After four great days of scoliosis surgery this week, the Hey Clinic team rolled into clinic yesterday ready to go. There were some signs of Halloween among the Hey Clinic staff, with PA Brittany spurting her purple horns, and Tracy wearing her Halloween Fall Scrub top.
To help us get in the Halloween mood, our clinic received a great “Shivers Down My Spine” Halloween card from Diana, one of our scoliosis guests from Ohio. She is coming in this coming week to have an anterior/posterior revision extension instrumentation and fusion done for flat back syndrome after an old Harrington rod fusion.
But the highlight of our Halloween clinic on Friday by far was Olivia and her sister, who came into clinic all made up, and absolutely ready to “Trick or Treat”.
This put us in a bit of a bind, since we weren’t expecting REAL Trick or Treaters in Clinic. Fortunately, I had a couple of giant chocolate chip cookies on hand for Olivia and her big sister.
Next year, we’ll make a better effort to be ready with official Treats.
Olivia has Early Onset Scoliosis, or Juvenile Scoliosis, and is being treated in a brace. She’s growing out of her brace now, over this past year. The brace seems to be working, but Olivia is growing like a weed.
We saw another Early Onset Scoliosis yesterday as well, who showed off her pretty pink brace for us, with excellent stickers, including a 3D tropical fish!
Her curve is doing very well in the brace, and her brace is fitting well. We fine tuned the brace tension with her parents.
The younger children seem to tolerate and cooperate with the scoliosis braces (Boston Brace) much better than the older ones who are becoming teenagers.
Hormones and growth change everything!
This coming week we’ll be having guests coming into see us from Ohio, and from Baltimore, Maryland.
Yesterday, I saw one of our patients from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania who has a painful 78 degree Scheuermann’s kyphosis. We’re going to be trying a round of physical therapy for him, but if his quality of life does not start improving, he may be considering surgery for early 2011.
When my kids were young, I used to love to take them around Trick or Treating. Since the fall is usually fairly warm here in NC, I often went as a surgeon in my typical Duke Blue scrubs.
Kids grow up quick — savor those precious moments when you can.
Several of our guests in clinic, especially our younger guests, asked me what I am going to be for Halloween this year.
I’m not quite sure yet, but I am open for suggestions.
At last check, Jenny and her husband were going to go as Batman and Robin…. I think Jenny would make a great super hero!
Hope you are all doing well.
Have a great weekend.
Dr. Lloyd Hey
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery
