Re: new here,looking for a doc. 1 twin has scoliosis

[Guest guest]

Hi

Nice to " meet " you! You have come to the right place for help and

support!

I'm sure you will get loads of good advice here... I know there are

a couple of mums on this board with twins who I'm sure will answer

your questions.

I just want to give you my " 2 cents " - And that would be to take

your little guy to a Pediatric Orthopedist, who specializes in

scoliosis.

I'm afraid I don't live in the US (I'm up in Canada), so not sure

how your Insurance works - But I would HIGHLY recommend contacting

the Shriner's Hospital. Not only is their treatment free, but they

do specialize in children and Orthopedic Issues.

I've gotta run, so will let others here, with their wealth of

knowledge help you.

Jacki

>

> Hello Everyone,

>

> My name is , I am brand new to this, and I posted the

> following letter on the scoliosis.org forum. I got some helpful

> replies there especially about shriners. I thought I would also

post

> here as a way to introduce myself and situation.

>

> I first saw my son Keegan, walking with a tilt at age 11 mos. I

then

> striped him down to look at his back and saw a curve. I was so

> shocked that I had not noticed before! He had x-rays right away

that

> confirmed scoliosis. I did not know enough to ask the degree. I

have

> since deduced that it was between 10-20 degrees. That was about

8mos

> ago; I can feel that it is worse now and maybe twisting inward a

bit.

> Insurance has finally approved seeing a specialist, we go

February10.

> I'm not sure that the specialist really will be

> a " specialist " . We are seeing Thao Duong MD. A Physical Medicine

and

> Rehabilitation doctor (PM & R). She works at Santa Clara Valley

Medical

> Center in California. I read her bio. And it says she specializes

in

> head injuries. This is who our pediatrician referred us to, I

don't

> know if it's because she's good, or if our low income insurance

> program will not cover anyone else. We already have to go to the

next

> county, as Santa Cruz county does not seam to have anyone who

works

> with toddlers.

> One odd thing about all this is my son has an identical

twin

> brother who is fine no curve at all and is actually taller and

> heavier. At birth the pediatrition predicted that the smaller baby

> would catch up in size. The oppisit has happened. Conley the

bigger

> healthy baby is getting bigger and bigger while Keegan grows but

> falls further and further behind. I can't find anything on the net

> about only one identical twin having scoliosis. Its very hard to

> watch one boy with a perfect body, while his brother that should

be

> perfect lags behind and struggles to achieve his physical

abilities.

> I fear no mater what treatment Keegan ends up needing, he will

feel

> resentment that his twin was born strong and healthy, while he has

to

> suffer in one way or another. I would very much love to hear from

or

> about other twins. I welcome all ideas and suggestions people have

> for me. Thanks for reading. Best wishes for your own situations!

>

> Sincerely,

>

> Mama to 5 boys ages 12, 9, 4, 20mos, and 20 mos.

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Tifffany,

You definitely want to see someone who is a pediatric orthopedist that specializes in INFANTILE scoliosis. There are very few of those docs out there. I would highly recommend Shriners and not just because they are free (that's just an added bonus). The docs there and the entire staff are just incredible. I don't have enough good things to say about them and how well they are taking care of my son. If finances are an issue for you, places like Miracle Flights and Angel Flights can fly you for free. Also, Shriners has free parent housing that you can stay in during your visits.

Has Keegan had an MRI yet? Do you know if it is congenital or idiopathic yet? The treatment you get for him will depend on the type of scoliosis he has. If it is idiopathic, I urge you to look into the casting program they have at the Salt Lake City Shriners. If it is congenital, Dr. Betz in Philly is a good person to see regarding VEPTR. Not sure if there is another Shriners closer to you that might do VEPTR. I am sure someone here will know the answer to that question.

Also, there are a couple of people here that have twins with just one having the scoliosis.

