We’ve been following Maggie, a 7 yo girl with severe Early Onset Scoliosis (EOS), similar to Janelle’s scoliosis which many of you have heard about. Maggie was so excited to hear that her scoliosis could be straightened out like Janelle’s. Maggie has had to wear casts and restrictive molded spine braces since she was very little, and also can’t wait to be done with that as well. Maggie apparently went home and drew her own “before and after” drawing of her spine, with the crooked spine on the left, and the straight spine on the right. Her drawing is actually fairly accurate, when you compare it to the 3D reconstruction we did of her actual scoliosis.

MAGGIE: THANKS FOR SHARING YOUR AWESOME DRAWING!!!!

I think I’ve learned something through this: I’ve usually thought that the younger kids we treat, under age 10, seem to be so compliant about bracing and casting, and don’t really seem to care very much about their posture and image, whereas the teenagers REALLY CARE about their image/posture, and also very often are not too interested in big bulky braces for 18 hours a day. Maggie made it clear that she has cared about both her posture and appearance as well as the brace discomfort/hassle even at a very young age. I think the younger kids may just be less likely to express their feelings as the older kids and adolescents.

Maggie will be having her surgery in May, here in Raleigh, with an anterior release followed by Shilla Technique (Special Growing Rods). As you can see in Maggie’s mom’s email, Janelle’s family has been very supportive of Maggie and her family, which is awesome — families helping families.

Our two teenage patients who had adolescent scoliosis surgery with us at Duke Raleigh Hospital on Thursday are going home today, after 2 nights in the hospital with their mom and/or dad. Both did very well postop, getting up and walking up and down hall yesterday enjoying their new posture.

Hope you all have a great and restful weekend.

Dr. Lloyd Hey
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery
Raleigh, NC USA
https://www.heyclinic.com

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MAGGIE’S MOM’S EMAIL TO US WITH THE PICTURE
On 4/15/11 5:07 PM, “Lisa” wrote:

Hi Dr. Hey! Emily left me a message about the picture Maggie drew for you. Here is the digital copy you requested. Maggie will be thrilled you are going to use it on your blog:) Also, I just got off the phone with Janelle’s mom. She is so kind. Thank you for the great support system you have.

Hope you have a great weekend!
Lisa

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