A Curvy Spine

Why does it seem like everything happens to Sarah? Last March, we took her to Primary Children's to see an Orthopedic Surgeon about the curve in her spine. I hadn't noticed it until we were trying on school clothes last fall, and when she was showing me a tighter shirt, I noticed a hump on her right shoulder and that it was quite a bit higher than the other one. In the months following, I talked to the pediatrician about it being an issue, but after taking a chest x-ray for something else, he confirmed the curve, but seemed to brush it off with a "let me know if you need a referral". I told him I did. But, then nothing happened...for months. Finally, I got serious and called a back doctor myself and they got the referral they needed, but then referred me to Primary Children's instead. That's where we saw Dr. Joshua Klatt. He's so great. He confirmed that Sarah has Scoliosis, with a 30° "S" curve. Here's what her x-rays looked like...

He told us that if we can keep it from getting worse, she should be okay. If the curve is in the 30° to 45° range, a brace is needed to keep it there, and sometimes it will improve it. After adolescence, when the bones are all hardened and full height is reached, the curve stays the same. Something weird happens with curved spines over 45°. Gravity seems to work against them and the curve just keeps getting worse, even though all growth and development is past. So, we're trying to at least keep it where it is, from getting to that 45° point, and trying our hardest to avoid surgery. (The tricky thing though, is we have no idea if she is done growing or not. Dr. Klatt said her hip bone in the x-rays looked like the cartilage cap was gone, and the bones are fully developed. But, girls usually stop growing 2 years after they start their period, and she's way behind in that. So, we're going to the endochronologist to see what we can find out about hormone levels, development, and such. ...And yet another thing she'll have to deal with!) So, until we know what we're up against, she has to wear a monster of a hard plastic brace 18 hours a day, every day (and night). If you've done the math, you've realized that the 6 hours off can't be during school or all of her sleep time (each is at least 8 hours). So, we've spent the last 4 months working up to wearing it that long, and as tight as she can. We were disappointed last month when we went for a follow-up with Dr. Klatt and found out that the brace has only been improving the curve 2°. She was so frustrated, but at least it's not gotten worse. We're now working with the brace people to get it to at least a 10°-15° improvement. Apparently, they do this with extra pads, tighter straps, etc.

Sometimes she complains, sometimes she "forgets", sometimes she hurts, and sometimes I nag. But, she's trying harder to be responsible for herself, and I'm trying harder to back off and trust her to care more and do all she can. It's been yet another struggle, and yet another item on her list of hard things she has to face and deal with. It's not fair, but as she has to remind herself often, Heavenly Father knows what she can handle. Well, apparently, she can handle much more than the rest of us. Bless her little heart...and intestines, and back...