Noelle (12-2-01)Ian (8-15-04)

new here,looking for a doc. 1 twin has scoliosis

Hello Everyone,My name is , I am brand new to this, and I posted the following letter on the scoliosis.org forum. I got some helpful replies there especially about shriners. I thought I would also post here as a way to introduce myself and situation. I first saw my son Keegan, walking with a tilt at age 11 mos. I then striped him down to look at his back and saw a curve. I was so shocked that I had not noticed before! He had x-rays right away that confirmed scoliosis. I did not know enough to ask the degree. I have since deduced that it was between 10-20 degrees. That was about 8mos ago; I can feel that it is worse now and maybe twisting inward a bit. Insurance has finally approved seeing a specialist, we go February10. I'm not sure that the specialist really will be a "specialist". We are seeing Thao Duong MD. A Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation doctor (PM & R). She works at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in California. I read her bio. And it says she specializes in head injuries. This is who our pediatrician referred us to, I don't know if it's because she's good, or if our low income insurance program will not cover anyone else. We already have to go to the next county, as Santa Cruz county does not seam to have anyone who works with toddlers. One odd thing about all this is my son has an identical twin brother who is fine no curve at all and is actually taller and heavier. At birth the pediatrition predicted that the smaller baby would catch up in size. The oppisit has happened. Conley the bigger healthy baby is getting bigger and bigger while Keegan grows but falls further and further behind. I can't find anything on the net about only one identical twin having scoliosis. Its very hard to watch one boy with a perfect body, while his brother that should be perfect lags behind and struggles to achieve his physical abilities. I fear no mater what treatment Keegan ends up needing, he will feel resentment that his twin was born strong and healthy, while he has to suffer in one way or another. I would very much love to hear from or about other twins. I welcome all ideas and suggestions people have for me. Thanks for reading. Best wishes for your own situations!Sincerely, Mama to 5 boys ages 12, 9, 4, 20mos, and 20 mos.

[Guest guest]

Hi , Tawney is on this group sometimes and she has identical twin boys, one with scoliosis and one not. They are georgous and I know Tyler's curve has been almost completely cured with serial plaster casts. When Dr Mehta was in SLC last May, she spoke about the phenomena of one of a set of twins, (usually boys) having infantile scoliosis and she said while it is not really documented, it is certainly something she has seen again and again in her lifetime study of infantile scoliosis. I echo the other people saying ring shriners in SLC and organize an evaluation for your son. You need to do this as soon as possible as you have the best chance of successful treatment the younger you start. Good luck Bert and Bridget Salinas <mamashu_youre_a_genius@...> wrote: Hello Everyone,My name is , I am brand new to this, and I posted the following letter on the scoliosis.org forum. I got some helpful replies there especially about shriners. I thought I would also post here as a way to introduce myself and situation. I first saw my son Keegan, walking with a tilt at age 11 mos. I then striped him down to look at his back and saw a curve. I was so shocked that I had not noticed before! He had x-rays right away that confirmed scoliosis. I did not know enough to ask the degree. I have since deduced that it was between 10-20 degrees. That was about 8mos ago; I can feel that it is worse now and maybe twisting inward a bit. Insurance has finally approved seeing a specialist, we go February10. I'm not sure that the specialist really will be a "specialist". We are seeing

Thao Duong MD. A Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation doctor (PM & R). She works at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in California. I read her bio. And it says she specializes in head injuries. This is who our pediatrician referred us to, I don't know if it's because she's good, or if our low income insurance program will not cover anyone else. We already have to go to the next county, as Santa Cruz county does not seam to have anyone who works with toddlers. One odd thing about all this is my son has an identical twin brother who is fine no curve at all and is actually taller and heavier. At birth the pediatrition predicted that the smaller baby would catch up in size. The oppisit has happened. Conley the bigger healthy baby is getting bigger and bigger while Keegan grows but falls further and further behind. I can't find anything on the net about only one identical twin having scoliosis. Its

