Hey all. Took my 5 year old son, Layne, in for vacinations and a well child check up last week. The doctor was a general practitioner in a clinic, not a pediatrician. Anyways, part way through the physical exam he announces that, "He has scoliosis." has my son bend over in front of me and says, "See."
At the time I did not know what I was looking for and honestly was pretty much thrown for a loop and the only thing I could come up with was, "What do we do?" The doctor says to just have it checked once a year. About 30 seconds later he was out of the room
Now that I've had time to process it a bit, and start thinking again, I am full of questions and concerns.
How bad is it? Because he's so young...does that make it more serious? Is a year an ok time to wait between assessments of it...he's growing so quick right now. What is causing it? What can we do on a day to day basis to help?
I definitely want him to be seen by somebody else, but am not even sure where I'm suppossed to take him? Do we go to a pediatrician, a chiropractor, or do I skip straight to the orthopedic specialists at the U of U? Or...do we see all three?
I've called our old pediatrician (she was Layne's doc when he was a baby but we haven't been there in a couple years as my husband switched jobs and we now have a "company clinic"). I have a very good opinion of her and would trust her judgement much more. We have an appointment the 28th of April. Her nurse told me I would need to bring in a "Copy of the diagnosis and the x-rays they took." She was a bit taken aback when I told her they did not do x-rays. From what I've read, I'm starting to wonder why the doc didn't order them?
The other night, after his bath, I had Layne stand in front of me facing away, with his feet together and arms down. I was shocked to see that his right shoulder is about 3/4 to and inch higher than his left and has a different kind of slope to it. Also his shoulder blades...the point that sticks out in the back(feeling stupid, as an EMT I should know that word ...his right is higher than his left. And the curve of his waist is not equal from side to side. Are these the things the doctor was looking at? Looking at the line of his spine...I honestly can't say that I see a curve. This is where the x-rays come in, right?
I run best on information, and right now all I have is word...and that is driving me a bit nuts. I'm hoping that the first doc was whacked and that I'm seeing things and that the pediatrician is going to take an x-ray and say nothing is wrong...and I can have someone else (or three) review the same x-ray and tell me the same thing. But I also know it might go the other way.
I was so glad to find a forum like this because there are so many questions that I wasn't finding any one to answer. I'll keep reading up in the forums...I'm sure much of what I've written has already been addressed...but just had the need to get it out there.
Thanks,
Sara
At the time I did not know what I was looking for and honestly was pretty much thrown for a loop and the only thing I could come up with was, "What do we do?" The doctor says to just have it checked once a year. About 30 seconds later he was out of the room
Now that I've had time to process it a bit, and start thinking again, I am full of questions and concerns.
How bad is it? Because he's so young...does that make it more serious? Is a year an ok time to wait between assessments of it...he's growing so quick right now. What is causing it? What can we do on a day to day basis to help?
I definitely want him to be seen by somebody else, but am not even sure where I'm suppossed to take him? Do we go to a pediatrician, a chiropractor, or do I skip straight to the orthopedic specialists at the U of U? Or...do we see all three?
I've called our old pediatrician (she was Layne's doc when he was a baby but we haven't been there in a couple years as my husband switched jobs and we now have a "company clinic"). I have a very good opinion of her and would trust her judgement much more. We have an appointment the 28th of April. Her nurse told me I would need to bring in a "Copy of the diagnosis and the x-rays they took." She was a bit taken aback when I told her they did not do x-rays. From what I've read, I'm starting to wonder why the doc didn't order them?
The other night, after his bath, I had Layne stand in front of me facing away, with his feet together and arms down. I was shocked to see that his right shoulder is about 3/4 to and inch higher than his left and has a different kind of slope to it. Also his shoulder blades...the point that sticks out in the back(feeling stupid, as an EMT I should know that word ...his right is higher than his left. And the curve of his waist is not equal from side to side. Are these the things the doctor was looking at? Looking at the line of his spine...I honestly can't say that I see a curve. This is where the x-rays come in, right?
I run best on information, and right now all I have is word...and that is driving me a bit nuts. I'm hoping that the first doc was whacked and that I'm seeing things and that the pediatrician is going to take an x-ray and say nothing is wrong...and I can have someone else (or three) review the same x-ray and tell me the same thing. But I also know it might go the other way.
I was so glad to find a forum like this because there are so many questions that I wasn't finding any one to answer. I'll keep reading up in the forums...I'm sure much of what I've written has already been addressed...but just had the need to get it out there.
Thanks,
Sara
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