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I have never posted before but I have been reading posts on this forum for about a year now. In September of 2007, my 9 year old daugter was at the pediatricians office for a skin condition when he recommended she see a orthaepedic sugeon because her spine seemed curved. She had been to a check-up every year of her life and this was the very first time this was detected so it must have happened fast. Her curves when checked were Top - 23 and bottom - 23. We talked about bracing but it had to be delayed because a follow up MRI showed a tethered cord that needed surgery. Two months later (a couple of weeks after her 10th birthday) on christmas break, she had surgery for the tethered cord (done by a neurosurgeon). We were told to report back to the orthapedic surgeon for scoliosis follow-up in three months. When we returned (approx. 7 months from first sign of scoliosis her curves were T- 45 and B - 45. This was quite a shock because we believed her scoliosis was caused by the tethered cord and it would be much better or gone. We went that very day and had a boston brace fitted and shes been wearing it for three months. Today she is going for her first follow-up after the brace to see how its working. We are praying for a miracle. The surgeon told us that the tethered cord could reoccur and this complicates her case. He also said surgery would be necessary if the brace doesn't help. Does anyone else on this forum have experience with scoliosis and tethered cord. I haven't heard tethered cord mentioned at all since reading these however, I have learned lots or useful things and sometimes it helps just to know we are not alone in all of this. I want my daughter to talk to some other kids on the site about these issues but even though she wears her brace without complaint, she just gets upset talking about it. She feels like the only 10 year old ever to have this problem. Sorry this is so long, I guess I am just unloading a little. I am wondering about the relationship between tethered cord and scoliosis. Also, any other advice would be much appreciated. Thanks alot.
Smileyskl
Smileyskl
I am wondering if that surgery is as invasive as a fusion? What was the recovery time and how long does the surgery last? We may be discussing this again at her doctors appt. in a while so I am trying to think of things I may need to discuss.
My daughters neurosurgeon said that he has seen several people with tethered cord after they have done a split, or back-flip or something in gymnastics or just playing and it snapped. It also can cause long term bladder and bowel problems. At the time, my daughter was in her 5th year of Dance so we were thanking God that it was discovered before any of that happened. Her tethered cord was discovered when she had a MRI after she went the first time to the pediatric orthaepedic specialist. He automatically does one MRI to see if there is any cause for the socliosis or if its idiopathic. It showed a cyst-like thing called a syrinx on her spine on the MRI. From there we had to see a neurosurgeon who was able to determine that the syrinx was caused from a tehered cord. We had surgery a month later. The surgery was not very invasive (a 3 inch incision) because they did it through a microscope. She was at the hospital for 3 days and pretty much back to normal within a month and completely released after 3 months. I would strongly recommend talking to your doctor about your suspisions. Tethered cord can be very dangerous left unchecked. There is a lot or good information on the internet about tethered cord. I looked under neurosurgery and under spina bifida (sometimes it can be related) but not in my daugters case. My daughter had always been a perfectly healthy child with no medical issues up until this point. Let me know if you have any other questions. I hope things turn out okay. I will pray for you.
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