very hard to watch one boy with a perfect body, while his brother that should be perfect lags behind and struggles to achieve his physical abilities. I fear no mater what treatment Keegan ends up needing, he will feel resentment that his twin was born strong and healthy, while he has to suffer in one way or another. I would very much love to hear from or about other twins. I welcome all ideas and suggestions people have for me. Thanks for reading. Best wishes for your own situations!Sincerely, Mama to 5 boys ages 12, 9, 4, 20mos, and 20 mos. __________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Hi and welcome! Wow five boys. You must me supermom! I find your situation VERY interesting. I also have twin boys. One with scoliosis and the other without, however, my boys are not identical. Even though docs will say scoliosis is not a positional thing, I still feel it is a possibility. Especially when one of the identical twins has it and the other doesn't. What an interesting study that would be. If Keegan gets the appropriate tx, he will be just like his brother. But, I know what you mean to watch one excel and the other fall behind. My boys are only 10 months, and Cole with the cast is just learning to crawl, while Jack is almost walking. Cole tries so hard to keep up with him and just can't. But I know in the next 1-2 years they'll be running and chasing each other as if nothing ever happened. Anyways, Keegan is still at a young age where the serial casting that is done at Shriner's would still produce amazing results. Two and under is the best

time to start. But, it has to be idiopathic for this type of casting. Has Keegan had an MRI yet? Do you know if he has idiopathic or congential scoliosis? That would be the first info you need to come up with a treatment plan. How did you deduct that it is between 10-20 degrees? I am surprised that you noticed it at that small of a curve. Here is the some contact info for Shriners in Salt Lake. That would be the closest of the two to you. (the other in Erie, PA) www.shrinershq.org/shc/intermountain 1-800-237-5055. However, I have heard they are scheduling far and getting alittle backed up with new scoli kids. You might want to try Erie if the wait is too long (If you decide to give Shriners a try).Like others have said, it is free, and in my opinion the best place for infantile idiopathic scoli. Also, if you go to a local specilaist, tell your ped. to refer you to at least an

orthopedic surg., if not an ortho surg. who specializes in peds. with a spine background. Please feel welcome to ask questions, share your stories, etc. Everyone here is so nice and helpful. Good luck. Salinas <mamashu_youre_a_genius@...> wrote: Hello Everyone,My name is , I am brand new to this, and I posted the following letter on the scoliosis.org forum. I got some helpful replies there especially about shriners. I thought I would also post here as a way to introduce myself and situation. I first saw my son Keegan, walking with a tilt at age 11 mos. I then striped him down to look at his back and saw a curve. I was so shocked that I had not noticed before! He had x-rays right away that confirmed scoliosis. I did not know enough to ask the degree. I

have since deduced that it was between 10-20 degrees. That was about 8mos ago; I can feel that it is worse now and maybe twisting inward a bit. Insurance has finally approved seeing a specialist, we go February10. I'm not sure that the specialist really will be a "specialist". We are seeing Thao Duong MD. A Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation doctor (PM & R). She works at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in California. I read her bio. And it says she specializes in head injuries. This is who our pediatrician referred us to, I don't know if it's because she's good, or if our low income insurance program will not cover anyone else. We already have to go to the next county, as Santa Cruz county does not seam to have anyone who works with toddlers. One odd thing about all this is my son has an identical twin brother who is fine no curve at all and is actually taller

and heavier. At birth the pediatrition predicted that the smaller baby would catch up in size. The oppisit has happened. Conley the bigger healthy baby is getting bigger and bigger while Keegan grows but falls further and further behind. I can't find anything on the net about only one identical twin having scoliosis. Its very hard to watch one boy with a perfect body, while his brother that should be perfect lags behind and struggles to achieve his physical abilities. I fear no mater what treatment Keegan ends up needing, he will feel resentment that his twin was born strong and healthy, while he has to suffer in one way or another. I would very much love to hear from or about other twins. I welcome all ideas and suggestions people have for me. Thanks for reading. Best wishes for your own situations!Sincerely, Mama to 5 boys ages 12, 9, 4, 20mos, and 20

mos.

Autos. Looking for a sweet ride? Get pricing, reviews, more on new and used cars.

