
Originally Posted by
LokanasDad
My son was diagnosed with Scoliosis two years ago. He missed his checkup last year because we were without insurance due to job loss and we went Monday for a check up with his Orthopedic doctor. I made the appointment when I took him to get some dress clothes and saw that his curve had progressed. He usually wears loose fitting clothes, jackets, etc. and we had not seen it progressing. When we were there last, he was 17 degrees and the doctor thought there may be some progression but not a lot as boys do not usually progress, etc. Well, he is at 50 degrees and will have to have surgery at 15.
I'm sorry to hear it. Welcome to the forum.
To top it off, my mother called my wife and chewed her out that it was all our fault, we should have been watching it more closely.
Watching a curve, getting radiographs every day even, isn't going to stop it. Nor is there any guarantee that any conservative treatment (bracing, PT, etc.) would have prevented your son's curve from progressing. There is NO evidence you missed any boat here. Your son is right at a surgery trigger angle. Still, they could fix him even if he had a much larger curve.
These comments from family members who don't have a single clue about a damn thing are worse than unhelpful. They are hurtful for no reason.
So, can anyone tell us what to expect? We live in Jax FL and our doctor is supposed to be one of the best in town, but we have had family members suggest contacting shriners. How hard is it to get your child into shriners? Is it a quick process or a slow process? How do we prepare him for the necessity of the surgery?
I second this suggestion.
And how do we stop kicking ourselves for not doing without something else so that he could have gone to his doctor appointment?
There is no good evidence that suggests catching the curve sooner might have avoided progression to 50*. How's that for consolation? The jury is out on bracing efficacy.
Hope that helped.
Sharon, mother of identical twin girls with scoliosis
No island of sanity.
Question: What do you call alternative medicine that works?
Answer: Medicine
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