I am finally posting a delayed update about my son Nate, and am very happy that I am able to share Great News! Below, I have shared both the background and current info about our son in hopes of providing a clear picture that I really hope can help other parents.
Nate was diagnosed with scoliosis in August 2007 when he was 11. I had noticed a curve before that, but naively believed that “lots of kids had scoliosis and that it would be just fine” that had been the history I had seen of friends, my sister, and my husband even told me the same of his brother. (Nate had pain in his thoracic region of his back from the time he was 8 years old ~ I believe this was when his curve began to progress, but an mri only showed mild scoli at that time)
At age 11, the pediatrician determined by scoliometer, and x-ray that Nate should be further evaluated, and I learned that he had a thoracic curve of 38 degrees. Nate pretty quickly decided that bracing was not for him, and both my husband and I agreed that he had very little chance of being brace compliant through college (which is what we were told was a likely scenario bc Dad is 6Ft 5 in. and grew until age 21). We were then told about a procedure called vertebral body stapling which Children’s Hospital Boston was ready to begin selecting candidates for. The doctors we spoke with were very encouraged by the results that had been seen with other patients, and felt VBS could be an effective treatment for Nate’s scoli.
Nate had VBS in December 2007 at Boston Children’s Hospital. He was out of school for 3 weeks (the last week he definitely could have returned to school but it was the Christmas Vacation). He was playing full contact hockey, and snowboarding before two months post –op. Looking back, I would say he was not 100% but he really wanted to be “back to normal” and there was no medical reason to keep him down. I think that his mental toughness and love for physical activity helped him pushed himself back to participating in everything he loved to do. Over the next 6 months, we saw Nate begin struggling with upper back pain again, and the x-rays were discouraging. His curve ended up returning to almost pre-vbs levels, and he developed a trunk shift. I felt horrible that he had gone through surgery “for nothing” but fortunately had other parents who kept reminding me that the REAL goal of VBS is to maintain the curve, and keep it from progressing, that at 35 degrees he would not need fusion which was our ultimate goal in treatment (either bracing or VBS). We tried PT for about 2 months but the pain continued and his curve progressed. He ultimately developed a trunk shift that really concerned us, as well as his surgeon. We got a second opinion from Dr. Betz who recommended that Nate try bracing again. Both doctors told us that trunk shifts can often improve with bracing, unlike the stats for seeing long term correction with a typical scoli curve.
We battled with Nate for almost 8 months to wear his brace, and then he had an unfortunate snowboarding accident. He completely shattered his heel when he fell over 20 feet straight down (the staples and his back were fine!). This required surgery (8 screws & a plate) and a recovery that was much longer than VBS. He was in a wheel chair for 3 months, and then crutches, and a “boot” for 3 more months. For obvious reasons, we put the back brace fight on the back burner during this time, and he completely stopped wearing it. His trunk shift had markedly improved from the brace by this time.
As we went for heel xrays, the spine xrays were also continued and amazingly we saw Nate’s back start to improve. Nate went through a big growth spurt during this time, and the staples did what we had all hoped for, his spine began to straighten, and the pain/tightness disappeared. Each time we went for xrays, the numbers were lower, and his overall balance (trunk shift) improved drastically.
As they say a picture is worth a million words so I have attached several xrays to show you Nate’s VBS success story. Nate still has one more surgery ahead of him this fall for his heel injury, but in the mean time is enjoying every day to the fullest, and having a great time this summer, golfing, surfing, and fishing……..brace free! Nate still has a lot of growth ahead of him, and I will update here again from time to time to let you know how he is doing. I know there are many members here who are interested in the VBS stories, and I hope by sharing my experience it can help others. I am eternally grateful to Nate’s surgeon (same dr for both back and foot) for all he has done to help our son live the active life he loves!
Best to all,
Cara
(The rest of the pics are on the next post below, bc of size limitations)
Nate was diagnosed with scoliosis in August 2007 when he was 11. I had noticed a curve before that, but naively believed that “lots of kids had scoliosis and that it would be just fine” that had been the history I had seen of friends, my sister, and my husband even told me the same of his brother. (Nate had pain in his thoracic region of his back from the time he was 8 years old ~ I believe this was when his curve began to progress, but an mri only showed mild scoli at that time)
At age 11, the pediatrician determined by scoliometer, and x-ray that Nate should be further evaluated, and I learned that he had a thoracic curve of 38 degrees. Nate pretty quickly decided that bracing was not for him, and both my husband and I agreed that he had very little chance of being brace compliant through college (which is what we were told was a likely scenario bc Dad is 6Ft 5 in. and grew until age 21). We were then told about a procedure called vertebral body stapling which Children’s Hospital Boston was ready to begin selecting candidates for. The doctors we spoke with were very encouraged by the results that had been seen with other patients, and felt VBS could be an effective treatment for Nate’s scoli.
Nate had VBS in December 2007 at Boston Children’s Hospital. He was out of school for 3 weeks (the last week he definitely could have returned to school but it was the Christmas Vacation). He was playing full contact hockey, and snowboarding before two months post –op. Looking back, I would say he was not 100% but he really wanted to be “back to normal” and there was no medical reason to keep him down. I think that his mental toughness and love for physical activity helped him pushed himself back to participating in everything he loved to do. Over the next 6 months, we saw Nate begin struggling with upper back pain again, and the x-rays were discouraging. His curve ended up returning to almost pre-vbs levels, and he developed a trunk shift. I felt horrible that he had gone through surgery “for nothing” but fortunately had other parents who kept reminding me that the REAL goal of VBS is to maintain the curve, and keep it from progressing, that at 35 degrees he would not need fusion which was our ultimate goal in treatment (either bracing or VBS). We tried PT for about 2 months but the pain continued and his curve progressed. He ultimately developed a trunk shift that really concerned us, as well as his surgeon. We got a second opinion from Dr. Betz who recommended that Nate try bracing again. Both doctors told us that trunk shifts can often improve with bracing, unlike the stats for seeing long term correction with a typical scoli curve.
We battled with Nate for almost 8 months to wear his brace, and then he had an unfortunate snowboarding accident. He completely shattered his heel when he fell over 20 feet straight down (the staples and his back were fine!). This required surgery (8 screws & a plate) and a recovery that was much longer than VBS. He was in a wheel chair for 3 months, and then crutches, and a “boot” for 3 more months. For obvious reasons, we put the back brace fight on the back burner during this time, and he completely stopped wearing it. His trunk shift had markedly improved from the brace by this time.
As we went for heel xrays, the spine xrays were also continued and amazingly we saw Nate’s back start to improve. Nate went through a big growth spurt during this time, and the staples did what we had all hoped for, his spine began to straighten, and the pain/tightness disappeared. Each time we went for xrays, the numbers were lower, and his overall balance (trunk shift) improved drastically.
As they say a picture is worth a million words so I have attached several xrays to show you Nate’s VBS success story. Nate still has one more surgery ahead of him this fall for his heel injury, but in the mean time is enjoying every day to the fullest, and having a great time this summer, golfing, surfing, and fishing……..brace free! Nate still has a lot of growth ahead of him, and I will update here again from time to time to let you know how he is doing. I know there are many members here who are interested in the VBS stories, and I hope by sharing my experience it can help others. I am eternally grateful to Nate’s surgeon (same dr for both back and foot) for all he has done to help our son live the active life he loves!
Best to all,
Cara
(The rest of the pics are on the next post below, bc of size limitations)
Comment