[Guest guest]

Hi TIffany - I also have a set of twins, however mine are girls (8 mos.). One was diagnosed at 4 mos. with a 35-40 degree curve and we were told at that time that her sister too had a touch of it but the curve was so minor they would just monitor it. Evanlee is now getting ready to go into her 3rd cast and the x-rays she just had last week show her curve down to around 5. Her sister is (the one being monitored) was x-rayed again and her spine is completely straight. They think it was just the way she was laying when her first x-rays were taken and the fact that she was so young and squirmy. So therefore, we have one twin with scoli and one without. I know when I was first told I got so upset because all I could picture was is playing sports and being in different activities and her sister Evanlee sitting next to me just watching. When I got home I looked on the internet for famous people with scoli and come to find

out there are Olympic swimmers, gymnast, etc. with it. So our little ones do have hope. I too have been told that the earlier it is treated the better because as infants and toddlers their spines still have so much growing to do. We are blessed with the success we have had so far, going from 35-40 degrees to 5 in just 4 months. That is of course, in casts. In April she will have her third cast removed and put into a brace for Spring and Summer. Depending on how she does in the brace will determine future casting. Our Ortho says it just might be a cat and mouse game with straightening her as much as possible through Fall and Winter with casts and bracing for Spring and Summer. He does of course, keep bringing up the comments that the casting could correct her eventually or if nothing else we are being able to prolonging the surgery till she is older. We are very lucky that our girls are still so young and hopefully will be

done with all this soon enough that she won't even remember anything. I too would suggest getting him evaluated by an Ortho Surgeon who has experience with infantile scoli as soon as possible. And stick with this group these parents will load you with more information and support then you can possibly imagine. Our twins were born at 36 weeks and I do find that the one that doesn't have scoli is developing at the rate of a full term baby and the one with scoli seems to be about a month behind (as alot of preemies do). The one with scoli is also the bigger one and has been since birth. By the way, we also have a big family (6), 4 girls, 2 boys. Our prayers are with you and your family. , mom of Evanlee & is (8 mos.) Baird <michelle_r_baird@...> wrote: Hi and welcome! Wow five boys. You must me supermom! I find your situation VERY interesting. I also have twin boys. One with scoliosis and the other without, however, my boys are not identical. Even though docs will say scoliosis is not a positional thing, I still feel it is a possibility. Especially when one of the identical twins has it and the other doesn't. What an interesting study that would be. If Keegan gets the appropriate tx, he will be just like his brother. But, I know what you mean to watch one excel and the other fall behind. My boys are only 10 months, and Cole with the cast is just learning to crawl, while Jack is almost walking. Cole tries so hard to keep up with him and just can't. But I know in the next 1-2 years they'll be running and chasing each other as if nothing ever happened. Anyways, Keegan is still at a young age where the serial casting that is

done at Shriner's would still produce amazing results. Two and under is the best time to start. But, it has to be idiopathic for this type of casting. Has Keegan had an MRI yet? Do you know if he has idiopathic or congential scoliosis? That would be the first info you need to come up with a treatment plan. How did you deduct that it is between 10-20 degrees? I am surprised that you noticed it at that small of a curve. Here is the some contact info for Shriners in Salt Lake. That would be the closest of the two to you. (the other in Erie, PA) www.shrinershq.org/shc/intermountain 1-800-237-5055. However, I have heard they are scheduling far and getting alittle backed up with new scoli kids. You might want to try Erie if the wait is too long (If you decide to give Shriners a try).Like others have said, it is free, and in my opinion the best place for infantile idiopathic scoli. Also, if

you go to a local specilaist, tell your ped. to refer you to at least an orthopedic surg., if not an ortho surg. who specializes in peds. with a spine background. Please feel welcome to ask questions, share your stories, etc. Everyone here is so nice and helpful. Good luck. Salinas <mamashu_youre_a_genius@...> wrote: Hello Everyone,My name is , I am brand new to this, and I posted the following letter on the scoliosis.org forum. I got some helpful replies there especially about shriners. I thought I would also post here as a way to introduce myself and situation. I first saw my son Keegan, walking with a tilt at age 11 mos. I then striped him down to look at his back and saw a curve. I was so shocked that I had not noticed before! He had x-rays right away

