I’m Just Curious: Scoliosis

by Debbie Walker

My poor old beat up, well-used dictionary tells me scoliosis’ definition is a lateral curvature of the spine. I believe in most cases it is fixable these days. Doctors are able to say “this is what it is and this is how we fix it.”
Other than the definition of scoliosis nothing else here is technical, just a personal experience. I had never heard of it ‘til it hit my family 12 years ago. Both situations of it had positive outcomes. One was more severe than the other.

The story goes like this: my granddaughter and her friend were walking in front of their mothers at the soccer field. The girls had on crop tops and hippy huggy pants. The other mother asked my daughter, “what is wrong with Tristin’s hip?” She pointed out to her that there was a big difference from the left to the right side, waist on the right side was very curved and the left one was straight, no curve.

To make a long story short that question made a huge difference in Tristin’s life. Surgeon explained the process for repair in Tristin’s case. She required a major surgery with a six-inch steel rod with six screws. Ken’s grandson Mark several years later was diagnosed with scoliosis. His, they were able to correct with a brace worn at night time. Their conditions were very different degrees of one problem.

They caught Mark’s before it got really bad; it was caught in an exam for school. Evidently that is how it is supposed to happen. However, for Tristin it didn’t happen that way. Her curvature was moving rather fast and included a twist of the spine happening as well.

It would take a surgery and 10 months of wearing a turtle shell brace 24 hours a day. Just 10 months, not the 12 that was predicted.

All is well, both kids are walking tall and straight, no distortion as would have been years ago.

Scoliosis is a scary word. Check it out in your family. It is not something talked about much. It is something not to be ignored. After Tristin’s surgery we discovered one reason they did the surgery right away was because it was already affecting her breathing. It happened gradually so it wasn’t noticed at the time.

Go ahead, take the chance and ask the question, ask if the child in your family was checked for it. I saw Dr. [André] Nadeau’s ad in our last paper and wanted to make sure people are clear on what it is.

Thanks for reading! Hope it is helpful or better yet not a necessary thing. And as usual I’m Just Curious. Contact me at dwdaffy@yahoo.com sub. line: Scoliosis.