproof (because she does all this naked) treadmill and encouraged to "walk." It was very interesting to see. She did a lot of stepping, and did her best stepping at the second highest speed of the treadmill. We'll be going back again in June.