that confirmed scoliosis. I did not know enough to ask the degree. I have since deduced that it was between 10-20 degrees. That was about 8mos ago; I can feel that it is worse now and maybe twisting inward a bit. Insurance has finally approved seeing a specialist, we go February10. I'm not sure that the specialist really will be a "specialist". We are seeing Thao Duong MD. A Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation doctor (PM & R). She works at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in California. I read her bio. And it says she specializes in head injuries. This is who our pediatrician referred us to, I don't know if it's because she's good, or if our low income insurance program will not cover anyone else. We already have to go to the next county, as Santa Cruz county does not seam to have anyone who works with toddlers. One odd thing about all this is my son has an

identical twin brother who is fine no curve at all and is actually taller and heavier. At birth the pediatrition predicted that the smaller baby would catch up in size. The oppisit has happened. Conley the bigger healthy baby is getting bigger and bigger while Keegan grows but falls further and further behind. I can't find anything on the net about only one identical twin having scoliosis. Its very hard to watch one boy with a perfect body, while his brother that should be perfect lags behind and struggles to achieve his physical abilities. I fear no mater what treatment Keegan ends up needing, he will feel resentment that his twin was born strong and healthy, while he has to suffer in one way or another. I would very much love to hear from or about other twins. I welcome all ideas and suggestions people have for me. Thanks for reading. Best wishes for your own situations!Sincerely,

Mama to 5 boys ages 12, 9, 4, 20mos, and 20 mos. Autos. Looking for a sweet ride? Get pricing, reviews, & more on new and used cars. Jim and Abercrombie

Autos. Looking for a sweet ride? Get pricing, reviews, more on new and used cars.

[Guest guest]

Hello Everyone,

I'm thrilled to meet so many great people, and so quickly!

You have all made me feel so much better. My son's prognosis does not

seem so bad after hearing many good possibilities.

To try and answer some of the questions you all have asked I'll spell

out a few more details. And please bare with me, I'm dyslexic and

where the spell checker helps immensely, my grammar is still awful!

Keegan has not had an MRI, the doctor never mentioned a word about

them.

I also do not know which kind of scoliosis he has; I only just

learned that there is a difference. The more I learn the more I feel

our Doctor let us down.

Keegan had X-rays in Aug. 05, I got the time line a bit messed up in

my first post. I was only told that it came back positive for

scoliosis. I was not told a degree. I was then referred by my doctor

to " California children's services " because we had medi-cal at the

time this was mandatory. It took about 2 months for them to deny us

coverage, because Keegan's curve was not over 20 degrees which was

there criteria. This is how I figured Keegan was between 10 and 20

degrees at that time. I read on a web sight that you had to have at

least a 10 degree curve to have scoliosis.

Since all that took place; I have got Keegan and his brothers on

to " Blue Cross " through " Healthy Families " A California program. On

Monday I plan to call my family Doctor and ask if he can schedule

Keegan for current x-rays and maybe an MRI. I don't know if he'll

actually do it, but I figure the more info I have on hand when going

to our Feb. 10th appointment, the sooner we can discuss treatment

options.

I called the hospital our appointment is at to learn more about the

doctor we will see, they told me I might not see the doctor on my

referral but will be evaluated by whichever doctor is available at

our time slot. Oh well, I see this as the first step to finding the

right help, not our resting point.

We live in the Ben Lomond Mountains in Santa Cruz County Calif. It is

a 1 and a half hour drive to San Francisco and perhaps 3-4 hours to

the shriners in Sacramento. I think I could get to Utah in a day and

a half of driving. This all makes finding good quality treatment seem

more possible, yeah!

If I forgot to answer something please write back. This wealth of

support and information is just amazing! I'm so grateful to have

found you all. I hope soon I'll be reporting good things to help

future members also feel better and find there treatment path.

