My name is Felicia. I am thirteen years old and I live on Long Island, New York.

Every year since 3rd grade I have been screened for scoliosis. In New York State, all schools are mandated by law to screen students for scoliosis in grades 3-10. When I was in grades 3-6, the nurse never told me about my "slight curvature" that she had noticed when she checked me for scoliosis. I just found out in March of 2003 that my elementary school nurse had noticed that I had a "slight curvature" and that it should be "watched". My doctors disagree with her though.

In March of 2002, when I was twelve and in the sixth grade, we had our annual scoliosis screening during gym class. After my nurse was done screening me, I asked her "Do I have scoliosis?" and she said, "No, you're fine". I only asked her this because I saw her marking something down on the card, and she said to me once that if you don't have scoliosis, she leaves the card alone.

Later on during the week in which I had been screened for scoliosis, I had my annual physical with my pediatrician, Dr. Berman. After he was done weighing and measuring me, he asked me to bend forward and touched my feet. What he told me then would affect me for the rest of my life.

He said, "Does your school nurse do the scoliosis checks?"

I replied, "Yes, just the other day during gym class we had that and she said that I was fine".

Then he said, "No Felicia, you're not 'fine'. You have scoliosis and I suggest that you go see an orthopedist as soon as you can."

I was in shock. Just the other day my nurse said I was fine. Now my doctor was saying that I had scoliosis, and he couldn't believe how my nurse didn't notice it. He pointed out that my hips are uneven, and that one of my arms seems to be longer than the other because my shoulders are slightly uneven.

In August 2002, I went to go and see an orthopedist for the first time, and his name was Dr. Hindes. When I got there, he took an x-ray of me, in which I was standing facing straight ahead, and he measured it out using his inclinometer (scoliometer). He then told me that my thoracic curve was 21° and that my lumbar curve was 32° and that I would need to treat it immediately. He then referred me to one of the doctors that is in his practice that specializes in scoliosis, named Dr. Mulhrad.

When I went to see Dr. Muhlrad in September of 2002, he told me that I would need to get fitted for bracing immediately, and that I would have to wear a Boston brace for about four to five years, sixteen hours a day. Naturally, I was pretty distressed. When I went to my orthotist in October, I got fitted for my brace. My orthotists' name is Steve and he works at H.M. Mandelbaum Orthotic & Prosthetic Services. After he was done measuring me, he told my mom and I that he would call us in about two to three weeks, when the brace would be done.

When I went back to get my brace on November 6th, I was very scared. I didn't know what to expect, because I don't know anyone who wears a Boston brace. A few minutes after my mom and I arrived there, we got called in to go into an exam room. Naturally, as you do at all doctors' offices we had to wait a few minutes before Steve came in. When he brought the brace in, I felt like crying but I knew that I had to be strong.

After he brought it in, he taught my mom how to put it on me and marked off where to tighten the straps. While he was telling my mom how to do it, I said "Tell me how to do it, my mom isn't coming to school with me if I decide to wear it there." Then he told me that I wouldn't have to wear it to school, but I could if I wanted to. After he was done telling my mom how to adjust it, he taught me how. It was pretty hard considering the fact that the straps are on my back and I couldn't really see where the marks on them were, but eventually I got it. After I finally got it on, he gave me some more body socks, so the brace wouldn't irritate my skin. As we were about to leave, he made an appointment for us to come back in about two weeks to get the brace tightened.

When I went back to see Steve on November 22, 2002, I told him how I was already up to my hours and he was glad to hear that. Then, he made some adjustments with the straps and made them tighter. This isn't exactly the most comfortable thing to have done, but you have to deal with it. Three days later, I had a follow-up appointment with my orthopedist. While I was there, he took some x-rays of me in my brace. He told me that my curve went down 8°, making it 16° when I am in my brace.

On May 7th, 2003, I had my 6-month follow-up appointment with Dr. Muhlrad. At this appointment, he only took x-rays of me out of my brace. After the x-rays were developed, and we were looking at them at the long "light board" in the hall, I could tell that my curve had gotten worse by the expression on his face while he was measuring my curve. At first he didn't say that anything was wrong, he only said that we should go back into the exam room. When we got in there, he told my mom and I that my curve lumbar curve had gone up 8°, making it a total of 40°--the cutoff for surgery. When I heard this, I started crying. I just couldn't hold it in any longer. I mean, having to be thirteen and wear a back brace hard enough, but then having to have surgery too? It just didn't seem right to me. Then I asked him "Is there anything else that you can do? Can I get a different brace?" and he said "No, the only option now is surgery, but you don't need to have it immediately." He then gave my mom the phone number of one of the surgeons that he is a partner with, and told my mom to give him a call.

Later on in the month of May, I had an appointment with Dr. Labiak. In my opinion, I think that he is a great person. He was the surgeon that performed my friend Colleen's surgery, and she told me nothing but good things about him. He told my mom and I that I would need to have surgery, and that I had a choice of anterior or posterior spinal fusion. He said that what they would do is place two metal rods on either side of my spine, along with bolts and all those fun things, and use bone graft to fuse two or more of my vertebrae discs together.

Now, it is August 2003 and other than Dr. Labiak, I have seen another surgeon named Dr. Goodman, whom isn't exactly my favorite person. I am currently still wearing my brace, but only at night time now and awaiting an appointment with Dr. Roye in NYC in October for his opinion.

Stay Tuned: Felicia will be updating her story as time goes on.

You can find Felicia on the SpineKIDS Message Boards.