is there any option?

[anna]

One of Five1 - Am I in pain?

Not quite, except when I do some household chores but I still can manage. What bothers me is what the doctor told me that as of now, hopefully my curve will not get worse, but as I age, my bones will get weak and that could worsen my condition. I'm really depressed because what will happen when I get old? How can I move? I just hope advance techniques will be introduced here in the Philippines. And if ASCO Therapy will work for you, I hope that you can talk to them to introduce their kind of treatment here in the Philippines. Thank you and I hope to hear from you soon. I wish your scoliosis will be treated w/out having surgery.

[anna]

One of Five1 - Am I in pain?

Not quite, except when I do some household chores but I still can manage. What bothers me is what the doctor told me that as of now, hopefully my curve will not get worse, but as I age, my bones will get weak and that could worsen my condition. I'm really depressed because what will happen when I get old? How can I move? I just hope advance techniques will be introduced here in the Philippines. And if ASCO Therapy will work for you, I hope that you can talk to them to introduce their kind of treatment here in the Philippines. Thank you and I hope to hear from you soon. I wish your scoliosis will be treated w/out having surgery.

[jennyc]

To lbas/Laura

I had 2 surgeries this year, the first one in January, the second one in March, at the age of 31. I was out of work for 6 weeks after the first surgery and 4 weeks after the second surgery. It was tough, but I have no regrets. I would be happy to discuss my experience in greater detail. Feel free to e-mail.

[Karen Ocker]

scoliosis

Anna:
Send me an e-mail.
Karen

[OneofFive1]

anna,
I'm not sure if they are ever going to open an ASCO center in Philippines, but they have a few in diffrent states. It says on the website where they are.

[claire]

hi anna! i'm claire from the phiippines. i'm 24 years old and i also have scoliosis since i was a teenager. Now, the curve at my back got worse. please inform me if you have an update regarding latest treatment procedures in the phils. I really have a hard time dealing with this. I would really appreciate your response.

[trinainmanila]

Good news for Filipino scoliosis patients...

...you can have scoliosis surgery here in the Philippines, without you having to rob a bank to get treatment abroad. There's an orthopedic surgeon at the Philippine General Hospital, Dr. Rafael Bundoc, who has made it his life's work to "Filipinize" scoliosis surgery. As we all know, modern scoliosis surgery had been developed in Western countries with mostly Caucasian patients. Dr. Bundoc devised techniques and technology more adapted to the smaller frame of the Filipino and undertaken right here on our soil--cutting not only physical pain and discomfort and recuperation time, but also costs. No need to doubt his capabilities--he belongs to the teaching staff of the University of the Philippines' College of Medicine, has been trained in five prestigious universities in two continents, and has won many awards, the Ten Outstanding Young Men award included, for his contribution to the science of orthopedics. Contact or visit the PGH for his clinic hours.

[trinainmanila]

I have scoliosis, too...

I started with about 17 degrees when I was in my young teens. I wore a Milwaukee brace in high school and through my first two years in college. Strangers, meaning to be kind, asked me if I had an accident or needed help all the time, and kids approached me to ask if I was a robot, but I never had any negative experiences wearing a brace. Aside from the musty smell and the extreme discomfort, of course. (It also helped that in my high school, four girls were wearing spinal braces at the time so I wasn't an oddity.) However, my brace wasn't a good fit and I cheated a lot (not wearing it 23 hours a day) so by the time I graduated from college my scoliosis had worsened. At 25 years old, when I was one month pregnant, it was 45 degrees. At 30 years old (right now), I fear I have developed a complication, cervical kyphosis.

My uncle, a doctor in the USA, wanted to bring me back to his hospital for surgery when we first found out I had scoliosis, but since I only had a "slight" curvature and we weren't exactly swimming in money, I stayed in the Philippines for treatment. My brace was constructed at the Philippine Orthopedic Center way back in the early 1990s, so I can only speak of that decade and my own personal experience. Let me just say that I didn't have a good experience there. I felt that the doctors were either dismissive or disinterested, and there was no clear follow-up program like the ones I see in other hospitals in the internet. To be fair, I've also more recently consulted other "famous" orthopedists in expensive private hospitals in Manila who were also dismissive and said that I had only "moderate" scoliosis and that I could drink Biogesic for the pain, end of consultation, so I'm not going to cast a negative blanket statement over the Philippine Orthopedic.

However, in retrospect, and I say this now to help young and adult scoliosis patients to save them the pain when they're older:
(1) I should have gotten second and third opinions on my case from different doctors in different hospitals.
(2) I should have researched more on orthoses (appliance) options.
(3) I SHOULD HAVE WORN MY BRACE AS INSTRUCTED.
(4) I should have persisted in finding an orthopedic specialist who would not isntantly tell me without the benefit of thorough examination that my chronic lower back pain and the clicking sounds on my neck were "nothing out of the ordinary."
(5) I should have persisted in finding orthopedic specialists who would not tell me to "Just stand up straight and maintain proper posture." (Look, I really wish I could do that, but if I did, I couldn't breathe well and my whole rib cage hurts, okay!)