spinecor

[LATigner]

Thanks for the info on stapling. My daughter is done with Spinecor, not because she finished the time but because she is 17 and tired of dealing with scoliosis treatments. She occasionally wears her brace at night but has quit the physical therapy. Her back has been stable at about 44/44 for a year or so, we have another x-ray in Feb. and we'll see if its gone up. She has no pain so far and with the balanced curves she should be ok if they don't increase.

We decided the constant fighting about wearing the brace and doing the therapy was too much stress in addition to the normal teenage stuff. At some point you have to count the emotional cost and decide if its worth it. She didn't get the Spinecor until she was 15 so I don't know how much correction we would have gotten. Initially it took the curves down 10 degrees, so it would have been great to have that correction permanently. I dearly wish we had found Spinecor when she was first diagnosed at age 12, I think it would have been very successful. Good luck to all of you with younger children.

[emarismom]

Hi all, I haven't written in awhile, but I have been following along with the thread. Tomorrow is Emily's sixth month x-ray. Needless to say I'm a BASKETCASE!! To me she looks alot better! When I make her bend over and I check her spine, the rib hump looks alot smaller (Dr. Michelle-here). Even my husband agrees it looks better. Of course getting the x-ray is the only way to prove this. Unfortunately, I have been wrong in the past, so I do realize I can't trust what I think I see. Just wish us luck and I will hopefully post a new and improved cobb angle tomorrow.

[WNCmom]

Good luck! We'll be with you in spirit.

Mary Ellen

[rtremb]

Hoping for the best for Emily for a good curve reduction.

Ruth

[jillw]

Good luck to Emily today! We haven't had our first 6 month appt. yet, but I can only imagine how I'll feel when it approaches. Let us know how it goes and I'll be thinking of Emily today.

Jill

[emarismom]

I wish that I could post happy news, but I can't. Emilys in brace xray today was 23 degrees. The last time we went it was 14 degrees. He doctor says that Emily has been pulling the base of the brace up to high and has probably not been wearing it right for the last three months. I don't know how much real progression has occured as her curve has been in the 20-25 degree range for over three years. So basically I'm not sure if I am at the same place I started at, or if she is worse because the xray was taken in the brace.

We will go back in three months for another xray.

[mariaf]

Hi Emily's Mom,

I'm so sorry to hear that you did not get the news you were hoping for. We've all experienced that feeling at one time or another and it stinks. Hopefully, things will go better next time.

[cherylplinder]

Rachel is now 40-37 in brace. Dr. Rivard recommended that we find a surgeon. I`ll keep you posted.

[jillw]

Oh Cheryl and Emily's mom...I wish the news was better.

I'm glad you will be taking Emily back in a shorter time frame for the next visit so you can keep a close eye on it. Hopefully it will go down again next visit. Did they recommend getting an out of brace xray? Hopefully out of brace is close to in brace and she still has relatively mild curves.

Cheryl, She had been doing so well-even during periods of fast growth and then this jump. I really hate scoli. Did she have another growth spurt this time? I have a pit in my stomach for you - I've already said and will continue to say prayers for you guys.

[rtremb]

Cheryl:

OMG - so very, very sorry to hear your news. My husband and I and Esme were absolutely devastated when Esme's doctor in Ottawa told us he wanted to do surgery. As you probably know we have refused his offer.

Did Dr. Rivard say anything else about why Rachael needs surgery now? Is it because of fast progression and her age? My son's curves have hovered around the same as your daughters for years but his curves did reduce as he grew taller. I was under the impression that surgery was only absolutely necessary when curves are much larger than Rachael's.

Will keep praying for you all.

Ruth

[MATJESNIC]

Cheryl,

If anyone can say they know exactly how you feel, it would be me. Get a few opinions before you start to panic. You don't know what her curves are without the Spinecor. You just know that Spinecor is no longer working for her. That doesn't mean there are no other options, right? Nicole's curve was in the 50's, so there was no other option. If she ends up needing surgery, we will all get you through this. It isn't what we want for our girls, but everything will really be okay. My thoughts and prayers are with you, as always.

[rtremb]

Emily's Mum:

Sorry your news wasn't better.

I am wondering, if the brace is too high, do the bolero elastics not work properly - is that what went wrong? Too bad you didn't know the base was too high. Hopefully it will work better if the base is in the right position.

Which doctor do you see for the Spinecor? I'd be wanting to go back sooner than the three months, if you can, just to make sure the brace is on right.

Ruth

[cherylplinder]

Melissa,
Remind me of my other options. I asked Dr. Rivard about his Orthobiom surgery. They reduced an 80 degree on a young girl in Europe to 20 degrees with the fusionless Orthobiom surgery. He said it was not available in the US. I will check into that more.
She may be a candidate for stapling, but we will have to see. Anyway, hugs to all!

Cheryl and Rachel

[MATJESNIC]

Cheryl,

I never heard of that. He didn't tell me about it. I was talking about maybe using the chenau brace. If her curves are in the 40's, you are not talking about surgery. You need to find out what her curves are out of brace. Does she have a lot of growth left? How old is she now? How is she doing emotionally with all of this?

[mariaf]

She may be a candidate for stapling, but we will have to see.

Hi Cheryl,

I"m so sorry you did not get the news you wanted. That stinks. I just wanted to add - with regard to the stapling - that depending on what Rachel's out of brace x-ray is (I assume one wasn't taken and that the 40/37 is in brace?) she could be a stapling candidate. Of course, I'm not doctor, but judging by what others were told in the past, I'd say that at 10 years old, so long as her curve was not over, say, 45 degrees she might have a good shot at qualifying.

Best of luck to you whatever you decide.