Re: Question for the group - Scolio in child

September 27, 2004

Hi le...

What you do may depend on the type of insurance you have. You may be

required to take your daughter to her pediatrician for a referral.

Also, many of the most popular scoliosis specialists only take

referrals, and won't take appointments directly from the patient.

Because of your own scoliosis, both of your daughters should be

checked frequently for signs of scoliosis. You can learn how to

screen your daughters on this website:

http://www.apta.org/Consumer/ptandyourbody/scoliosis

By the way, the kidney stone may actually be related to the scoliosis:

http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic2860.htm

Good luck!

Regards,

> Hello everyone,

> I'm looking for some advice, and figured here would be the best place.

> I have two daughters, 8 & 9. My 8yo is having surgery for a kidney

> stone, and she had a pre-lim CT-scan. I was in the control booth

> when they did it. They did a torso-scan for reference and I could

> see clear as day that she had an s-curve (just like her momma!).

> Right now I'm taking care of the kidney stone problem, but my

> question is what do I now?! Do I take her to a specialist, her

> pediatrician? Is she too young to start treatment? Is there any

> treatment? I have a bar from (I believe) T1-L3. I don't want her to

> have to go through all that. Do they have any new methods if you

> catch it early? Should I assume her sister has it also? I had

> checked them both by having them bend forward, there was no

> indication.

> Anything that anyone can offer will be appreciated.

> Thanks,

> ~ le (on Long Island)

September 27, 2004

In a message dated 9/27/04 12:43:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

linda@... writes:

http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic2860.htm

, I went to the site you gave re kidney problems with scoliosis. I

thought I would tell you that, although I do not think I have horseshoe kidney,

I did have obstruction of the UPJ and had surgery in 1991 to repair it. I

ended up with stents, which also came out later. I thought the incidence of

such things was really minor but, here I am!

Carole M. (the elder)

September 27, 2004

Dear le,

I am fused from T-1 to the sacrum, and I too have a daughter with juvenille

onset scoliosis, I caught hers at age 9. She currently has a C curve at

nineteen degrees. She is now 12 and we have been watching her curve for three

years now. She has another year and a half of growing by X-ray, and our hope is

that she won't reach 25 degrees and need to be braced. I had to take her to my

family practice doc to get a referral to my surgeon who is monitoring her now.

My best advice is to get her seen by a good doc and monitor her curve closely.

With juvenille onset they have a lot of years for that curve to get bigger. I

know that I'm always worried when Ceili's six month check-up comes up, but knock

on wood, so far so good. I lucked out with my oldest daughter, she's twenty, she

doesn't have it. If you have any questions, I'm here to help!

Colorado Springs

Question for the group - Scolio in child

Hello everyone,

I'm looking for some advice, and figured here would be the best place.

I have two daughters, 8 & 9. My 8yo is having surgery for a kidney

stone, and she had a pre-lim CT-scan. I was in the control booth

when they did it. They did a torso-scan for reference and I could

see clear as day that she had an s-curve (just like her momma!).

Right now I'm taking care of the kidney stone problem, but my

question is what do I now?! Do I take her to a specialist, her

pediatrician? Is she too young to start treatment? Is there any

treatment? I have a bar from (I believe) T1-L3. I don't want her to

have to go through all that. Do they have any new methods if you

catch it early? Should I assume her sister has it also? I had

checked them both by having them bend forward, there was no

indication.

Anything that anyone can offer will be appreciated.

Thanks,

~ le (on Long Island)

Support for scoliosis-surgery veterans with Harrington Rod Malalignment

Syndrome. Not medical advice. Group does not control ads or endorse any

advertised products.

September 27, 2004

le,

You poor sweetie! My oldest daughter is now close to age 11. In June 2000 we

had her x-rayed and her curve was measured. It has progressed over the years and

we are just now taking her to see another specialist at YALE.

We've just weighed options over the years and learned about the many different

ways soliosis is now treated. Some of our info came from Spineuniverse.com as

well as The National Scoliosis Foundation. We also saw numerous doctors over the

years...spine specialists. Hubby was in the Navy so we traveled around quite a

bit during that time frame.

Just listen to what the docs tell you and find yourself a good Pediatric

Orthopaedic.

I wish your family all the best.

xoxo's

October 1, 2004

Hi, le.

I'm from a family with a lot of idiopathic scoliosis, so I was raised with a

strong scoli-awareness. Since your own case was serious enough to require

surgery, you should definitely get your 8-year-old examined by a specialist, and

have someone keep an eye on the 9-yr.-old. It may well be that the specialist

will only want to " follow " your daughter, as I guess PT isn't used as much these

days as it was when I was a kid. I would inquire about it, though, because

well-balanced exercises for the torso muscles can only help her general

wellness, if not the curvature. As you may know, the pre- and early-puberty

years are critical, as growth tends to spurt and curvatures can increase

dramatically. A brace may be considered to help slow progression during this

period.

I feel for you, as I can only imagine how it would feel to have passed the gene

along to your child. (I sure heard enough about it from my dad!)

I hope things work out for your girls, and that they don't end up needing

surgery. Of my dad's 7 kids, 5 of us have scoliosis, but only 2 of us needed

surgery, and one only needed a brace.

I have seen online that there is a new minimally invasive fusion available for

kids whose deformities meet certain criteria. (I guess the curvature can't be

too severe, for one thing.) Here's a link to the site that covers it. It

actually has a pretty good explanation of flatback syndrome (HARMS), as well.

BTW, how are YOU?

http://www.iscoliosis.com/

Sharon