Getting a second opinion

[EllenMontgomery]

On August 6th my 10 year old daughter went to a routine visit with her neurologist (she has ADD/ADHD) the doctor did a scoliosis screening and noticed a curve. The neurologist advised us get X-rays and send them back to her. On the 10th of August she called me and said our daughter had scoliosis, diagnosed a curve 17.9 based on the X-rays . She told us to take our daughter to a pediatric orthopedist.
I called the pediatric orthopedist she recommend an was given an appointment on August 21st.The pediatric orthopedist said our daughter had a curve of 26 at the top and 24 at the bottom and gave us a prescription for a Boston Brace to be worn 18 hours a day. The orthopedist mentioned a concern that our daughter has a hairy back that she would need an MRI later that this could be an indication of “something else”. We were told to bring our daughter back two weeks after she is in the brace to make sure it is fitting in the right places. This visit lasted all of 15 minutes and the doctor left. We left her office with many unanswered questions. We are trying to get a second opinion with another pediatric orthopedist we will not be able to get in until Oct. 4th. Is it ok to wait 30 something days to get a second opinion? By waiting are we putting our child at risk for more curving?

[flowerpower]

It would be good to get a second opinion, but make sure the dr. is a pediatric orthopedist who specializes in scoliosis.

Good luck,
Renee

[mariaf]

Hi Ellen,

I agree with Renee's advice. Where do you live? I would recommend, as one alternative, any Shriners Hospital for a second opinion. They specialize in pediatric orthopedics - and more specifically in scoliosis.

Best of luck,

[Carmell]

Welcome to the board. A second (or third or fourth) opinion is important so YOU (the parent) know exactly what the facts about her spine are, and YOU know what the recommendations should be. In addition to Shriners that Maria mentioned, check this list for a scoliosis specialist in your area - http://www.srs.org/directory/directory.asp Not all of these specialists are PEDIATRIC specialists, so you may need to call and find out. Your daughter is young enough she needs a pediatric orthopedic surgeon. If you tell us where you live, parents on this list may have a good suggestion/recommendation for you.

Take a few deep breaths. Scoliosis is rarely an emergency situation. You have time to research and find the right doc with the right recommendations for your daughter. Waiting until Oct. is not a bad deal, especially if you will be meeting with a PEDIATRIC ortho. This gives you time to write down questions that are specific to your daughter. Hopefully she'll have an MRI in the meantime so you can ask questions based on those results. The MRI scan should be looked at by a PEDIATRIC neuroSURGEON (not a neurologist), not just a radiologist.

Good luck and let us know how things are going.

[EllenMontgomery]

Getting a second Opinion 2

Thanks for all the info. I'm feeling better. I have made an appointment with another pediatric orthopedist here in Memphis We will see Dr. William Warner he is with the Campbell Clinic and he specializes in scoliosis. I have heard very good thing about him. I have since heard not so raving reviews on the first pediatric orthopedist we saw. I am glad we are going to some one else. I will go in prepared with questions this time. Thank you again I will update after we see the next Dr.

[mariaf]

As Carmell mentioned, get a third or fourth opinion if necessary - until you find a doctor you are really comfortable with.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[amandap]

Hi Ellen,

Just as everyone said it never hurts to get multiple opinions.

Like Carmell mentioned scoliosis is rarely an emergency so it's okay to take your time seeking multiple opinions.

Unfortunately scoliois can and sometimes does progress quickly (especially during growth spurts) so it is very important for your daughter to wear her brace and keep your appointments with your current physician until you do find someone you and your child are comfortable with.

We take our daughter to Shriners for treatment of her scoliosis.

Good Luck ~ Amanda

[EllenMontgomery]

Got a second opinion

Want to thank everyone for you encouragement, support and help. Here is were we are now. We took aour daughter to another Pediatric orthopedist she had more xrays and an MRI the curves are 24T and 25L. We are putting her in a Boston brace. We go in tommorow to check out her new brace and go back to the Dr. on Monday. She will be wearing it 16 hours a day.

