James was diagnosed with scoliosis when he was 5 years old. His curve at the time was 17 degrees. His orthopedist monitored it for a year until it progressed to 24 degrees. James was 6 years old and in first grade when he was fitted for his first TLSO brace.

We went through a scary time at the beginning when the doctors were trying to figure out why James had scoliosis. They thought it might be some congenital cause, and a radiologist saw something that looked like a lesion near his spinal column on an MRI. After a liver ultrasound, THREE MRIs, and a visit to a neurologist for a full neurological workup, it was determined that James had scoliosis, and nothing more.

So, the brace seemed kind of minor. We left the decision to James whether or not he wanted the brace or surgery – a big decision for a six year old, but it really ensured his commitment to the whole thing. He opted to wear the brace.

We worked with his guidance counselor and the nurse at school to prepare his classmates and teachers for his transition. When James finally started wearing his brace to school (after a few weeks of weaning into it little by little at night and on weekends), his guidance counselor did a lesson on scoliosis for the entire first grade, and all the children got to color in a worksheet to show how they would decorate their brace if they had one. James was getting stickers every day for wearing his brace the right amount of time, so his TLSO was becoming very colorful. James also named his brace – Jimmie Coo Lopez. Jimmie Coo became his buddy, and we did things like practice falling down and getting back up, and figuring out new ways to play on the trapeze.

In no time, James was used to his brace. We thought he might need modifications at school, like being able to get up and move a bit more often or going to the nurse to have his brace adjusted during the day, but he never needed any interventions. James became convinced that his brace is good luck. It doesn’t hurt as much when a ball hits him, and he swears he runs faster with it on.

After wearing the brace for almost a year, James developed an inguinal hernia and had to have an operation. I was annoyed – I said we chose to go with the brace to avoid surgery only to have to do surgery (albeit minor surgery) anyway. We don’t know for sure that the brace was the cause of the hernia, but the constant pressure had to have played a part (my reasoning). The surgeon said the inguinal sac was there from birth and that James would probably have developed a hernia at some time in his life even without the brace. So, I suppose it was better to have the surgery as a child than as an adult. The surgery went well, and James’ only complaint was that he couldn’t play soccer for several weeks afterward.

I was most worried about the fact that James would have to go for an entire month without his brace on. Luckily, x-rays after the surgery show that his curve did not progress during that time. We were lucky he didn’t do much growing then.

This year, James is more dedicated to his new brace (Jimmie Coo II) than ever. He wears it all the time except when he is swimming or taking a shower (probably 23 ½ hours on most days, except in the summer when we’re at the beach or swimming). And, believe it or not, his curve appears to be improving. Our last set of x-rays (out of brace 1 hour prior to x-ray) show that his curve is only 10 degrees!

IThis is not the end of our story. We are only in year two of ten or more years with a TLSO. But it is not nearly the lifestyle change that I thought it would be, and at this point, wearing a brace is really all that James remembers. He thinks it is weird to NOT have it on!

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