Hi, my name is Shane. I am thirteen years old and in the seventh grade. My favorite pastimes are riding four wheelers, playing basketball, running cross-country and playing on a AYSO soccer league. My all time favorite is playing x-box with my cousins. I live in the thumb of Michigan with my parents, on a small farm in the country. We own five horses and ride them often.

My life had a big change in February of 2003. When I was eleven and in the fifth grade, my mom noticed my back was starting to look curved, and the right side of my rib cage was forming a hump in the back. She took me to my pediatrician to have him look at it. He took one look and told me I had scoliosis. I was five foot three inches, which he considered tall for my age. He said I was at risk of it getting worse, because of how fast I was growing. It looked bad enough that he set up an appointment with a pediatric orthopaedic.

The very next week, I met Dr. Ira Zaltz at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. During my first visit with him, he had me go for an x-ray. He looked it over, then had me bend forward to check the deformity of my rib cage and gave me an all over check-up. He drew lines on my x-ray, and used them to take a measurement of my curve. It was at 32 degrees. He recommended that we start bracing right away, to try to stop the curve from progressing. I was to wear the brace twenty three hours a day. Now don’t get me wrong, bracing was not an easy thing to have to do. But if I wore the brace faithfully, I would have about a 60% chance of not requiring surgery. You better believe, I in no way wanted to have back surgery. I found that after a few months, the brace became something I got used to. No, I never loved to wear it, but I did.

I had to go back to the doctor every three months to have my back x-rayed. He wanted to see if the curve in my spine was progressing or hopefully staying the same. Well, every time I went, I would have growth of about one to two inches, and my curve would progress between six to seven degrees. It was said that because of my rapid phase of growth, I was at high risk for progression.

By the summer of 2004, I was five foot nine, and my curve had reached 45 degrees. Doctor told me bracing was no longer going to help me. I was going to have to have a spinal fusion to stop the progression. We set up a date for November 9, 2004. One month before surgery, I was to donate two units of blood. I went to William Beaumont Hospital of Royal Oak to give my blood because that was where I was going to have my surgery. By the time of my surgery, [which was about three and a half months after we stopped the bracing] my curve had reached 57 degrees.

The day of surgery came and I was ready to have this whole thing behind me. I can remember a really nice nurse taking me back with my mom and dad to a pre-op room. She started an IV and had it done in no time. What was really good, was she numbed the area first, so I didn’t even feel it. By the time Dr. Zaltz came in to see me, I was pretty nervous. I guess I don’t remember much that happened after that, only someone took me down a hallway into a very cold room.

I was in surgery almost six hours, but it only felt like minutes before the nurses were waking me up. Once I got to my room in PICU, my mom and dad were back with me. I had a PCA pump to control the pain and I had a catheter in so I didn’t have to get up to go to the bathroom. I don’t remember much about the first few days, because when I used my pain pump, I would fall asleep. I do remember that the very next day, a physical therapist came in and got me up to walk down the hall and to sit up in a chair for one hour. It felt really strange to sit up, I could feel the rods holding me up straight. I’m not afraid to admit I was much more comfortable lying down. I was in the hospital a total of five days, two of them were spent in PICU. One of the things that was nice about Beaumont Hospital, was the rooms were set up so one of my parents could stay with me at all times.

I spent the next couple of weeks resting. A lot of time I was in bed, because I still had a hard time getting used to sitting up for long periods. My two week post-op check up went really well. When I was there, they took my height and more x-rays. My height was almost six foot, I had gained about two inches from having my spine straightened. Doctor told me everything was looking good, so I didn’t have to go back to see him again for another six weeks.

The time went fast, I had a teacher come in twice a week to keep me caught up on my seventh grade work. When I wasn’t doing homework, I was still resting a lot in bed. I was limited on things I could do because I wasn’t allowed to bend, lift or twist. By the time I went for my second appointment I was feeling great. Everything was going well for me, I was ready to go back to school and I was used to the feel of my new back.

