Hi, I'm Lacey's Mom, Holly. Lacey was diagnosed with juvenile scoliosis at 10 years old. Her school nurse sent a note home alerting me to get her checked. She was only 9 degrees at the time. We had to take her for a check up every year. When she was 12, her curves increased to 28T and 20L. She had to start wearing a brace 16 hours a day. She did well the first month, then summer started and she began giving me a hard time about wearing the brace. I have a lot of guilt because I didn't insist she wear the brace.

In Oct 2005, we went back to Dr. Bowe and her curves progressed to 49 T and 35 L. I was devastated. I felt so bad for not making her wear the brace. But Dr. Bowe said it was her choice. He said you can't wrestle her to the ground and force it on her. He also told me it probably wouldn't have made a difference. I think he said that to make me feel better. I told him we will never know if the brace would have worked. She had a MRI on Dec 1 2005. It showed a mild Arnold -Chiari malformation. Since it is only mild and her neuro exam is normal, it isn't a concern. We went for 2 more opinions in NYC. All the doctors agreed she has to have posterior instrumentation. We looked into the laproscoptic procedure, but her curves are too severe and both doctors in NY agreed the procedure is still not as effective as the open operation.

Lacey is scheduled for surgery on Feb 1 2006 at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, NJ. Luckily, she only has to have T5 to T12 fused. Dr. Bowe said the lower curve will correct itself to some degree. Only once did he have to go back and do additional surgery. He wants to preserve her lower lumbar if he can because she is a dancer. He would rather her wear a brace for a few months rather than fuse the lower back if possible. The other two doctors agreed.

The moral of this story is do whatever it takes to get your child to wear their brace. I will never know if the brace would have helped. Now we are faced with surgery that could possibly been avoided.

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