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When he rose from his chair to shake his surgeon’s hand, 17-year-old Nicholas Peters stood 4 inches taller than he had just a few months before. “Thank you for making me feel better,” Nicholas said to Dr. Michael Glotzbecker, the surgeon from the Boston Children’s Hospital Spinal Program who had operated on his spine. With a little prompting from his parents, Nicholas added, “I can bend over to play with my jeep.”
…Miranda Day: More than a diagnosis
Miranda Day was born with a rare type of congenital scoliosis and a tethered spinal cord, a condition where the spine is split into two and entwined towards the tailbone. After her first surgery in her family’s home state of California, it became clear to doctors that it wouldn’t be her last. “Scoliosis isn’t life-threatening, but it can be a detriment to your well-being,” says Day. “My parents’ goal was to give me the best quality of life and not have any setbacks physically or otherwise.”
Jordan’s Story: The scoliosis rollercoaster
I like to call life a rollercoaster; sometimes you go up, and sometimes you go down. When you’re up, you are going through parts in your life when you are happy, and when you’re down, you’re going through parts in your life that make you sad, and nothing can make you feel happy. At one point in my life, I was always riding down.
Helping your child manage scoliosis and brace-wearing
For children and adolescents who are prescribed a brace to help correct their idiopathic scoliosis, it can be a long road to straightening their curve. Bracing takes commitment and patience, but the end goal is to correct a patient’s curved spine and avoid surgical treatment.
Dr. Michael Glotzbecker, an orthopedic surgeon in the Spinal Program at Boston Children’s Hospital Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Center, and Deborah Cranford, a nurse at Boston Children’s who works closely with scoliosis patients, provide insights and tips on how parents can help their children better manage their scoliosis treatment. …