[rtremb]

Ellen:
I noticed in one of your posts you talked about your daughter having a hairy back. Did you ever find out if this meant anything? My daughter has a spina bifida occulta. When I was reading up about this I found out that one of the signs can be a hairy patch on the back. Her spina bifida occulta is visible on her x-rays. As far as I can figure out so far it is no big deal and is not the cause of her scoliosis.
Ruth

[emarismom]

What were the results of the MRI? While scoliosis is not usually an emergency situation, it does tend to progress much more rapidly when there are underlying causes for the scoliosis. The MRI should rule out these causes.

Once you have the results, make sure to ask for a copy of the MRI films or a disc with the images so that you can use these to take to the Ped. Ortho. and to a Pediatric Nuerosurgeon if that is warranted. The films and images should be looked at by several professionals, not just the radiologist.

[EllenMontgomery]

Got second & 3rd opinion

Thanks everyone. It is great to be able to talk to others about this! The MRI did not show anything abonormal so we are dealing with idiopathic scoli.
We got th the brace and my daughter has started wearing it. The dr suggested breaking her in easy started out at 30 min and adding 15 min a day. Up to 3 hours now.
Sometimes she cries a lot says it is hurting her. Is it really hurting her due to not fitting right or is it just something that she will learn to deal with? last night she wore it and did not complain as much.
She is complaining of sweating alot. We are using the boston T to go under the brace is ther another shirt that we should use so she wont be as hot? Can we get away with camis or do we need someting under her arm like the boston T?
I wanted to cheer her up so we went shopping I bought some new her clothes a size up (using advice from this site) you can't really tell she is wearing the brace. A freind of hers commented last night that she looked taller LOL didn't notice the brace till she showed it to her. I am going to have her join this forum soon maybe spinekids also.

[WNCmom]

Ellen:

My 12-year-old son was in a Boston brace for six months (he is now in a Spinecor brace). He, too, was in tears the first few days of wearing it. By the end of two weeks he was able to wear it 18 hours a day. So I think it is painful to adjust to, and tears during the adjustment period are not unusual. Althought the brace never became exactly comfortable, the pain did subside.

We did not use a Boston T; he wore a boy's "A" (tank-style) undershirt, which worked fine.

Mary Ellen

[emma12]

My daughter refused to wear the tshirts provided by the brace man - she was in a boston brace for about a year, then providence (night time only). She wore tank top t's like from aeropostle... and said they were fine. She also wore the kind with the built in sports bra, I can't believe they were comfortable, but she claimed that they were. Note, we didn't have good brace compliance, while she did wear it at night, she very rarely wore it the 23 hrs/day like she was supposed to (usually about 10-11 hrs/day). The providence was only supposed to be worn at night, in bed. I don't know that she ever wore it even all night long. Every time I checked on her in the middle of the night, it was taken off. She was never comfortable enough to even sleep in it. Many, many tears at first -- she did finally accept the boston brace for as much as she wore it. There are many physical and pyschological adjustments to have to make with any of these braces. I wish you the best!!

[cburger]

cambell clinic Dr Warner

Hi my daughter has been going to Dr. Warner at campbell clinic for 5 years.
She was diagnosed at 12 years old and is now 17. We like Dr Warner very much. She also did the boston brace for 2 years. She is through growing and the chance of her curve which is between 26 and 29 getting worst is very low. But I do not think Dr Warner talks much about other things your daughter can do to help herself. My daughter was a gymnast a very serious one and I know this is what caused her scoliosis. I suggest Yoga and stretching exercises. We also have an invertion machine and she as grown 1/2 and inch since using it and she is not really growing just lengthening her spine. Dr. Warner always is nice but takes the wait and see attitude. I wish we had not taken the wait and see attitude when she was 12 and her curve was only 18 degrees.