Hi Everyone,
I posted my story "Daughter just diagnosed- Help!" a few weeks ago. So many kind people responded and gave me very helpful information. I really appreciated all of the info. I thought you might like an update. I took my daughter for a second opinion today and got some really good news! I had originally questioned the way my daughter was standing for one of her x-rays. I was right to question this. The two doctors that I saw today agreed that they did not think it was an acurate x-ray. I also had the very first x-ray that was taken at my local doctor's office with me. These two doctors looked at both x-rays, all of the other doctor's notes, gave my daughter a check , and used the scoliometer on her back. She has been wearing the Boston Brace 22 hours a day since June. They both agreed that my daughter's curvatures are in the 30's NOT the 40's, as I was told by the last doctor. We were originally told by my local orthopedic doctor that her curves were 31 and 33, but when we were sent to the hospital the surgeon told me they were 41 and 48 and we were looking at surgery.He felt progression was a guarentee. He agreed to "try" bracing, but gave us very little hope. Today we were given much hope. These two doctors said she absolutely was within the 30 degree range. We should not be thinking about surgery at all yet. They said her brace was very effective and we should continue doing what we are doing. They said she is probably looking at two years in the brace to hold it in the 30's. They said statistically speaking to brace a child in the 30's is much more successful than bracing a child in the 40's and they believe my daughter is in the 30's!!! YEAH!!! This is a very reputable surgeon, and his collegue, that did the exam today. He is the Chief of Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery at Mass. General Hopital in Boston. He believes there was a problem with the x-ray taken at Children's Hospital in Boston and that's why I had conflicting information. He said statistically speaking most curves that are held in the 30's throughout adolescence, will not continue to progress as these children become adults. I'm still wary of this, especially after checking out some of the posts on the adult forum. He also made sure I understood that at any time my daughter's curves could still progress and she may need the surgery. But bracing at 30 gives her more hope than bracing at 40. That's what we were hoping for. I have an appointment back at Children's with her actual surgeon next week, so we'll see how he feels about the second opinion that I got. My daughter will have her first in-brace x-ray and then out-of-brace x-ray next Tues. I'm going to make sure I have an experienced X-ray technichian this time and not a student!!! I am so happy today! My daughter is too! She jumped off the table and started dancing around the room when he said she was only in the 30's. It was so funny! She was so cute! She is very, very happy! I know we still have a long way to go, but today was a happy day and we really needed it.I know everyone on this forum needs to hear some happy news once in a while. I love to read all of your successful surgical and non-surgical stories. Thank you so much for sharing them with me. It helped me get through these last few weeks of indecision. I feel like I've been given the gift of time to see what happens with the bracing and to make a decision about the Schroth program. I'm still thinking this may be useful for my daughter in the future to learn how to make her muscles become the brace once she is actually out of the brace. I did ask the doctor about this program and he did say it can't hurt. He didn't say it would help, but he actually said it would not hurt. So I have time to think about this anyway. I'll fill you in next week, when I go back to my daughter's surgeon for the x-rays and check-up. I'm not going to mention the second opinion I got until I have heard all of what her doctor has to say. I don't want to upset him. I hope he re-checks those x-rays and agrees though. I'll probably be even more confused next week. Then I'll get another opinion I guess. This is like a never ending roller coaster! I'm on top of the world right now though, so I hope we can stay here for a while. Thanks again for all of your support!
Chris
I posted my story "Daughter just diagnosed- Help!" a few weeks ago. So many kind people responded and gave me very helpful information. I really appreciated all of the info. I thought you might like an update. I took my daughter for a second opinion today and got some really good news! I had originally questioned the way my daughter was standing for one of her x-rays. I was right to question this. The two doctors that I saw today agreed that they did not think it was an acurate x-ray. I also had the very first x-ray that was taken at my local doctor's office with me. These two doctors looked at both x-rays, all of the other doctor's notes, gave my daughter a check , and used the scoliometer on her back. She has been wearing the Boston Brace 22 hours a day since June. They both agreed that my daughter's curvatures are in the 30's NOT the 40's, as I was told by the last doctor. We were originally told by my local orthopedic doctor that her curves were 31 and 33, but when we were sent to the hospital the surgeon told me they were 41 and 48 and we were looking at surgery.He felt progression was a guarentee. He agreed to "try" bracing, but gave us very little hope. Today we were given much hope. These two doctors said she absolutely was within the 30 degree range. We should not be thinking about surgery at all yet. They said her brace was very effective and we should continue doing what we are doing. They said she is probably looking at two years in the brace to hold it in the 30's. They said statistically speaking to brace a child in the 30's is much more successful than bracing a child in the 40's and they believe my daughter is in the 30's!!! YEAH!!! This is a very reputable surgeon, and his collegue, that did the exam today. He is the Chief of Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery at Mass. General Hopital in Boston. He believes there was a problem with the x-ray taken at Children's Hospital in Boston and that's why I had conflicting information. He said statistically speaking most curves that are held in the 30's throughout adolescence, will not continue to progress as these children become adults. I'm still wary of this, especially after checking out some of the posts on the adult forum. He also made sure I understood that at any time my daughter's curves could still progress and she may need the surgery. But bracing at 30 gives her more hope than bracing at 40. That's what we were hoping for. I have an appointment back at Children's with her actual surgeon next week, so we'll see how he feels about the second opinion that I got. My daughter will have her first in-brace x-ray and then out-of-brace x-ray next Tues. I'm going to make sure I have an experienced X-ray technichian this time and not a student!!! I am so happy today! My daughter is too! She jumped off the table and started dancing around the room when he said she was only in the 30's. It was so funny! She was so cute! She is very, very happy! I know we still have a long way to go, but today was a happy day and we really needed it.I know everyone on this forum needs to hear some happy news once in a while. I love to read all of your successful surgical and non-surgical stories. Thank you so much for sharing them with me. It helped me get through these last few weeks of indecision. I feel like I've been given the gift of time to see what happens with the bracing and to make a decision about the Schroth program. I'm still thinking this may be useful for my daughter in the future to learn how to make her muscles become the brace once she is actually out of the brace. I did ask the doctor about this program and he did say it can't hurt. He didn't say it would help, but he actually said it would not hurt. So I have time to think about this anyway. I'll fill you in next week, when I go back to my daughter's surgeon for the x-rays and check-up. I'm not going to mention the second opinion I got until I have heard all of what her doctor has to say. I don't want to upset him. I hope he re-checks those x-rays and agrees though. I'll probably be even more confused next week. Then I'll get another opinion I guess. This is like a never ending roller coaster! I'm on top of the world right now though, so I hope we can stay here for a while. Thanks again for all of your support!
Chris
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