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  • #16
    Stephanie:
    Hope all goes well this week.
    Ruth
    Ruth, 50 years old (s-shaped 30 degree scoliosis) with degenerative disc disease, married to Mike. Mother to two children - Son 18 and daughter 14. Both have idiopathic scoliosis. Son (T38, L29) has not needed surgery to date. Daughter (March 08 - T62, L63).

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    • #17
      Thanks for the info, Stephanie--best of luck on Wednesday. I'll be out of email touch from the 20th until Dec. 31, but I'll look forward to hearing how it went when I get back.

      Another question: did you have any trouble getting insurance to cover the VBS? Do you know if it is generally covered? I know that is not an issue at Shriners, but if you know, I would be interested.

      Ruth:
      I had never even heard of VBS until I came to this site, and our ortho never mentioned it--at least you knew enough to ask!

      Mary Ellen

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      • #18
        Thank you Ruth and Mary Ellen for your well wishes.

        I am not 100% sure about insurance reimbursement for VBS. Cara may be able to give more info on that. Her son had the surgery at Boston Childrens Hospital. I believe there was insurance coverage involved. Cara...

        Stephanie
        Mom to Michela ~age 12 ~VBS @ age 9 - 12/19/07 26* to 1*
        10/8/08 ~ curve is immeasurable!!
        07/16/09 ~ a few degrees overcorrected... being monitored
        12/28/09 ~ 14* overcorrected to the right
        2/23/10 ~ 12* overcorrected
        3/12/10 ~ Boston Brace at night to prevent further overcorrection. In brace corrects to -8*

        Comment


        • #19
          Mary Ellen:
          Didn't do us much good though - even though Esme would have been able to have it done when I asked, the orthopaedic doctor he failed to give us the right advice. Thank goodness we have a new doctor now!
          Ruth
          Ruth, 50 years old (s-shaped 30 degree scoliosis) with degenerative disc disease, married to Mike. Mother to two children - Son 18 and daughter 14. Both have idiopathic scoliosis. Son (T38, L29) has not needed surgery to date. Daughter (March 08 - T62, L63).

          Comment


          • #20
            Originally posted by WNCmom
            I have a few questions--how long does a VBS procedure take? Also, once you knew he qualified, how long was it until the actual surgery?
            Hi Mary Ellen,

            I'm sure Cara will be happy to answer all your questions.

            But I just wanted to mention that if you, or anyone else is interested in learning more about the VBS procedure firsthand from parents whose kids have had it performed recently, you should feel free to visit the VBS support site.

            It's been posted before, but here's the link in case you missed it:

            http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/staplingsupport/

            Best of luck to you!
            mariaf305@yahoo.com
            Mom to David, age 17, braced June 2000 to March 2004
            Vertebral Body Stapling 3/10/04 for 40 degree curve (currently mid 20's)

            https://www.facebook.com/groups/ScoliosisTethering/

            http://pediatricspinefoundation.org/

            Comment


            • #21
              Insurance

              Our insurance company is Harvard Pilgrim (we are in Mass) & the doctors at Boston Children's Hospital handled all of the insurance claims. They were able to get it covered in full (except our $500 in-patient deductible). It sounds like more & more insurance companies are covering the surgery (Blue Cross, Aetna, and HP to name a few). If our insurance company had denied coverage, we would have brought Nate to the Philadelphia Shriners, but it was great that we could do it closer to home. We had a wonderful experience at Boston Children's Hospital, I was very pleased with the high quality of care Nathan received.

              Nate's actual surgery took about 3 hours, but he went into the OR at 7:40, we saw the doctor's at 2ish and saw Nathan at 3:00 ( a lot of time for anesthesia, and preparation, then he took a little longer than usual to wake up)

              -Cara
              Last edited by nate03; 12-17-2007, 03:42 PM. Reason: Additional Info
              Cara, Mom to Nathan
              Diagnosed 24 deg. in July 2007, progressed to 38 deg. by August 2007
              Boston Back Brace 8/07 – 12/07
              VBS 12/10/07 Boston Children's Hospital
              Dr. Hresko
              40 Degrees before VBS
              11 Degrees now!! (2012)

              Nathan's VBS Video

              www.vertebralstapling.com

              Comment


              • #22
                Thanks, everyone, for all the info.