Thank you all so much!

>

> Hello Everyone,

>

> My name is , I am brand new to this, and I posted the

> following letter on the scoliosis.org forum. I got some helpful

> replies there especially about shriners. I thought I would also

post

> here as a way to introduce myself and situation.

>

> I first saw my son Keegan, walking with a tilt at age 11 mos. I

then

> striped him down to look at his back and saw a curve. I was so

> shocked that I had not noticed before! He had x-rays right away

that

> confirmed scoliosis. I did not know enough to ask the degree. I

have

> since deduced that it was between 10-20 degrees. That was about

8mos

> ago; I can feel that it is worse now and maybe twisting inward a

bit.

> Insurance has finally approved seeing a specialist, we go

February10.

> I'm not sure that the specialist really will be

> a " specialist " . We are seeing Thao Duong MD. A Physical Medicine

and

> Rehabilitation doctor (PM & R). She works at Santa Clara Valley

Medical

> Center in California. I read her bio. And it says she specializes

in

> head injuries. This is who our pediatrician referred us to, I don't

> know if it's because she's good, or if our low income insurance

> program will not cover anyone else. We already have to go to the

next

> county, as Santa Cruz county does not seam to have anyone who works

> with toddlers.

> One odd thing about all this is my son has an identical twin

> brother who is fine no curve at all and is actually taller and

> heavier. At birth the pediatrition predicted that the smaller baby

> would catch up in size. The oppisit has happened. Conley the bigger

> healthy baby is getting bigger and bigger while Keegan grows but

> falls further and further behind. I can't find anything on the net

> about only one identical twin having scoliosis. Its very hard to

> watch one boy with a perfect body, while his brother that should be

> perfect lags behind and struggles to achieve his physical

abilities.

> I fear no mater what treatment Keegan ends up needing, he will feel

> resentment that his twin was born strong and healthy, while he has

to

> suffer in one way or another. I would very much love to hear from

or

> about other twins. I welcome all ideas and suggestions people have

> for me. Thanks for reading. Best wishes for your own situations!

>

> Sincerely,

>

> Mama to 5 boys ages 12, 9, 4, 20mos, and 20 mos.

>

[Guest guest]

,

An MRI is an absolute MUST. That is how you determine whether it is congenital or idiopathic. They also need to check for a tethered spinal cord. These things must be determined before a treatment plan can be put in place. It would be negligent of your doctor to deny an MRI. If he has not had a set of x-rays since August, he needs another set of films to see if he has progressed at all. You need to ask for the Cobb angle (degree of the curve) and the RVAD (this number will tell you how likely the scoliosis is to progress). If the RVAD is over 20 degrees, there is a good chance that it will progress. Also, ask how much rotation there is...Ian's RVAD was borderline as to whether he'd progress, but he had 45 degrees of rotation which indicated he would progress and he did.

If he is progressive and it is idiopathic, I highly encourage you to look at the Shriners in SLC. They are the closest place to you that does the casting. If travel is an issue, places like Miracle Flights and Angel Flights can provide free air travel.

If it turns out to be congenital, the Shriners in Philadelphia may be the way to go for your son. Some other people on the board may know of a place closer to you, but that is all that I know of that provides free medical treatment for congenital scoliosis (they do the VEPTR there).

Good luck and be sure to update after you talk to the doc on Monday.

Noelle (12-2-01)Ian (8-15-04)