I went for my follow up on January 3, 2005, I was really looking forward to this appointment. I knew I would be able to start doing more things, as long as I was healing good. They took another x-ray. When doctor came in to look it over, he got a puzzled look on his face. He excused himself and left the room . In a few minutes he came back in and when I saw him draw lines on this x-ray, I knew something was wrong. He then told me and my parents that something rare had happened to my spine. I had developed what is called an "Add on Phenomenon," which means, I developed a new curve on the bottom of my spine. This new curve was actually pulling a couple of the vertebras that he had already fused two months ago. This sort of thing does not happen very often, only a small percent have this sort of complication. Unfortunately it happened to me. We tried bracing once again to see if it would stop the new curve from progressing. I was to wear the brace for six weeks and then go back for another x-ray. I did not get any restrictions lifted at this appointment.

I was not looking forward to my next check up. I’m usually not too much of a worrier, but by the time my appointment came around I was really nervous. I again had x-rays taken. When doctor came in to talk to us, he said that even though the curve did not progress much, it did change. He recommended to have Revision Surgery done as soon as possible. He was afraid that if we waited, the curve would be much harder to fix, so that would make the surgery harder on me. He had to go back in to repair the vertebras that were being pulled and go down two more levels. We set up the surgery for March 28, 2005 which was in four weeks, this allowed me time to donate my own blood again. The best thing that came out of this appointment was I was allowed to play some basketball again, as long as I did not over do it. /P>

I cannot even describe how hard it was, to accept the fact that I had to go through another surgery. My last one was only a little over three months ago. My parents and Dr. Zaltz did all they could to make me feel better about it. They all tried to make me see the benefit of doing it so soon. I appreciate all the support I got from them, and also from my friends and family. I’m not sure how I would have made it through the next four weeks without all the love and support from everyone. A few days before I had to go back in, my cousin Cory stayed at my house. We spent most of our time playing basketball and x-box. It did help keep my mind off of the surgery. It was also comforting knowing he was coming to the hospital with me.

Within no time, the day of surgery came. I was so nervous I was sick to my stomach.

When we got to the hospital, everyone was so nice. I think they knew I was scared to have surgery again. A nurse took me back to the pre-op room to start the IV. Again she numbed the area first, so I could not even tell that she put it in. My parents and grandparents got to stay with me until it was time for me to go to the operating room. I am very thankful for that, it helped me feel more secure.

Surgery took about three hours. When I came out, I was in PICU, it felt good to see my parents waiting there for me. The very next day, the same physical therapist came in to get me out of bed. I sat up without any help. When I walked down the hall, it was not hard for me at all. She had me sit in a chair, which I found quite easy this time. I found that everything was much easier for me. After about two days, I was walking the halls quite often. The thing that was done different, is doctor had a brace made for me to wear this time. I was in the hospital one day less than last time. Again two of them were spent in PICU. Needless to say, I was ready to go home by the time doctor said I could.

Recovery was much faster for me this time. I was feeling pretty good by the time I went to my two week post-op check. Doctor told us everything was looking good. I was to go back in four weeks. I again had a teacher come in to keep me caught up on my schooling. Before I knew it, it was time for my next appointment. Again they took x-rays, which looked really good. I can’t describe how happy and relieved I was to see my straight spine. Doctor thought I should keep wearing my brace for three months. That would give my spine some time to fuse. It does not bother me to keep wearing the brace. I am willing to do everything it takes to keep my back straight. I have to go back to see him in six weeks.

Everything Dr. Zaltz assured me of was right. I am very thankful I have such a nice doctor to take care of me, and also such great support from my family. By having so much support from everyone, I do not feel so alone. I feel like we are all in this battle together. Looking back through it all, I am very glad I had my back fixed. I feel much better about myself. Yes, I have a long scar down my back. To me, it is much better than a large rib hump. At least with the scar, I have a story. With it, I can share my experience with others who have to live with scoliosis.
As I write this, I still have a lot of limitations on what I am allowed to do. I will try to keep you updated on my progress.

Photos - Before
 

Photos - After
 

You can talk to Shane on the SpineKIDS message boards, username shermanl.

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