                Mary Ellen

                Comment


                • #23
                  Stapling Pre & Post Op X-rays

                  Hi-
                  I thought I would share Nate's x-rays with those of you who may be interested. We are very pleased with the initial correction! 38 degrees to 19 degrees.
                  -Cara
                  Cara, Mom to Nathan
                  Diagnosed 24 deg. in July 2007, progressed to 38 deg. by August 2007
                  Boston Back Brace 8/07 – 12/07
                  VBS 12/10/07 Boston Children's Hospital
                  Dr. Hresko
                  40 Degrees before VBS
                  11 Degrees now!! (2012)

                  Nathan's VBS Video

                  www.vertebralstapling.com

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Michela is home and doing well. The doctor is very happy with the results. She is doing great. I thought she would be in more pain but she seems to be fine with Motrin. We got home on Saturday. Thank you to everybody for your thoughts and prayers

                    Cara, Nathan's x ray looks great. I saw Michela's post op x ray. It was perfectly straight. I cried when I saw it. Dr Asghar did remind me that once she is up and about there can be some "settling" so it's the 6 week post op x ray that they go by. So Glad things went well for us!!

                    Merry Christmas, Happy Haunukah, and Happy New Year to everybody!!

                    Hugs,
                    Stephanie
                    Mom to Michela ~age 12 ~VBS @ age 9 - 12/19/07 26* to 1*
                    10/8/08 ~ curve is immeasurable!!
                    07/16/09 ~ a few degrees overcorrected... being monitored
                    12/28/09 ~ 14* overcorrected to the right
                    2/23/10 ~ 12* overcorrected
                    3/12/10 ~ Boston Brace at night to prevent further overcorrection. In brace corrects to -8*

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      That's great news, Stephanie. I'm so glad things went well and Michela is recovering with so little pain.

                      Also, thanks for the x-rays, Cara. They look great!

                      Mary Ellen

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        Nathan's Follow-up Visit

                        Hi-
                        I wanted to let you know that Nathan's official correction is 25 degrees (from 40 degrees the day of surgery). We are very pleased and optimistic that the staples will hold Nathan's curve in this range.

                        Nathan has returned to all of his activities - NO restrictions. He has played full contact Pee Wee Hockey, and was in the snowboard park all weekend. He is SO happy to be free of his back brace, and able to do all of the things he loves to do!
                        If anyone has any questions about our experience with stapling at Boston Children's Hospital, please feel free to contact me anytime (508) 375-0621. I have been very pleased with Dr. Hresko and the whole team at Children's really worked hard to make Nathan's experience as positive as possible.
                        -Cara
                        Cara, Mom to Nathan
                        Diagnosed 24 deg. in July 2007, progressed to 38 deg. by August 2007
                        Boston Back Brace 8/07 – 12/07
                        VBS 12/10/07 Boston Children's Hospital
                        Dr. Hresko
                        40 Degrees before VBS
                        11 Degrees now!! (2012)

                        Nathan's VBS Video

                        www.vertebralstapling.com

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Follow-up News Article Re: Stapling

                          The Cape Cod Times ran a great follow up article this week regarding Nathan's surgery:

                          http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pb...0301/-1/LIFE03

                          He is doing really well & back to his same old self - SO happy to be rid of the brace!

                          -Cara
                          Cara, Mom to Nathan
                          Diagnosed 24 deg. in July 2007, progressed to 38 deg. by August 2007
                          Boston Back Brace 8/07 – 12/07
                          VBS 12/10/07 Boston Children's Hospital
                          Dr. Hresko
                          40 Degrees before VBS
                          11 Degrees now!! (2012)

                          Nathan's VBS Video

                          www.vertebralstapling.com

                          Comment

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