Re: new here,looking for a doc. 1 twin has scoliosis

Hello Everyone,I'm thrilled to meet so many great people, and so quickly!You have all made me feel so much better. My son's prognosis does not seem so bad after hearing many good possibilities.To try and answer some of the questions you all have asked I'll spell out a few more details. And please bare with me, I'm dyslexic and where the spell checker helps immensely, my grammar is still awful!Keegan has not had an MRI, the doctor never mentioned a word about them. I also do not know which kind of scoliosis he has; I only just learned that there is a difference. The more I learn the more I feel our Doctor let us down.Keegan had X-rays in Aug. 05, I got the time line a bit messed up in my first post. I was only told that it came back positive for scoliosis. I was not told a degree. I was then referred by my doctor to "California children's services" because we had medi-cal at the time this was mandatory. It took about 2 months for them to deny us coverage, because Keegan's curve was not over 20 degrees which was there criteria. This is how I figured Keegan was between 10 and 20 degrees at that time. I read on a web sight that you had to have at least a 10 degree curve to have scoliosis. Since all that took place; I have got Keegan and his brothers on to "Blue Cross" through "Healthy Families" A California program. On Monday I plan to call my family Doctor and ask if he can schedule Keegan for current x-rays and maybe an MRI. I don't know if he'll actually do it, but I figure the more info I have on hand when going to our Feb. 10th appointment, the sooner we can discuss treatment options.I called the hospital our appointment is at to learn more about the doctor we will see, they told me I might not see the doctor on my referral but will be evaluated by whichever doctor is available at our time slot. Oh well, I see this as the first step to finding the right help, not our resting point.We live in the Ben Lomond Mountains in Santa Cruz County Calif. It is a 1 and a half hour drive to San Francisco and perhaps 3-4 hours to the shriners in Sacramento. I think I could get to Utah in a day and a half of driving. This all makes finding good quality treatment seem more possible, yeah!If I forgot to answer something please write back. This wealth of support and information is just amazing! I'm so grateful to have found you all. I hope soon I'll be reporting good things to help future members also feel better and find there treatment path.Thank you all so much!>> Hello Everyone,> > My name is , I am brand new to this, and I posted the > following letter on the scoliosis.org forum. I got some helpful > replies there especially about shriners. I thought I would also post > here as a way to introduce myself and situation. > > I first saw my son Keegan, walking with a tilt at age 11 mos. I then > striped him down to look at his back and saw a curve. I was so > shocked that I had not noticed before! He had x-rays right away that > confirmed scoliosis. I did not know enough to ask the degree. I have > since deduced that it was between 10-20 degrees. That was about 8mos > ago; I can feel that it is worse now and maybe twisting inward a bit. > Insurance has finally approved seeing a specialist, we go February10.> I'm not sure that the specialist really will be > a "specialist". We are seeing Thao Duong MD. A Physical Medicine and > Rehabilitation doctor (PM & R). She works at Santa Clara Valley Medical > Center in California. I read her bio. And it says she specializes in > head injuries. This is who our pediatrician referred us to, I don't > know if it's because she's good, or if our low income insurance > program will not cover anyone else. We already have to go to the next > county, as Santa Cruz county does not seam to have anyone who works > with toddlers.> One odd thing about all this is my son has an identical twin > brother who is fine no curve at all and is actually taller and > heavier. At birth the pediatrition predicted that the smaller baby > would catch up in size. The oppisit has happened. Conley the bigger > healthy baby is getting bigger and bigger while Keegan grows but > falls further and further behind. I can't find anything on the net > about only one identical twin having scoliosis. Its very hard to > watch one boy with a perfect body, while his brother that should be > perfect lags behind and struggles to achieve his physical abilities. > I fear no mater what treatment Keegan ends up needing, he will feel > resentment that his twin was born strong and healthy, while he has to > suffer in one way or another. I would very much love to hear from or > about other twins. I welcome all ideas and suggestions people have > for me. Thanks for reading. Best wishes for your own situations!> > Sincerely,> > Mama to 5 boys ages 12, 9, 4, 20mos, and 20 mos.>

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[Guest guest]

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[Guest guest]

Shellie,

For some reason I thought you guys lived in Texas and that you didn't have

far to drive. I have no idea what made me think that. sounds like

how my parents thought, my grand ma used to live in Kansas and we would

drive from Wisconsin, we would get up before the birds did and take off, my

dad used to say that there is nothing to look at on the trip. When I got

older I understood what he meant.

Good luck on the drive and with the surgery.

Betty

Madison, WI